Fil-Am pleads guilty to poisoning husband’s coffee with bleach

Melody Johnson (right) with her lawyer, a Pima County public defender. Image: Screencap/News 11 Yuma

A Filipino American woman in Arizona has pleaded guilty to adding poison to her husband’s coffee over a period of several months.

Court documents revealed that 40-year-old Melody Felicano Johnson, who had been charged with attempted first degree murder, pleaded guilty to two counts of the lesser felony charge of adding poison or a harmful substance to food or drink.

This plea change emerged this week as part of a negotiated deal in the Pima County Superior Court. Under the terms of this agreement, Melody could face a range of sentencing options, including probation, consecutive prison terms or a combination of prison followed by probation.

Furthermore, the court retains the authority to impose fines as part of the sentencing process.

The case first captured public attention in 2023, shedding light on the troubled relationship between Melody and her husband, Roby, amid a contentious divorce. 

The gravity of the situation intensified with the release of home surveillance footage in October 2023, showing Melody tampering with her husband’s coffee maker, transferring bleach into a container and then pouring it into the machine.

Roby told investigators the activity happened frequently when they were in Germany in March last year.

Her husband noticed that his coffee started to taste differently, so he installed hidden cameras in their temporary base house.

As seen in the video, Roby observed that after cleaning the coffee maker, the back of it became slippery following rinsing, and said, “It smells like bleach.”

Roby informed investigators that he believed his wife was attempting to kill him in order to collect death benefits.

Melody was arrested last year with bond set at $250,000. Prosecutors argued that she was a possible flight risk as she recently bought a home in the Philippines.

She faces a maximum of two years in prison for each count of the felony charge. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 10.