Associated Press
May. 13, 2003 01:30 PM

CLEVELAND - An unlicensed nurse has been charged with murdering a multiple sclerosis patient by feeding her a piece of bagel and letting her choke to death so she could carry on an affair with the patient's husband.

Authorities said Wanda Kanner killed Darlene Amberik in 2001 to clear the way for the relationship. Police also say John Amberik bought an engagement ring for Kanner four months before his wife died.

Kanner, 49, was charged Monday by a grand jury with murder and involuntary manslaughter. John Amberik, 52, was charged with theft and records tampering for allegedly helping Kanner submit false bills to an insurance company.

Kanner was jailed and did not have a defense attorney by Tuesday. John Amberik, an electrician, did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday.

Kanner began working for the Amberiks in 1998 and the three moved into a home together two years later. Darlene Amberik, 49, could not feed herself or swallow solid foods - and Kanner knew it, police say.

Kanner told detectives she fed Darlene Amberik a piece of bagel soaked in milk but never intended to kill her.

She said she left the house with her patient's husband and when they returned an hour later, Darlene Amberik had stopped breathing, North Royalton police Detective John Barsa said.