Inset: Daisy Zantjer (Marion County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Zantjer’s residence in Pleasantville, Iowa (Google Maps).
An Iowa woman fixated on “harmful chemicals and other toxins” allegedly poisoned her husband with eyedrops, police say.
Daisy Zantjer, 39, stands accused of two counts each of administering harmful substances and domestic abuse causing bodily injury, according to Marion County court records obtained by Law&Crime.
Several years earlier, a series of blog posts warning about the prevalence of chemicals in everyday household products were published by a woman with the same name. The anti-toxin author and the alleged poisoner appear to be one and the same, police say.
“I am a Christian woman who wants to do right by her family and part of that is keeping them free from harmful chemicals and other toxins that could destroy their body,” Daisy Zantjer wrote on Oct. 30, 2018.
The first blog post, “What I am Passionate About,” was published on the pro-work social media website LinkedIn. The user’s profile page identifies the author as hailing from Pleasantville, Iowa.
In court documents, law enforcement identifies the defendant as a resident of Pleasantville who lives on North Washington Street. The arresting agency in the case is the Pleasantville Police Department.
In an email to Law&Crime, Pleasantville Police Chief Joe Mrstik said the image in the LinkedIn profile “appears to be Mrs. Zantjer.”
Police, however, are keeping mum about most of the details.
A blog post by author Daisy Zantjer on Oct. 30, 2018 (LinkedIn).
The charging documents filed in Marion County District Court offer a brief probable cause justification for the woman’s arrest.
“Daisy Zantjer did admit during an interview to administering a harmful substance, on two separate occasions, called tetrahdrozoline hydrochloride to her husband Allan Zantjer, in July of 2023,” the harmful substance charging documents read. “On or about the above date and time, the Defendant, Daisy Zantjer did administer a harmful substance known as Tetrahdrozoline to her husband, Allan Zantjer.”
The domestic abuse charging documents briefly elaborates: “On or about the above stated date and time, the Defendant committed domestic assault against Allan Zantjer, causing injury to him by giving him Tetrahydrozoline in his drink without his knowledge.”
The police chief told Law&Crime his agency is currently limited in what can be shared about the case because it is still in progress.
“Based on the interview with Daisy and the initial statement from the victim, charges were warranted in this case,” Mrstik told Law&Crime. “We will continue working with the Marion County Attorney’s office and the Department of Criminal Investigation to see if any additional charges will be filed.”
But, if those past writings are any indication, an apparent war against modernity was abandoned in favor of a concentration on the home front — by embracing the dangerous powers of modern chemistry.
A blog post by author Daisy Zantjer on Nov. 1, 2018 (LinkedIn).
“It’s like feeding someone arsenic,” the author wrote in a LinkedIn blog post about doing your own research dated Nov. 1, 2018. “It’s not going to kill that person right away. It’s killing them slowly.”
The anti-chemical and anti-toxin messages appear part and parcel of efforts directing readers to shop at organic retailers.
“I want to see others who care about themselves join me in being toxic free and financially free,” one post reads. “If you decide you want to transfer to spending a toxic free and organic store, feel free to message me and I will give you my website.”
Zantjer was arrested on July 30 by local and state police. She is being detained on a $12,000 cash or surety bond. A preliminary hearing in her case is slated for Aug. 8.
Matt Naham contributed to this report.
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