Poisoned Love: The True Story of ER Nurse Chaz Higgs, His Ambitious Wife, and a Shocking Murder

In this well written, engrossing book it's hard to tell who is worse--the victim or the murderer. This is a story almost too bizarre to be believed. Kathy, the victim, was raised Catholic. By the time she was an adult she had clearly fallen away--we are talking about someone who married four times. Not to mention the infidelities. And she met her fourth husband, a nurse, over the dying body of her third husband. Within less than a month (I told you this was bizarre) Kathy had married the nurse, Chaz. Kathy's career as Nevada State Controller was nearly ended by scandal. One employee accused her of sexual harassment and partially stripping in front of him. Other employees accused her of making them work on her campaign during the work day, and for free. Kathy may have been immoral to the bone, and a shrill, unpleasant woman to boot, but her marriage to Chaz was a disaster, a marriage more of hate than of love. Their relationship was so ugly, so bitter it's surprising it lasted a year...and was there a dark secret that kept them together? I don't want to give away more of the story, but this is one true crime novel you won't want to miss.

Chaz Higgs who was a respected nurse in Las Vegas is now serving a 20 year sentence for poisoning his wife, Kathy Augustine. Unlike other cases of killing spouses, Chaz is the fourth husband of Kathy Augustine, a power hungry politician in Nevada. The book does not paint the murdered victim as the devoted wife but rather jealous, posessive, and obsessed wife. I do feel sorry for Kathy since she didn't deserve her fate even if I felt that she was never going to let Chaz go. She doesn't get dumped but does the dumping. Even her previous husband was prepared to divorce her but died three years earlier. Sadly, Kathy's relationships with men, women, and even her own daughter are not idealistic. I felt that Carlton Smith, the author, should have just explained that her daughter, Dallas Voss Augustine, is a lesbian rather than just hint at it. I would have liked to have known the family's response to Dallas' alternative lifestyle as the author puts it. Dallas and her mother were not very close but not just for that reason since Kathy was a staunch Catholic Republican. Dallas and her stepfather, Chaz, became close because they could share their dysfunctional relationships with Kathy. Dallas was obviously disregarded in favor of Kathy's career. Dallas lost the mother that she never had in the first place. According to reports, Kathy was quite cruel and critical of her only child. When Chuck Augustine died, he adopted Dallas and her as his own child. The obituary read survived by three sons. Obviously, it must have hurt Dallas the most. Kathy was too busy with her future fourth husband and raised family suspicions. Kathy was always trying to achieve and satisfy her ego and lifestyle. With the power as state treasurer in Nevada, she was the only impeached politician to remain in office until her term was completed. She was ostracized by the politicians. Of course, Kathy had mistreated her own employees and ordered them to campaign for her on the state job. This violated state laws and she was admonished for her behavior. She created an unhealthy and hostile work environment for her employees even being heartless when one of her employees had to go home to take care of her diabetic cat. After reading the book last night, I began to see how complicated the situation for Chaz was in. He was in a hellish marriage with a demanding, dominating wife. He wanted out but nobody dumps Kathy Augustine. He probably felt that he had no choice but to do it. In the end, the jury gave him the lightest sentence of 20 years before parole. As for the rest of the people involved including Dallas who has her own troubles, I wonder what happened to them. Sadly, Kathy never found satisfaction in any of her achievements which were grand and took it out on people who were closest to her.