Beware Neighbors Bearing Chocolates

A 78-year-old woman admitted lacing chocolate eclairs with tranquilizers in an attempt to kill her neighbor, police said Wednesday.

The woman, who was not identified, left a bag containing the eclairs and a Santa Claus boot filled with bonbons at the neighbor’s door on New Year’s Eve.

A visiting nurse found the gift and presented it to the neighbor, a disabled 70-year-old man. The two shared the eclairs to ring in the new year.

The nurse fell ill while visiting another patient, losing consciousness and waking up in a hospital the following afternoon. She immediately linked her ailment to the eclairs, and alerted police. A rescue squad found the man unconscious as well.

The woman who poisoned the eclairs did not say what her motive was, police said. She was placed under formal investigation Tuesday.