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Hi AAID! Thanks so much for your response here. I think where I wanted to go, or was leading to about the caffeine issue is here: (1) I think Laci was something of a gardener. Loved gardening. Might she have used cocoa mulch on her plants/shrubs? (2) It has been stated that Laci had caffeine in her system, but the GBH issue is cloudy, at best. Why after 4 months in the water would there be caffeine significant enough to find, but not GBH? Difference in the chemicals? (3) Theobromine (cocoa mulch)--would a significant amount of Theobromine given to a human being be enough to disable them, so that a "soft kill" (strangulation) could be effected? If so, would there be "caffeine" in one's system 4 months later?

>>(1) I think Laci was something of a gardener. Loved gardening. Might she have used cocoa mulch on her plants/shrubs? (

Hi Sandy! Sure she might have but I don't know that all that much gardening is done in December in California. I have a friend in LA who gardens and she doesn't garden in December. I think it would be even less likely further north in CA.

Even if Laci used cocoa mulch, you have to eat the cocoa (chocolate usually) in order to take in any theobromine.

>>2) It has been stated that Laci had caffeine in her system, but the GBH issue is cloudy, at best. Why after 4 months in the water would there be caffeine significant enough to find, but not GBH? <<

If I understand correctly, the body rids itself of different drugs at different rates. I thought I read that GBH is eliminated from the body quickly. Theobromine amounts are 'halved' by the human body in 6 to 10 hours after consumption. So the GBH could have already been eliminated when Laci was killed and the theobromine/caffeine would still be at detectable levels in her system. Once death takes place, so does the body's ability to eliminate drugs, etc.

>>(3) Theobromine (cocoa mulch)--would a significant amount of Theobromine given to a human being be enough to disable them, so that a "soft kill" (strangulation) could be effected? If so, would there be "caffeine" in one's system 4 months later? <<

If I understand correctly theobromine and caffeine are similar in the time and manner they are excreted by the body. Again the caffeine was detectable 4 months later because no elimination takes place after the body is dead.

Theobromine is a mild diuretic, a mild stimulant, and relaxes the smooth muscles of the bronchi in the lungs. It has no properties that would disable a human being even though it is toxic to dogs, cats, horses, and some other animals. It is no more toxic than caffeine to people from what I have read.