Deadly Nerve Agent May Have Been in Perfume Bottle

The British woman who died last month after being exposed to a nerve agent may have poisoned herself with a spritz from a perfume bottle. Dawn Sturgess' boyfriend also was exposed, and his brother tells the BBC that authorities have identified the source of the toxin Novichok that killed Sturgess as being a small perfume bottle. Authorities had previously spoken of a "small bottle" being the source, but the perfume angle is new. It could help investigators track down just how the bottle got into the home of Charlie Rowley, Sturgess' boyfriend. Rowley remains hospitalized.

Authorities don't think Sturgess, 44, and Rowley, 45, were deliberately targeted, but they blame Russia for an earlier attack involving Novichok that nearly killed former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, reports USA Today. (The Skripals were exposed to the toxin in liquid form.) Rowley and Sturgess were poisoned in Amesbury, only about 10 miles from where the Skripals were poisoned in Salisbury. Sturgess' son had publicly asked President Trump to raise the issue with Vladimir Putin at their summit in Finland Monday, but it was unclear whether he did so. (More Novichok stories.)