NEW BRUNSWICK,
N.J. (AP) — A former chemist
killed her estranged husband by poisoning him with a “lethal and massive
dose” of a highly toxic metal that a nurse’s sharp eye helped identify,
authorities said Wednesday.

Tianle Li, a former employee of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.,
pleaded not guilty to murdering Xiaoye Wang by poisoning him with thallium, and
hindering prosecution. The plea was entered by her attorney, and Li did not
speak during the brief arraignment Wednesday afternoon in front of state
Superior Court Judge Michael Toto.

“The state’s allegation is that the defendant
administered a lethal and massive dose to the victim and caused his
death,” Deputy First Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Nicholas
Sewitch said.

Sewitch declined to say how much poison was administered and
over what period of time, citing the ongoing investigation and incomplete
toxicology tests. Thallium was once used in rat poison, he said.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Wang, who worked for a
computer software company in New York, checked
into Princeton Medical Center
on Jan. 14 suffering from what appeared to be the flu or some other virus. When
his condition worsened, the hospital began to conduct routine tests but didn’t
suspect thallium until a nurse remembered a case involving thallium poisoning
in China
in the 1990s, Sewitch said.

The 39-year-old Wang had lapsed into a coma by then and died
on Jan. 26.

“By the time it was discovered, it was really too late
to treat him,” Sewitch said.

Police arrested Li two days later and charged her with
hindering prosecution. The murder charge was added this week.

Li worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb as a chemist for 10 years
until last week, company spokesman Fred Egenolf said. The New York-based pharmaceutical
has several facilities in central New
Jersey, though Egenolf wouldn’t say where Li worked.
However, Sewitch said Li could have had access to the substance at her job. He
declined to say where prosecutors believe she obtained it.

Sewitch and Li’s attorney, Steven Altman, confirmed reports
that several calls were made to police over the last year or two regarding
domestic disturbances at the house Li and Wang shared in Monroe Township.
None of the calls involved any “serious or significant injuries,”
Sewitch said.

The couple’s 2-year-old son is in the custody of the state
Division of Youth and Family Services, Sewitch said. The agency doesn’t comment
on individual cases. An aunt was living at Li’s house when Wang died but is not
suspected of any wrongdoing, Sewitch said.

Altman told Toto he will seek to have Li’s $4 million bail
on the murder charge reduced. Her bail on the hindering charge is $150,000.