Townsend woman accused of trying to poison husband after scammer impersonating soap star texted her

TOWNSEND, Mass. — A 64-year-old Townsend woman has been charged with attempted murder, accused of trying to poison her husband after a scammer impersonating soap opera star Thorsten Kaye of “The Bold and the Beautiful” texted her to “get rid of your husband honey,” police said.

Roxanne Doucette, 64, of Townsend is charged with attempted murder, intimidation of a witness, juror, police or court official; resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer, court documents show.

Doucette was released on personal recognizance following her arraignment in Ayer District Court on Dec. 4, 2023, court documents show. Conditions for her release include that she have no contact with her husband and daughter, stay 100 yards away from her husband, undergo a mental health evaluation, be confined to her home except for medical appointments and wear a GPS monitoring device.

At about 4:34 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, Townsend Police Officer Michael Marchand was contacted by Ayer Police, who had spoken to Doucette’s daughter at Nashoba Valley Medical Center. The daughter had told Ayer police officers that she suspected Doucette had poisoned her father, Marchand wrote in his report.

Marchand responded to the hospital room to speak to Doucette’s daughter and Ayer police. An Ayer police officer told Marchand that the daughter was at the hospital with Doucette.

“Roxanne had been messaging someone she believed to be a daytime drama actor, Thorsten Kaye,” Marchand wrote in his report. “This person scammed her into giving them money.”

The daughter “was going through all the messages in Roxanne’s phone with the scammer, to send screenshots to” police, Marchand wrote.

“When she did, she came upon messages that she felt indicated that Roxanne might have poisoned her husband,” police said in their report.

The daughter showed police screenshots from text messages that were sent on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, court documents show.

“One of the messages from “Thorsten” stated ‘You have to get rid of your husband honey. I need you so much,’” police wrote in their report. “Roxanne stated that she needed to do some thinking.”

“At 2:34pm she responds that she is ‘”Making an amazing soup. Special potion. He will be hungry when he gets back. Just enough for him,’” police wrote in their report. “At 4:26pm, Roxanne goes on to say ‘Hubby got back not feeling well. Maybe I can collect life insurance.” Thorsten responds “Honey when will that be?” Roxanne says “Don’t know.”

At approximately 5:11 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, Roxanne called 911 for her husband, police said. The report was for a 73-year-old unresponsive man who was still breathing, with a cardiac history. Doucette advised emergency responders that her husband “was very dizzy earlier and is currently sitting in a chair, mumbling, not making sense.” An ambulance took her husband to a local hospital.

When her father later regained consciousness, the daughter told police that she had asked him about what happened on Friday. Her father “stated that Roxanne made him soup, but that it wasn’t very good. He stated that it tasted bitter,” police wrote in their report.

When police spoke with Doucette, she “stated that she had told (her husband) that she was going on a retreat. She then came clean about the fact that she was not going on a retreat and told (her husband) about the person she was messaging,” Marchand wrote in his report. “She stated that she thought she was talking to a star, and that she had always wanted to meet a star.”

Police wrote that Doucette “stated that she was afraid to be alone. She stated that she would never harm him in any way, and that she loves him very, very much. She stated that she loves her children, and that she hopes her daughter doesn’t think she put him in the hospital.”

Doucette also told investigators that her husband “was under a lot of stress because of the scam. She stated that he had recently been the victim of a scam and lost approximately $8,000.00.” Doucette refused to turn in her cell phone and tablet to police as part of their investigation, and then she resisted arrest, kicking at Marchand with her boot on her foot, Marchand wrote.

Police later seized Doucette’s cell phone and tablet.

Days later, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, Townsend Police arrested Doucette again for violating an Abuse Prevention Order.

Police were called because Doucette’s husband had received a handwritten letter from Doucette, which violated the no contact order.

According to police, Doucette’s letter, which was included in the couple’s bills that Doucette had a neighbor mail to her family, allegedly stated, “Please consider dropping the restraining order.”

“That’s a long time to have you out of my life,” Doucette is alleged to have written in a letter to her husband, court documents show. “I want my husband back. I miss you so much.”

Attempts to reach Doucette for comment at her home on Monday were unsuccessful.

News of the allegations spread through the neighborhood where Doucette and her husband have lived for four decades.

“You can’t ever expect that. That’s something that books are made out of I think,” said neighbor Sadie Crawford.

Crawford and her mother, who reside across the street, have been waiting for answers for the last month.

“I just asked her where he was. I didn’t want to pry too much,” said Gail St. Hilaire. “She just said that he had a heart attack.”

Townsend is a small town north of Fitchburg and near the New Hampshire border. The town’s population was 9,127 at the 2020 census.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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