MONROE — A new judge will take over the case against a woman accused of trying to poison the Lafayette County veterinarian she met online and swiftly married in 2022.

Amanda Chapin is accused of intentionally poisoning Gary Chapin, then 70, by slipping animal euthanasia drugs into his coffee. She has yet to be arraigned but the delay in her case could not be avoided, said her Madison-based defense attorney, Brian Hough of of Axley Brynelson, LLC. 

She is charged with first degree intentional homicide. Hough maintains she is innocent of the charges.

“There was a substitution of judges which created a delay as a new judge had to be assigned,” he said.

That new judge is Green County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Vale. He will take over for Lafayette County Circuit Judge Duane M. Jorgenson. Law enforcement officials in Green County also confirmed the change.

The unlikely pair met on pair got married at the Lafayette County Courthouse in March 2022, apparently without the blessing of the victim’s children. Not long after that, the 50-year-old defendant allegedly asked the victim to file a quit claim on his house — essentially ensuring she would get his home in the event he dies.

There were three alleged poisoning incidents between June and August 2022.  Each time, animal barbiturates were allegedly slipped into his coffee which he would regularly drink in the morning, often while sitting with the defendant who prepared the coffee. Such drugs were easily obtained around the victim’s house related to his work as a veterinarian.

But on the third occasion, he reportedly slipped into a coma lasting about four days. Meanwhile blood work sent to the laboratory during his hospital stay confirmed the presence of the animal euthanasia drugs, or barbiturates, in his system.

That victim eventually recovered after being treated at a SMS Monroe Clinic; and at the Middleton VA Hospital.

The victim’s son then sought a restraining order against Amanda, on behalf of his ailing father.

Indeed, a number of relatives involved were suspicious of the man’s new wife, who had fantasies of opening a Yoga Studio in Hawaii, according to reports. Chapin awoke from his coma after four days and began to talk to police.

On Sept. 1, Chapin was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Monroe and was taken to a local hospital. Investigators searched the room and recovered letters addressed to her husband and his family, all denying hurting or trying to kill him over the summer. 

“I choose to end my life because the law is not on my side,” she wrote in one such letter, included in the criminal complaint. “I pray the law one day be true and honest not only to the rich and famous but to people like me.”

At one point in the ordeal, Chapin denied even knowing about such drugs.

“This is noteworthy for the fact that Amanda reported she is in the medical field,” said the criminal complaint. “Odd for someone who worked in the medical field to not know what barbiturates are.”

No future court dates are scheduled for her arraignment before the new judge, according to court records.