Charges against a Minnesota poison control doctor who allegedly poisoned his wife with unnecessary gout medication, a theory supported by the man's search history and strange behavior after her death, according to the final indictment. , the charge was upgraded from second-degree premeditated murder to first-degree premeditated murder. week.
Mayo Clinic doctor Connor Bowman, 30, was arrested in October on suspicion of killing his wife, Betty Bowman, 32, a pharmacist at the hospital. Their relationship has reportedly soured publicly and there are even talks of divorce.
On Thursday, Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem announced that a grand jury indicted Bowman on one count of first-degree premeditated murder and an additional count of second-degree premeditated murder.
The indictment calls for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to a press release from Ostrem's office.
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The charges against Connor Bowman, 30, in the death of his wife Betty Bowman, 32, were upgraded last Thursday to first-degree intentional homicide. (Olmsted County Jail)
“Betty Bowman suddenly became ill and was referred to the hospital's emergency department, where she died on August 20, 2023,” the release states. “After a thorough investigation, law enforcement determined that Mr. Bowman died of poisoning.”
The Olmsted County coroner called police when Bowman asked for his wife, who was hospitalized for four days and died on Aug. 20, to be “immediately cremated.”
Around the same time, a concerned friend of the deceased woman called the medical examiner's office and warned that the couple was “discussing divorce due to infidelity and a deteriorating relationship.”
Friends later told police that the two had been experimenting with an open relationship, but that Betty Bowman's husband had developed an emotional bond with another woman and was threatening divorce. Post Breaking News reports.
In the weeks leading up to her death, Betty said her husband owed her about $500,000 and had separate bank accounts, according to court documents.
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Betty Bowman's cause of death was determined to be a toxic overdose of the gout drug colchicine, her manner of death has been ruled a homicide, and her husband, Connor Bowman, is facing criminal charges. (Betty Bowman/Facebook)
Meanwhile, Connor told a friend that he would collect $500,000 in insurance money if his wife died, according to a probable cause affidavit. According to court documents, a search of the Bowmans' home after the doctor's arrest revealed $450,000 in bank notes.
Bowman's arrest and search of her home began after police ordered Betty's blood samples to be tested by the Minnesota Department of Health.
Medical experts determined that she had 29 ng/ml of colchicine (a drug commonly used in lower doses to treat gout) in her bloodstream at the time of her death. The coroner noted that she had no reason to take the medication because she did not have enough gout symptoms for her doctor to prescribe it.
According to court documents, the cause of Betty's death was ruled to be the toxic effects of colchicine, and the manner of death was ruled a suicide.
In his late wife's obituary, Bowman wrote that she had hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). HLH is a rare disease in which overproduction of certain blood cells causes organ damage. Tests conducted on HLH yielded inconclusive results, police wrote.
However, detectives examined Bowman's electronic devices and found that he used his credentials as a doctor at the Kansas Poison Control Center to access his wife's electronic health information while she was in the emergency room for suspected food poisoning. I found out what I did.
He also accessed her information in the days after her death, reviewing the medications she was given, any reported allergies, and operating room records.
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Bowman was arrested by Rochester police on Oct. 20 during a traffic stop. According to her arrest affidavit, a medical examination of Betty Bowman determined that her death was caused by the toxic effects of an overdose of colchicine, a drug used to treat her gout. It was considered a murder. (Google Earth)
Doctors' treatment for food poisoning was ineffective, and the woman died from organ failure and fluid in her lungs. Her arrest documents say she was perfectly healthy before she was hospitalized. Before going to her hospital, Bowman researched the drug colchicine.
He was supposed to use a University of Kansas computer to look up drugs related to calls to poison control centers, but neither he nor his colleagues received calls about gout or colchicine in the weeks before his wife's death. Ta.
A few days before falling ill, Bowman is said to have searched for “Delete Amazon history police,'' “Police track package delivery status,'' and “Internet browsing history: Can it be used in court?''
Five days later, he searched for “food vs. industrial-grade sodium nitrate,” according to records on the seized computer, and searched medical journals used by doctors to test the lethality of certain substances. It is being said.
Investigators believe he determined the lethal dose of colchicine by converting his wife's weight to kilograms and multiplying it by 0.8.
“Internet browsing history: Can it be used in court?”
Police said Bowman purchased a gift card for a website selling the drug in the days before Betty became ill.
The man who was dating Betty, referred to in court documents as “SS,” told detectives on Aug. 14 that the woman “was on vacation for a few days and wanted to spend time with him.” he stated.
After meeting the next day, she and her husband exchanged emails while drinking alcohol at home.
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The next day, before being admitted to the hospital, Betty texted the man saying she was feeling unwell and couldn't sleep. The man told police that his illness was caused by mixing an alcoholic beverage into the large smoothie he drank the night before.
According to Betty's obituary, she graduated from the University of Kansas in 2018 with a doctorate in pharmacy and worked as a “hard-working and talented hospital pharmacist.”
Bowman's next court date is scheduled for Jan. 16, and bail is set at $2 million, according to a press release from Ostrem.
