Boca Raton neurologist is charged with attempting to poison his on-off girlfriend

A prominent Florida neurologist has been charged with poisoning his on-again, off-again girlfriend while they discussed his engagement to another woman, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.

Dr. Mircea Morariu is being held in a West Palm Beach jail as of Tuesday morning pending a bail hearing, following his arrest at Tiger Woods’ restaurant The Woods Jupiter on Monday night.

The 50-year-old is the brother of former tennis star Corina Morariu, who won Wimbledon in doubles alongside Lindsay Davenport in 1999. 

The Boca Raton doctor is accused of dropping crushed Xanax and Ambien pills into the drink of his ex Jenny Schroeder, 57, on September 10 in a Greek restaurant in the city’s entertainment district of Mizner Park.

Morariu and Schroeder, who had been dating on and off for nearly 20 years, agreed to meet at Ouzo Bay after she learned from social media that he had gotten engaged to another woman, Heather Wilcox, earlier that month.

Dr. Mircea Morariu (left) was arrested and charged with poisoning his on-again, off-again girlfriend of 20 years Jenny Schroeder, 57, (right) late on Monday night. He is accused of spiking his ex’s martini with a mix of Xanax and Ambien on September 10 

Morariu and Schroeder agreed to meet at a Greek restaurant after she learned from social media that he had gotten engaged to another woman, Heather Wilcox (pictured)

Morariu is being held in a West Palm Beach jail as of Tuesday morning pending a bail hearing, following his arrest at Tiger Woods’ restaurant The Woods Jupiter (pictured) on Monday night

Morariu is divorced from his first wife and has been living for two months with his fiancée, 46-year-old Wilcox. 

A source close to the couple tells DailyMail.com they were engaged in early September then celebrated with a trip to Bora Bora. 

His relationship with hairdresser Schroeder, meanwhile, goes back at least 20 years.

‘They’ve been on and off for a long time and they hook up every so often,’ said a source who asked not to be identified. ‘They’ve had a pretty volatile relationship.’ 

When Schroeder learned of Morariu’s engagement to Wilcox, she turned ‘hostile’, claims his lawyer Guy Fronstin.

Fronstin said to DailyMail.com: ‘Jenny had been sending hostile emails to him and he wanted to calm down the situation.   

‘[Morariu] was worried their meeting would degenerate into a scene.’

According to the arrest report, police were called to the restaurant when a woman  reported seeing a man later identified as Morariu ‘pour a powder-like substance into a female’s drink while the female had left the bar to go to the restroom.’

Boca Raton Police identified the female as Schroeder. 

When Schroeder learned of Morariu’s engagement to Wilcox, she turned ‘hostile’, claims Morariu’s lawyer Guy Fronstin. He said to DailyMail.com: ‘Jenny had been sending hostile emails to him and he wanted to calm down the situation. [Morariu] was worried their meeting would degenerate into a scene.’ Pictured: Morariu and Wilcox 

Morariu is divorced from his first wife and has been living for two months with his fiancée, 46-year-old Wilcox (pictured). A source close to the couple tells DailyMail.com they were engaged in early September then celebrated with a trip to Bora Bora

Schroeder told police she returned from the bathroom and noticed Morariu allegedly moving her water glass away. According to the report, he then told her ‘to finish her drink,’ – a martini.

Schroeder said she continued drinking.

That’s when cops who were called to the bar approached Schroeder and told her the drink may have been spiked.

She was rushed to the Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where a blood test revealed she was poisoned with a mixture of Ambien and Xanax, something that police said could’ve caused her to become sleepy and possibly unconscious. 

When police tried to interview her at the hospital, they reported Schroeder was ‘slightly incoherent.’ She recovered within hours and was released. 

Police who responded to the restaurant allegedly found a baggy with the crushed prescriptions drugs in a trashcan in the men’s bathroom. Morariu denied it was his.

When Morariu (pictured with Wilcox) was first questioned by police about the incident at the restaurant, the source added, he allegedly tried to commit suicide when he returned home by ingesting at least 90 Xanax pills. He spent several days in a hospital and recovered

Police who responded to the Greek restaurant (pictured) allegedly found a baggy with the crushed prescriptions drugs in a trashcan in the men’s bathroom. Morariu denied it was his

The restaurant’s surveillance video showed Morariu and Schroeder sitting at the bar then Morariu reaching into his back pocket after Schroeder left for the bathroom. 

The camera, however, malfunctioned and paused after Morariu’s hand reaches his pocket.

When Morariu was first questioned by police about the incident at the restaurant, the source added, he allegedly tried to commit suicide when he returned home by ingesting at least 90 Xanax pills. He spent several days in a hospital and recovered. 

It took several weeks to gather and analyze evidence from the bag to prove it belonged to Morariu, according to Boca Raton Police, who then asked him to surrender.

The doctor, however, failed to show up at police headquarters and threatened to commit suicide in a phone call to his lawyer. He rented a motor boat in Delray Beach and started sailing north.

Authorities used coordinates from the GPS device on Morariu’s cellphone to track him at a dock in Jupiter, Florida after he tied up the boat.

He surrendered without resisting. 

The police report lists the location of his arrest at 129 Soundings Ave, Jupiter, Florida. This is the location of Tiger Woods’ restaurant The Woods Jupiter.  

Morariu’s sister is Corina Morariu who won Wimbledon in doubles in 1999

According to Florida medical records, Morariu began practicing medicine in 1995 in  Delray Beach, the practice started by his father, Dr. Mircea Morariu Sr., an immigrant from Romania. 

A father of two teenage children, Morariu did his residency at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in pain and disorders of the nervous system. 

Morariu’s medical license is clean of any disciplinary actions.

His sister Corina Morariu was once considered a bright star of tennis.

However, she never reached her true potential after she was diagnosed with leukemia.

She survived the disease and returned to tennis then chronicled her life in an explosive autobiography published in 2010, Living Through The Racket.