A former Mayo Clinic resident has been indicted for first-degree murder after authorities say he poisoned his wife with gout medicine.
Connor Bowman, 30, was initially charged with only second-degree murder in October, but a grand jury last week added a charge of first-degree murder, Olmstead County, Minnesota, attorney Mark Ostrem said in a press release.
Bowman’s wife, 32-year-old pharmacist Betty Bowman, died in August after she was admitted to the Mayo Clinic’s St. Mary’s Hospital complaining of stomach pain, the Rochester Post Bulletin reported. At first, Betty’s symptoms mimicked food poisoning, but her condition worsened in the hospital, with fluid building up in her lungs and heart problems. She also had part of her colon removed. Four days after being admitted, she died due to organ failure.
Bowman immediately pushed to have his wife cremated and tried to keep the Southeast Medical Examiner’s Office from performing an autopsy. The ME’s office contacted the Rochester Police Department to report that Betty’s death was suspicious, CBS News reported. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the office, the ME’s office told the police about Bowman trying to stop the autopsy, claiming his wife “didn’t want to be a cadaver.” Bowman also allegedly contacted a death investigator to ask about the toxicology analysis on his wife.
Staff at the hospital, where Bowman worked, and Betty’s friends reportedly told investigators that Bowman claimed his wife died from the rare condition hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and even claimed it as the cause of her death in her obituary. However, a friend of Betty’s told investigators that Betty was “a healthy person” and that her marriage was ending due to infidelity and other issues. This friend reportedly told investigators that Bowman and Betty had separate bank accounts because of Bowman’s medical school debts. The friend also said Bowman told them that he was going to collect a $500,000 life insurance policy on Betty.
A man who knew Betty told investigators that, days before she died, Betty had texted him to say she had been drinking with Bowman. The next morning, Betty texted the man that she was sick and blamed a smoothie.
Investigators began looking into Bowman after Betty’s death, focusing on his online history. They found that Bowman checked Betty’s e-health records in the week or so after she died. Bowman also had access to her medical records without needing to enter his credentials, CBS reported.
Bowman, who worked as a poison specialist fielding poison-control related phone calls at the time of his wife’s death, was found to have been searching for information about the gout treatment colchicine and sodium nitrate in the days before Betty’s death. He allegedly used his work devices for those searches, as well as searches about whether internet histories could be used in court, if police could track package deliveries, as well as the search terms “delete amazon data police,” according to CBS.
Bowman also allegedly used an online tool to convert Betty’s weight into milligrams and then multiply that number by 0.8, which is the lethal dosage for colchicine.
Betty’s toxicology report found colchicine in her system and Bowman was arrested.
If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Bowman had been placed on his wife’s care team, which was inaccurate. The previous version also stated that Bowman worked as a poison control specialist at the Mayo Clinic. He worked as a poison control specialist, but not at the Mayo Clinic.