Mysterious Old Woman Hands Out Christmas Sweets Laced With Poison

In a scene right out of a fairy tale, a mysterious old German woman is reportedly handing out Christmas sweets to strangers, but police are advising residents not to accept, because the sweets turned out to be poisoned.

According to The Local, a thin woman with dark, graying hair reportedly approached a couple in Spandau in west Berlin and offered to share some Christmas cookies with them. What looked like a charming, hospitable holiday gesture was anything but, however, because after the couple ate some of the cookies they became seriously ill and went to the hospital. Further examination proved the cookies had been laced with rat poison.

The unsuspecting couple was lucky, and there was not enough poison in the cookies to do any permanent damage, but police have issued a warning that nobody should accept free food from strangers, not even from strangers who seem like sweet old ladies who just want to spread cookies and cheer.