It was one costly cup of coffee. UW scholar David Bethea has studied Russian literature and culture for thirty years. While on a research trip in late October, he took a private cab back to his hotel in St. Petersburg. He has done it before, only this time the driver stopped and offered Bethea coffee. The liquid was unknowingly laced with something similar to the date-rape drug.
“I never met the person who found me,” says Bethea. “I don’t recall being taken to the hospital but I was pretty much laying there in this deserted area called Pargelo in St. Petersburg for at least twelve hours.”