HOUSTON – The longtime girlfriend of the doctor who was poisoned was back on the stand Tuesday afternoon.
Dr. Evette Toney told jurors that she did not know that her boyfriend, Dr. George Blumenschein, was having an affair with his co-worker at M.D. Anderson, Dr. Ana Gonzalez-Angulo.
"I thought he was dying," Toney said. "I actually thought he's dying in front of me. I was almost in tears. He could barely walk. He was leaning against a wall just to advance a few feet. And his left foot, it's like he was dragging his left foot."
About 10 hours before this, Blumenschein called her saying he was disoriented and was feeling worse as the day went on.
When Blumenschein didn't answer his phone on the day he was ill, Toney said she called Ana Gonzalez-Angulo, Blumenschein's lover and the woman accused of poisoning him.
Toney said Gonzalez-Angulo told her Blumenschein had been at her home, butleft to go to MD Anderson hospital where they worked together.
"Why would you give him the keys," Toney said. "She said he took the keys from me. I said Ana, why would you allow him to drive? Not only could he kill himself, but someone else."
Toney said she shot video of Blumenschein to convince him of his illness. Eventually he was admitted to the hospital. The day after he went into the hospital, Toney said she first heard a diagnosis from an unlikely source. She said Gonzalez-Angulo revealed the source of the illness. Toney said Blumenschein suspected Gonzalez-Angulo of poisoning him.
"At one point George said 'Evette do not poke the dragon," Toney said. "I think she poisoned me.' I don't want to say anything until I know for certain or we have some sort of proof. She said it's ethylene glycol. I said is that good or bad because I didn't know what it was and she said it's poison."
Toney said she did not know about the affair until after he told her in the ICU after he was poisoned with ethylene glycol.
"I trusted her," Toney said. "I trusted him. I felt stupid. I was was there for three weeks and I kept thinking to myself, you're going to make me look like a complete idiot. No one said anything to me about this. It was more than anger. I felt betrayed."