Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and so it is that time of year that we are extra nice to our sweeties. Not all couples remain smitten with each other though, and unfortunately Love and Poison can go together just like flowers and chocolates, or strawberries and champagne.

Check out these not-so romantic stories about one spouse underhandedly getting rid of their other half by poisoning them: 

• After his wife's death from acute cyanide poisoning, the once respected Emergency Room physician, Dr. Yazeed Essa, has been convicted of her murder and is currently serving life in prison. Rosie, as she was known to her friends and family, was on her way to meet her sister to see a movie when she became so ill that she lost control of her car, drifting into oncoming traffic, striking another vehicle before rolling to a stop. An autopsy was ordered but it was not until months later that family members would learn the cause of death. About a month after his wife's death Essa fled the country leaving his two children with his in-laws. He was captured after an international manhunt and extradited to the U.S. to face trial.  

• US Navy Lieutenant Lee Hartley died mysteriously while serving overseas. It turns out he was poisoned slowly over a long period of time, and his murder went unsolved for thirteen years. Finally, an NCIS cold case unit confronted his widow, Pam Hartley, and she confessed to everything. Pam had poisoned her husband by sending him care packages, including baked goods laced with rat poison. She wanted out of her "miserable" marriage, but didn't want to give up the status of being a Navy officer's wife, so she decided to be a Navy officer's widow. Pam was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but she only served 16. She is currently out on parole.

• Three months after Angelina and Frank Rodriguez got married, Angelina took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on her husband and began trying to kill him. First, authorities said, she fed him poisonous oleander plants, sending him to the hospital with an upset stomach. Then, she allegedly loosened the gas cap on the clothes dryer at their home before leaving to visit a friend. Finally, she spiked her husband's Gatorade with green antifreeze. Frank died, with a lethal amount of antifreeze in his body. Three years later, jurors convicted Angelina of murder along with the special allegations that she killed her husband for financial gain and used poison as the murder weapon. Those allegations made her eligible for the death penalty.

This Valentine's Day, if your partner stops at the store on the way home to pick up a wilted rose and picked-over card instead of surprising you with a romantic dinner, don't give them a hard time...it could be worse! If you're the victim of  "poisonous"  passion, please call the Texas Poison Center Network at 1-800-222-1222.