‘Just wanted him out of the picture.’ 18-year-old charged after allegedly poisoning father’s coffee

PRESTON — An 18-year-old Preston man has been charged after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars and trying to poison his father’s coffee.

Juraden James Purser has been charged with felony attempted murder in the first degree and felony criminal possession of a financial transaction card.

Fraud charges

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Preston Police Department, in September, an officer spoke with Purser’s grandpa, who said Purser had taken a photo of his credit card and had been using it to make many large purchases through Apple Pay. 

The grandpa told police it resulted in about $4,000 in fraudulent charges, court documents said. He said he didn’t notice the charges right away because he had gotten surgery and was in the hospital for a while. 

An officer then met with Purser and his father at the police department. The officer asked Purser if he knew why he was there, and he said that he did. According to court documents, it was due to credit card fraud, online purchases and buying phones and accessories. 

Purser’s father provided some background. He said Purser’s grandpa was staying with them to recover from surgery, and Purser was supposed to help his grandpa during this time, according to court documents. 

The officer asked Purser what was going on through his mind at the time. He reportedly said it was, “one of those things where I wanted it and I seen (sic) an opportunity that I could get it and I went for it.” 

Police learned Purser had had problems with stealing in the past. Purser said he had gone to counseling for the issue, but said it did not help him. 

The officer asked him if he had felt bad about taking advantage of his grandpa, and he nodded yes. 

Poison in coffee 

During the conversation with police, Purser’s father, whom he was with during the interview, brought up the topic of poisoning.

Purser allegedly said in the interview, “About two years ago, um, I had a bottle … I dunno … bug, er, rat, er, weed … but I had in his coffee.”

Documents said this reportedly happened in the summer of 2022. 

Purser said he wasn’t sure what kind of poison it was. He believed it was weed poison like Roundup. 

The officer asked him what was going on at that point in his life that made him want to poison his father. He said, “Just a lot of frustration that I was aiming towards him … basically thinking it would solve the problem,” court documents said. 

He said he put the poison in the coffee maker.

The officer asked Purser if he was worried about anyone else drinking coffee. He shook his head no and said that his father was the only one who drank coffee. 

Police asked what he hoped would happen, and Purser allegedly said, “I just wanted him out of the picture. Everything I had done over the years … he made sure I knew everything I was doing wrong.”

His father asked Purser to clarify, and he said, “I don’t know, ’cause I don’t know if I wanted ya dead or gone. I don’t know. … I just didn’t want you there,” court documents state. 

The officer asked him what he thought the poison was going to do: if it was going to just make him sick where he would go to the hospital or if it was going to kill him.

Purser said he thought it could have done both.

Police asked Purser if he intended to kill his father. Purser said, “Pretty much, yeah,” according to documents. 

The officer asked him if he had done any research beforehand on how to poison someone, and he reportedly said no. 

The officer asked what the outcome was with the poisoned coffee. 

His father said he tasted the coffee and instantly spit it out everywhere. He said he didn’t know what it was at the time and figured his coffee had gone bad. He washed it out. He told the officer that he found out what had happened later when he heard Purser bragging about it to another family member, court documents said. 

The officer asked Purser if there had been any other incidents before this or since where he tried to hurt someone like that, and he shook his head no. 

The officer asked him if he still felt that way about his father. He said no, but that he still had some frustrations with his father, that would likely be lifelong.

The officer asked: “You don’t want to kill him?” Purser reportedly shook his head no. 

His father stated in the interview with police that Purser needs mental health help, documents said. 

What’s next

Court records show Purser was not arrested, but instead summoned to court. EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Vic Pearson to ask why Purser is not behind bars for an attempted murder charge and he told us he had no comment. 

EastIdahoNews.com additionally contacted Purser’s attorney, Don Marler, who had no comment other than replying by email, “The fact that he was not arrested speaks for itself.”

Purser is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Franklin County Courthouse. 

Although Purser has been charged with these crimes, this does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.