A Minnesota doctor who used to work as a poison control specialist has been charged with murder two months after investigators say he poisoned his wife with gout medicine.
Connor Bowman, 30, was arrested Friday after a months-long investigation into the demise of his 32-year-old wife Betty Jo Bowman, who died in August of what was initially believed to be a “sudden onset autoimmune and infectious sickness,” in keeping with her obituary.
Betty was admitted to the hospital in Rochester for “extreme gastrointestinal misery” on 16 August and died 4 days later, in keeping with the legal grievance obtained by KAAL.
Her husband, a medical resident at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, tried to cease the post-mortem, and demanded she be cremated instantly, the legal grievance acknowledged. He advised the medical expert’s workplace that her demise was pure and that she “didn’t wish to be a cadaver.”
The medical expert’s workplace halted the order for cremation, citing suspicious circumstances, in keeping with a legal grievance, and an post-mortem confirmed Betty died from poisonous results of colchicine, a medicine used to deal with gout. However medical information point out she was not recognized with gout and had not been prescribed the medicine.
Nonetheless, prosecutors allege her husband had been researching colchicine, together with how a lot may kill somebody. Six days earlier than she was hospitalized, he had additionally transformed her weight to kilograms and multiplied that by 0.8 — with 0.8 mg/kg thought of to be the deadly dosage charge for colchicine, in keeping with the grievance.
Betty, who was additionally a pharmacist at Mayo Clinic, had signs much like meals poisoning when she was admitted to the hospital, however her “situation deteriorated quickly,” and he or she skilled cardiac points, fluid in her lungs and organ failure.
Mr Bowman recommended she was affected by a uncommon sickness referred to as hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH. However hospital exams got here again inconclusive for HLH.
An investigation discovered that Mr Bowman labored as a poison specialist in August and used College of Kansas-issued units to seek for details about colchicine, the drug used to deal with gout, and sodium nitrate.
A girl from the College of Kansas advised investigators about his searches, declaring he had not obtained any calls about colchicine, nor had every other workers.
His on-line search historical past additionally included “web searching historical past: can it’s utilized in court docket?” “delete amazon information police” and “meals v. industrial grade sodium nitrate.”
Following Betty’s demise, her family members reported to the police that her husband had been after her $500,000 life insurance coverage coverage. Throughout the search of their house after Mr Bowman’s arrest on Friday, police discovered a receipt for a $450,000 deposit into his checking account.
He was charged Monday with second-degree homicide and remained on the Olmsted County Grownup Detention Middle Tuesday on a $2m bond. He’s scheduled to seem in court docket on 1 November.
A GoFundMe has been arrange by shut pals to assist Betty’s household with authorized prices, meals, payments and extra.
“Betty adored her mother and I do know she would need her and her household to be taken care of throughout this troublesome time,” reads the GoFundMe. “Betty was a light-weight to so many individuals and phrases can’t specific how a lot she will likely be missed.”
