Former Redmond Woman Sentenced to 20 Years in Poisoning Death

Janjira Smith was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for killing her ex-boyfriend Roger Lewis with insecticide-laced Jagermeister in Kirkland in 2006. 

Smith pleaded guilty last month to Murder Second Degree and also pleaded guilty to Assault Second Degree for poisoning a woman who was with Lewis. The sentence range on both charges was 12 to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors recommended 20 years. Smith, 58, was sentenced before Judge Tim Bradshaw at the King County Courthouse. The case was handled by Senior DPA Carla Carlstrom.

Smith pleaded guilty to giving a bottle of insecticide-laced Jagermeister to Lewis after she found out he planned to marry another woman. Lewis and Sengpharaghanh quickly became disoriented and ill after drinking the concoction at his Kirkland apartment. A friend discovered them the next day. Lewis died at the scene, but Sengpharaghanh recovered.

Smith fled to her native Thailand before ever being charged, according to Kirkland Police. She was arrested by United Kingdom Customs in December of 2008 after arriving on a flight from Switzerland. The U.S. Marshals Service at the time said it had been close to capturing her in Thailand, from which she might have been fleeing.

After a long extradition process, U.S. marshals brought her back to Washington and she was booked into King County Jail on June 17.

Her last known local address was on NE 84th Way in Redmond.