Australian poison tea: Stephan Wagner charged with spiking wife’s drink with ant killer with intent to murder

A Sydney semi-retired businessman has been charged with attempting to murder his wife by spiking her tea with ant poison, according to court documents.

Stephan Wagner, 61, appeared in Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday, a day after being arrested at his Lanark Place, St Andrews home.

Police allege his 66-year-old wife, Glenda Wagner, was poisoned and became seriously ill after drinking tea prepared by her husband.

While searching the house, police seized a bottle of insecticide that is being tested.

According to court documents, Wagner is alleged to have poisoned his wife with Ant-Rid, a common domestic pest control product sold in supermarkets.

Semi-retired Sydney businessman Stephan Wagner has been charged with attempting to murder his wife. Photo / LinkedIn

He is alleged to have administered the poison between January 2022 and September this year at their St Andrews home.

Wagner has been charged with causing poison to be taken with intention to murder (domestic violence), using poison so as to endanger life (domestic violence) and using poison so as to inflict grievous bodily harm (domestic violence).

He appeared briefly in Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday via videolink from prison wearing an orange jumper and a collared shirt.

His solicitor Rylie Hahn-Hamilton did not apply for bail and he will reappear in court later this year.

Wagner will remain in custody on remand, but an apprehended violence order (AVO) has also been taken out by police for his wife’s protection and he has been ordered to stay at least a kilometre away from where she lives and works.

On his LinkedIn profile, Wagner describes himself as a semi-retired businessman who worked at the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science until March last year.

Under his experience, he also says that he previously worked at the University of Western Sydney as a part-time lecturer and at Telstra and Cisco.

Wagner will next appear in court on December 4.