Rong Yuan has shared secret camera footage showing her former colleague, David Xu, tampering with her drinks at Berkeley Engineering and Research. The release follows Xu's request to an Alameda County judge to have his felony conviction dismissed.
The 11:04 a.m. recording that exposed David Xu
After months of deteriorating health, Rong Yuan took matters into her own hands by purchasing a spy camera from Amazon. On February 11, 2019, the device captured David Xu reaching for Yuan's water botttle at exactly 11:04 a.m. According to the report, this footage became the critical evidence that linked the senior materials engineer to the poisoning.
The video serves as a visceral record of a crime that Yuan describes as nearly fatal. While David Xu eventually pleaded no contest to one count of poisoning, the footage remains the most concrete proof of the intentional nature of the attack at the Berkeley Engineering and Research facility.
Cadmium poisoning and the physical toll on Rong Yuan
The attack involved the use of cadmium, a toxic metal, which prosecutors say David Xu introduced into the food and water of Rong Yuan. As reported by the source, Yuan began experiencing severe symptoms including hair loss and dry heaving shortly after her first tense interactions with Xu in early 2017.
The health crisis peaked in July 2017 and again in January 2019, during which Yuan recalled feeling as though she were dying after drinking from her desk water bottle. The suspicion of tampering was only confirmed after Yuan's mother tasted the water and noticed a distinct sour flavor , prompting the installation of the hidden camera.
The "extremely generous" two-year probation for David Xu
Despite being charged with attempted murder and two felony counts of poisoning,David Xu received a sentence that a judge characterized as "extremely generous" during a 2024 hearing. Xu pleaded no contest to a single count of poisoning and was sentenced to two years of probation.
This leniency has become a focal point of Rong Yuan's current frustration. The discrepancy between the severity of the crime—the intentional administration of a toxic metal—and the resulting probation period suggests a legal outcome that the victim believes failed to provide true justice.
Why California law may override the Alameda County DA's objection
David Xu is currently petitioning an Alameda County judge to dismiss his felony conviction now that his probation ended in March. While the district attorney's office has formally objected to this dismissal, the report notes that California law generally requires judges to grant such requests if the defendant has successfully met all probation conditinos.
This legal technicality has left Rong Yuan with few options .. By releasing the hdiden-camera video publicly, Yuan is attempting to create a social and moral record of the crime that the legal system may soon expunge from Xu's official felony record.
The Nov. 27 email and the mystery of the "moldy" office
A particularly chilling detail emerged from an email sent on November 27,2018,when Rong Yuan informed her office she was too ill to attend work. David Xu responded by telling her to work from home and suggested that the Berkeley Engineering and Research office was "moldy," potentially masking the symptoms of the poisoning he was inflicting.
Several questions remain unanswered regarding the motives and the corporate response. It is unclear why David Xu targeted Rong Yuan beyond an initial disagreement over lab usage, and the source does not specify what disciplinary or safety actions Berkeley Engineering and Research took internally once the poisoning was discovered.
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