Woman Fakes Boyfriend's Suicide After Poisoning Him With Sedative-Laced Milkshake

An Australian woman dubbed the “Widow of Walcha” has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering her wealthy partner, years after encouraging him to name her the sole beneficiary of his estate in the event of his death.

In June, Natasha Beth Darcy, 46, was convicted of murdering Mathew Dunbar in the early hours of Aug. 2, 2017, at his Walcha farm in the NSW New England region.

She reportedly sedated the victim with a cocktail of drugs blended in a NutriBullet, including an animal sedative, before suffocating him with helium she fed into a plastic bag.

Justice Julia Lonergan said that while she was not persuaded the offense warranted a life sentence, Darcy’s actions were "callous, relentless, and heartless,” ABC News reported.

"The offender has shown nothing remotely resembling remorse or contrition," Lonergan noted.

Prosecutors also presented a collection of suspicious internet searches from Darcy's electronic devices, which included, "99 undetectable poisons,” "how to commit murder", and "can police see past web history,” 9News noted.

The woman previously argued Dunbar took his own life and pleaded guilty to assisted suicide, which the Crown rejected after prosecutors argued Darcy sent an alleged message from the victim as a fake suicide note.

"Tell the police to come to the house I don't want Tash or kids to find me," the message read.

The court also heard that on the day before the murder, Darcy continued to search for advice on various murder methods while Dunbar used his phone to update friends about an earlier medical appointment.

Investigators said Darcy, inspired by an episode from the hit sitcom “Frasier,” offered a friend $14,000 in cash to tell the police that her lover had been talking about suicide. Fortunately, her friend decided to approach the police to surrender that letter that Darcy wrote in 2020, according to the Daily Beast.

“I was watching an episode of 'Frasier' when Niles needed him to lie in court and say he didn’t know that Niles was in love with Daphne,” the letter reads. “It got me thinking if only I could ask somebody to say that Mathew told them he was planning his suicide maybe a few or several days before he passed.”

Meanwhile, Lonergan dismissed the narrative that Dunbar was troubled, resulting in him taking his own life, calling it "an elaborate, clumsy, and ugly ruse” before describing the victim as kind and "generous to a fault.”

Investigations also unraveled that the woman, in 2015, urged her partner to make her the sole beneficiary of his estate in the event of his death. Police also found messages from Darcy reminding her partner to change his will.

The convicted murderer will be eligible to be considered for parole in 2047.