Woman Tried To Poison Her Lookalike To Steal Her Identity

Viktoria Nasyrova, a 47-year-old Russian woman living in New York, was convicted of mulitple charges for trying to murder a woman with a poisoned cheesecake in order to steal her identity.

According to Konstantinos Litourgis, the Assistant District Attorney for the Queens County District Attorney's Office, Nasyrova attempted the murder because "she was desperate to never return to Russia.”

During her opening statements in Nasyrova’s trial on Jan. 30, 2023, she told Queens jurors that Nasyrova tried to commit murder and stage it as a suicide.

Nasyrova first met Ukrainian esthetician Olga Tsvyk at the New York studio where the eyelash stylist worked. On Aug. 28, 2016, Nasyrova claimed to need Tsvyk’s help with an “eyelash emergency” and visited Tsvyk's home with a cheesecake in hand as a thank you. The cheesecake was laced with phenazepam, an extremely powerful tranquilizer made in Russia.

"This woman concocted a cold and calculated plan to isolate Olga Tsyvk to get her alone in her room to poison her to try to kill her and to take her identity along with other valuables as well. It was her identity she was after,” Litourgis said, according to PEOPLE.

Both women had dark hair, a similar complexion, and spoke Russian. "Evidence will show Olga Tsvyk was a pretty good lookalike for the defendant," Litourgis stated.

After eating the cheesecake, Tsyvk became extremely ill. FOX News reported that Tsvyk testified in court about the evening she was poisoned, explaining, "I started to look to lie down on the bed. I started to look for a pillow. I was realizing that I was losing consciousness and I said to her, 'Vika, I'm feeling really bad.' I started feeling very nauseous. I wanted to vomit. I started to vomit right by my bed onto the floor."

"I told her, 'Vika, I'm going to throw up right now.' She said, 'Don't worry about it, I will clean it up.' I remember she went to the bathroom and came back with Bounty," Tsvyk remembered.

When Tsvyk passed out, Nasyrova reportedly staged the scene to look like a suicide. She then took nearly $4,000 in cash, a ring, a purse, Tsvyk’s Ukrainian passport, and her U.S. employment authorization card.

CBS News reported that Tsvyk was found the next day by a friend. Pills were scattered around her bed, and she was still unconscious when the friend discovered her. Tsvyk survived and later noticed her valuable items were missing.

The cheesecake container found at the scene had Nasyrova’s DNA on it. When police arrested her, she had Tsvyk’s passport with her, according to CBS News.

In February 2023, Nasyrova was convicted of attempted murder, assault, unlawful imprisonment and petit larceny in connection with the attempted fatal poisoning. On April 19, 2023, she was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Upon hearing her sentencing, Nasyrova shouted, "F—k you!" at Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder, PEOPLE reported.

*This article was originally published on February 7, 2023 and updated on April 20, 2023.