A SUCCESSFUL WIFE IS DECLARED DEAD FROM NICOTINE POISONING - IS HER "JEOPARDY!"-WINNING HUSBAND SMART ENOUGH TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER?

"48 HOURS: TO CATCH A GENIUS"

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Paul Curry is considered a genius and is smart enough to become a "Jeopardy!" champion, but is he smart enough to use nicotine to poison his wife and get away with it?

Erin Moriarty and 48 HOURS investigate the case against Curry for the murder of his Orange County, California, wife in an encore of "To Catch a Genius," to be broadcast Saturday, July 9 (10:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Linda Curry was found dead on June 9, 1994 after her husband, Paul, called 9-1-1 to report he woke up to find his wife barely breathing. The coroner attributed the death to nicotine poisoning, which friends found odd because she didn't smoke. She also had a generic form of Ambien in her system. But at the time, investigators had no direct evidence linking Paul with the crime. After collecting the proceeds of several of his wife's life insurance policies, Paul moved out of state.

In 2002, investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Department took another look at the case and found some other red flags.

Linda and Paul Curry married in 1992, three years after they began dating. Friends of Linda's had a hunch something was wrong with the couple's relationship when just a month into their marriage, Linda told a friend that Paul wanted her to take out a $1 million life insurance policy. After that, Linda was always sick. In fact, at one point she was hospitalized for 21 days after she had a stroke and nearly died. While there, however, lab workers discovered lidocaine - a numbing agent - in a contaminated IV bag. The hospital reported the incident to police, who launched an investigation focusing on Paul.

Police interviewed Linda at the hospital and asked her who might try to poison her. "Well, the only person I could think of that would have a motive to do it would be Paul, and the only motive I can think of is money, but I don't want to really even believe that or think that," she told police in an audiotape featured on 48 HOURS.

The couple also ran into money issues early on. It would later become clear that Paul Curry had been supporting two ex-wives and three children that he kept hidden.

That was just one of the many things, police say, which Paul Curry had hidden. But was he a killer?

48 HOURS: "To Catch A Genius" is produced by Paul LaRosa and Gayane Keshishyan Mendez. Doreen Schechter and Joan Adelman are the producer-editors. Linda Martin is the update producer. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

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