US father jailed after poisoning his young children

A father was sentenced to 100 years in prison for poisoning his two children to extort money from a soup manufacturer.

William Cunningham, from Georgia, was sentenced after a jury found him guilty of seven counts of aggravated assault.

Cunningham was indicted in July 2006 on tampering and fraud charges in federal court and was also charged with child cruelty in Clayton County.

The girl and boy, then 18 months old and three years old, were taken to hospital after Cunningham fed them soup laced with prescription drugs and lighter fluid.

On one occasion, authorities said he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline – both used to treat depression – to poison the children.

Cunningham was arrested in March 2006. According to prosecutors, the former dump-truck driver called Campbell’s Soup in January 2006 and threatened to sue the company because its soup was contaminated.

Authorities said there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased. A family member said the youngsters may suffer life-long respiratory problems after swallowing the poisoned soup.

The children’s mother, Rhonda Cunningham, filed for divorce during the case.