Russian Poisons Lookalike With Cheesecake, Prosecutor Says

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS -- A Brooklyn woman faces years behind bars for allegedly serving her lookalike in Queens a poison-laced cheesecake and stealing her identity and belongings.

Viktoria Nasyrova, 42, was accused of attempting to murder a Forest Hills woman who bore a striking resemblance to her - both have dark hair, a similar complexion and speak Russian - and then trying to stage it as a suicide, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced Wednesday.

"This is a bizarre and twisted crime that cold have resulted in the death of a Queens woman, whose only fault was that she shared similar features with the defendant," Brown said.

On Aug. 28, 2016, Nasyrova allegedly visited the home of her then-35-year-old lookalike and offered the cheesecake as a gift, according to the charges. Soon after the Forest Hills woman ate the cheese, she began to feel sick and laid down.

The last thing the woman remembered before passing out was the sight of Nasyrova sitting in her home beside her, prosecutors said. The woman's friend found her unconscious in her bed the next day, dressed in lingerie with pills surrounding her body in what appeared to be a suicide attempt, and took her to the hospital, according to the charges.

After the woman was discharged, she came home to find her passport and employment card were gone, along with a gold ring and some cash, according to the charges.

Law enforcement agents tested the leftover cheesecake the woman had been given and found the sweet treat was laced with phenazepam - the same Russian poison the FBI found in the pills planted around her body, prosectors said.

Cops discovered the woman's passport, employment card and ring in Nasyrova's home when they arrested her on March 20, according to the indictment.

Nearly a year later, Nasyrova was arraigned on charges including attempted murder, burglary, assault, reckless endangerment and unlawful imprisonment. She is being held without bail until her next court date on May 25.

If convicted, Nasyrova faces up to 25 years in prison.

Nasyrova is also accused of killing another woman in Russia - Alla Aleksenko, 54 - whose burned body was uncovered in a western Russia grave, New York Daily News reported.

She fled to New York in 2014 after seducing the lead detective in her prosecution and settled into Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, according to the Daily News. Once there, she allegedly drugged and robbed several men she'd met and lured in to pay for her lavish lifestyle.

Lead photo via Shutterstock.