Indiana man accused of fatally poisoning his roommate and 'best friend' with windshield fluid
01/14/2022 2:58 pm PST
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (TCD) -- A 60-year-old man is accused of poisoning his roommate with windshield fluid because she did not approve of his drinking.
LaPorte County Jail records show Thomas Holifield was booked on May 31, 2021, on a murder charge. According to court documents cited by the Northwest Indiana Times, Holifield allegedly spiked his roommate Pamela Keltz’s soda with windshield washer fluid several times until she was hospitalized and taken off life support June 1, 2021.
Court records say Holifield "began by putting eye drops into her cup of pop." The eye drops, however, "were not causing severe enough illness." Keltz would reportedly undergo bouts of "hallucinations and diarrhea but then recover."
Holifield allegedly went into Keltz’s room one day and saw a bottle of windshield washer fluid and noticed it contained methanol. The Northwest Indiana Times reports Holifield told police he put some of the washer fluid into her 2-liter soda bottles. She went to the hospital after getting sick from that, and when she came home, he reportedly added larger amounts to the bottles. The last time she was hospitalized, she was declared brain dead and her family took her off life support.
Detectives with Michigan City Police reportedly found an empty gallon-size bottle of windshield washer fluid that was full when Holifield allegedly started poisoning Keltz.
According to Northwest Indiana Times, which cites court documents, Holifield told Michigan City Police he drank a lot of alcohol, but Keltz did not, and that became a "point of contention between the two of them."
The Associated Press, which also cites court records, reports Holifield referred to Keltz as his "best friend." He rented a room from her and they previously had a romantic relationship. He reportedly added the fluid to her soda bottles because he wanted to kill her.
According to the Northwest Indiana Times, Holifield pleaded not guilty and a judge ordered a mental health exam to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.
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