On the afternoon of January 22, 2024, an elderly woman named Janet Lee sat at her computer on the second floor of her home in Newcastle, England. She was trying to focus on reviewing her recent bank statements, but it wasn’t easy—her boyfriend’s voice downstairs kept pulling her attention away. Janet’s longtime partner, Richard O’Connell, was deep in conversation with someone.
Janet and Richard had been together for around two decades. Though they never officially married, they lived like husband and wife, sharing a home and finances. Janet had even included Richard in her will, believing their bond was unbreakable and that he felt the same. But recently, their relationship had become strained. They had even started discussing the possibility of separating—not definite yet, but real enough to trouble Janet deeply.
As she halfheartedly went over her bank statements, Janet’s thoughts wandered. Richard’s voice downstairs was a constant reminder of her growing anxiety about their uncertain future. She couldn’t help but imagine what life might look like without him.
Suddenly, Richard’s voice shifted from conversation to shouting. At first, Janet thought he was arguing with the visitor, but the tone quickly changed to something much more alarming—it was the sound of someone in pain. Alarmed, Janet rushed downstairs.
When she reached the bottom, she caught sight of a man she didn’t recognize walking out the front door. He wore a white lab coat, and though his back was turned, there was something strangely familiar about him. Confused but more concerned about Richard, Janet turned to find him in the living room, clutching his shoulder and grimacing in agony.
Frantic, she asked what had happened and who the stranger was. Through gritted teeth, Richard explained that the man was supposedly from the NHS (National Health Service) and had administered a COVID-19 vaccine. The pain, he said, was from the shot.
Janet was baffled—why would someone from the NHS show up at their home rather than have Richard go to a clinic? But seeing the obvious pain Richard was in, she set aside her questions. She offered to drive him to the hospital, but Richard, trying to compose himself, said the NHS man had warned him that this pain was normal and would eventually subside.
Reluctantly, Janet agreed to let him rest and returned upstairs to finish her work.
However, within two days, Richard’s condition worsened dramatically. The injection site became swollen, turned red, then began to blister and bleed. Eventually, the area turned black. Alarmed, Janet drove him to the emergency room.
Doctors quickly diagnosed Richard with necrotizing fasciitis, a severe bacterial infection more commonly known as flesh-eating disease. His muscle and skin tissue were deteriorating from the inside out. Immediate surgery was necessary to save his arm—and possibly his life—but first, doctors needed to understand how such an aggressive infection had taken hold.
As Richard recounted the events surrounding his “vaccination,” Janet listened closely. He described the man who had come to their house, offering more details this time. That’s when something clicked for Janet. A wave of horror washed over her as she realized why the man in the lab coat had seemed so familiar.
The “NHS worker” wasn’t a stranger at all. He was someone Janet and Richard knew very well but hadn’t recognized in his disguise. The man was Thomas Quan—Janet’s own son.
As the truth came to light, the full horrifying plot was revealed. Thomas hadn’t administered a vaccine. Instead, he had injected Richard with iodomethane, a toxic pesticide. The chemical caused immediate tissue damage, which led to the devastating infection.
Thomas’s motive was greed. Furious that Janet had added Richard to her will and that he would inherit the house, Thomas decided to eliminate Richard to secure the inheritance for himself.
Thankfully, despite undergoing multiple grueling surgeries, Richard survived. As for Thomas, he was arrested, found guilty of attempted murder, and sentenced to 31 years in prison.