A former medical resident of the famous Mayo Ckinic is accused of “fatally poisoning” his wife in August with a drug commonly used to treat gout, as the couple was experiencing problems in their marriage.
Dr. Connor Bowman – a poison expert – was arrested last week in Rochester, Minnesota, and charged with the murder of his wife Betty. According to arrest documents, Bowman had attempted to have his wife’s body immediately cremated after claiming her death was “natural.”
A source told authorities that the couple was going through a rough patch in their marriage and that Bowman, 30, said he had to collect $500,000 in life insurance when his wife died.
Court records show that his Mayo Clinic pharmacist wife, Betty, 32, was hospitalized on August 16 with apparent food poisoning. Post Bulletin reports.
While in hospital she did not respond to usual treatments for food poisoning and suffered cardiac arrest, lung problems and had to have part of her colon removed. She eventually succumbed to organ failure.
Poison expert Dr. Connor Bowman has been accused of fatally poisoning his wife, Betty, in August with a lethal dose of a drug commonly used to treat gout to collect a $500,000 life insurance payout.
Bowman used a tool to search for fatal doses of colchicine for his wife’s weight before making an online purchase, prosecutors say
Bowman told doctors at the Mayo Clinic where she was being treated that he believed his wife was suffering from a rare disease called hematophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.
An obituary he wrote still states that she died “after a sudden onset of an autoimmune and infectious disease.”
He then tried to convince the medical examiner not to perform an autopsy before attempting to complete a cremation.
However, his efforts were halted after Rochester police received a call noting the couple’s marital problems, leading authorities to consider it a suspicious death.
A friend of Betty’s told investigators that there had been infidelity and that the couple had separate bank accounts because of Bowman’s debts. They also revealed that Bowman had discussed the life insurance payout.
Betty’s death was ruled a homicide on October 20 after toxicology reports revealed the presence of colchicine in her system, a drug typically used to treat gout that she did not need for any illness.
After police obtained Bowman’s laptop from the University of Kansas, they discovered he had purchased colchicine and sodium nitrate, a drug that restricts oxygen movement in the blood.
Bowman attended college and worked as a pharmacist at the University Hospital before joining Mayo as an internist.
Bowman had used a tool to calculate lethal doses of colchicine for his wife’s weight and to see if browser history could be used by police in court.
Betty Bowman, 32, died on August 20, four days after being hospitalized with suspected food poisoning
Betty’s death was ruled suspicious after a friend contacted police to tell them that the couple had been having marital problems due to infidelity and Bowman’s alleged debts.
Investigators spoke with a man who had texted Betty before her death. She told him she was drinking with Bowman at her house but was having trouble sleeping and feeling nauseous, which she blamed on a smoothie.
She was admitted to the hospital on August 16, during which time Bowman used his hospital records to access his wife’s medical records, prosecutors allege. Just four days later she was dead.
When they searched the couple’s home, police found a bank receipt for a $450,000 deposit in Bowman’s name.
Sarah Leeser, who has set up a GoFundMe for Betty’s family, said: ‘She was a light to so many people and words cannot express how much she will be missed.’
Leeser said she created the fundraiser after realizing that “Betty may not have been taken from us by natural causes.”
She said: “Betty adored her mother and I know she would want her and her family to be cared for at this difficult time.
The couple married on May 30, 2021 in Independence, Missouri. They had a dog, Sir Crumpet II of Mulberry, who Betty loved to spoil, according to her obituary. Before her death, she enjoyed traveling and socializing with friends.
Bowman wrote an obituary after his wife’s death, stating that she died of “a sudden onset autoimmune and infectious disease.” Prosecutors allege he tried to rush her cremation and prevent medical officers from conducting an autopsy
In lieu of flowers, Bowman asked people to donate to The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide prevention charity, which raised more than $4,000 for the organization.
Bowman made his first court appearance Monday with a $2 million bond if he uses bond, and without a $5 million bond. He is scheduled to appear again on November 1.
If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Mayo Clinic spokesperson Amanda Dyslin told the Post Bulletin, “We are aware of the recent arrest of a former Mayo Clinic resident on charges unrelated to his responsibilities at the Mayo Clinic. Resident training at the Mayo Clinic ended earlier this month.”