Three people have been arrested in Bellingham, Washington, over an alleged plot to drug a pregnant woman and secretly give her abortion medication after she refused an offer of money to end the pregnancy.
The woman’s former fiancé, a 32-year-old man from Arizona, is accused of tampering with her prenatal vitamins and using sedatives to keep her asleep while attempting to administer the medication without her knowledge or consent.
Police said the woman suffered serious medical complications during the early stages of her pregnancy and required extensive treatment. Court documents cited by local media say the pregnancy remains viable and that both the woman and the fetus are now healthy.
Alleged prenatal vitamin plot
Investigators began looking into the allegations on October 20, after the woman provided Bellingham Police Department detectives with medical records and messages relating to the suspected drugging.
According to court documents, the man initially reacted negatively when he learned of the pregnancy and offered to pay for an abortion. After the woman declined, he allegedly began buying prenatal supplements and presenting himself as supportive.
Detectives allege that he later obtained abortion medication through two accomplices. The drugs, identified in court records as mifepristone and misoprostol, were allegedly placed in or alongside the woman’s supplements, while sleep-inducing medication was used to make it possible to administer them while she was unconscious.
The man is accused of making several attempts over the spring. A search of his home on October 29 reportedly found suspected misoprostol, prenatal tablets, oxycodone, sleep aids, laboratory equipment and other items that police said were consistent with the allegations.
He was arrested by a US Marshals task force in Mesa, Arizona, on November 8 and is being held pending extradition to Whatcom County. He faces charges including first-degree attempted manslaughter, second-degree assault, violating a domestic violence protection order and placing poison or another harmful substance in medicine.
Two alleged accomplices were arrested in Bellingham. A 30-year-old woman is accused of obtaining the abortion medication in her own name and supplying it to the Arizona man, knowing what investigators say was his intended use for it.
A 30-year-old man, alleged to be the main suspect’s brother, is accused of knowing about the plan and failing to alert police. He later allegedly sought $100 from the victim in exchange for information and physical evidence connected to the case.
The male accomplice was arrested on November 5 near Sunset Pond, while the woman was detained three days later at an encampment on Meridian Street. Both face charges of complicity in attempted manslaughter, assault and placing harmful substances in medicine.
The Arizona suspect had previously been served with two domestic violence protection orders, issued in July 2025, which barred him from contacting the woman or coming within 1,000 feet of her. The suspects have not entered pleas, and the allegations have not been tested in court.
