Couple who died from poisonous limoncello mistook symptoms for severe hangover

A British woman and her fiancé who drank poisonous limoncello thought they were going through terrible hangovers in the final hours before they died, their friend has said.

Greta Marie Otteson, 33, and Els Arno Quinton, 36, were found dead at the Hoi An Silverbell Villa, a Vietnam inn they ran together, on Boxing Day last year.

Both had drunk from a pair of limoncello bottles left at the reception desk two days before.

Their friend Todd Ford told the Sunday Times he went to visit the couple on Christmas Day, and found Greta in bed drinking coconut water after vomiting.

She told him she was suffering ‘the worst hangover ever’ and she had not seen Els for four hours as he was also feeling ill and had retreated to a different room.

Todd asked if he should try breaking the door down, but said: ‘She was like, “He probably fell asleep playing his video games and his hangover’s probably even worse than mine.”

‘She wasn’t concerned. But I believe in hindsight that he probably had already [died] at that stage because he consumed a lot more than her.’

The pair had recently got engaged (Picture: ViralPress)

He said they also discussed the methanol poisoning case which had resulted in the death of a young British lawyer in Laos the month before.

Simone White, 28, was one of a number of people taken to hospital in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng after allegedly being served drinks laced with methanol.

Her mother Sue switched off her ventilator on November 21, nine days after she drank the free vodka shots suspected of killing her.

Le Tan Gia, 45, wearing the blue hoodie, has been detained by police in Hoi An over the deaths of Greta and Els (Picture: Asia Pacific Press via ViralPres)

Police in Vietnam arrested a bartender from a restaurant in the city of Hoi An, who is believed to have made the limoncello that killed Greta and Arno.

In a Facebook post, Quang Nam police wrote that Le Tan Gia ‘used 70 degree medical alcohol […] mixed with filtered water, lemon zest and white sugar to form two Limoncello (flavored wine), then served it to two tourists.’

The form of alcohol used in the drinks should only be used as a disinfectant and was not for human consumption, they pointed out.

Le Tan Gia was detained for ‘violating food safety regulations’.

David Wilson