Husband charged after woman allegedly served poisoned tea in murder attempt

A man has been charged with poisoning his wife's tea in what police allege was a murder attempt in Sydney's far south-west.

Businessman and educator Stephan Wagner, 61, faced Campbelltown court today after being charged with the attempted murder of Glenda Wagner, 66.

Last month, Mrs Wagner became seriously ill after drinking tea which was allegedly laced with insecticides.

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Police allege her husband had been lacing her tea with the insecticide Ant-Rid over a two-year period from December 2022 until last month.

Mrs Wagner's children allegedly suspected something was wrong and marked the bottle of Ant-Rid to see if it was being used.

9News understands Mrs Wagner's health had been in a serious decline for a while, causing her to spend long periods of time in the hospital.

Mr Wagner had allegedly told neighbours that Mrs Wagner was suffering from an autoimmune disease.

9News can also reveal that Mr Wagner allegedly told neighbours last week that he was lonely without his wife, he missed her, and that he hadn't seen her for weeks due to her ongoing treatment.

Investigators attended their family home on Lanark Place in St Andrews at about 11.25am yesterday, where they arrested Mr Wagner.

Mr Wagner is known as a respected businessman and educator, who has worked for a number of government departments, including the CSIRO.

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Police also seized a bottle of insecticide, which was sent for forensic examination.

He was taken to Campbelltown Police Station where he was charged with multiple poisoning offences, including intention to murder.

He made no application for bail and will be remanded in custody until his next appearance in December.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).