A Brooklyn woman who tried to murder her lookalike friend by poisoning her cheesecake was given 21 years behind bars this week. Viktoria Nasyrova, 47 and originally from Russia, cursed Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder as he handed down the sentence, shouting “F**k you!”, according to the video obtained by the New York Post.
Nasyrova tried to kill Olga Tsvyk in 2016 in order to steal her identity, prosecutors said. She went to see Tsvyk, an eyelash stylist, for an alleged touch-up and brought a box of cheesecake with her. Nasyrova ate two untainted pieces while feeding Tsvyk a slice laced with phenazepam, an extremely strong tranquilizer.
Tsvyk felt ill within 20 minutes of eating the cheesecake and went to lie down. She was found unconscious the following day by a friend. Pills had been strewn around her body by Viktoria Nasyrova in an attempt to make it look as though Tsvyk had taken her own life. Thankfully, she made a full recovery. However, when she got home from the hospital, she noticed that “her passport and employment authorization card were missing, along with a gold ring and other valuables,” according to the District Attorney.
Authorities soon discovered that Nasyrova wanted to steal Tsvyk’s identity as they looked similar to one another and both were Russian speakers. Plus, given that it wasn’t Nasyrova’s first brush with the law.- she’s been wanted on murder charges in Russia related to the death of her neighbor in 2014 – it didn’t take long to figure out what she was up to.
However, she couldn’t get away with attempted murder this time. Viktoria Nasyrova shouted profanity at the judge while she was led out of court in cuffs. Judge Holder described her as “an extremely dangerous woman” and said her plan to murder Tsvyk was “diabolical.” She was convicted of assault, unlawful imprisonment, and petit larceny, and attempted murder in February 2023.
“A ruthless and calculating con artist is going to prison for a long time for trying to murder her way to personal profit and gain,” Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release after the sentencing. “Thankfully, the victim survived the attack on her life and we were able to deliver justice to her.”
Nasyrova’s attorneys plan to appeal the sentence.
