Former Mayo Clinic doctor indicted on first-degree murder charge after allegedly poisoning wife
ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A former Mayo Clinic doctor is facing an additional first-degree murder charge for allegedly poisoning his wife in August 2023.
Connor Bowman, 30, was initially charged in October with second-degree murder for the poisoning. But, on Thursday, a grand jury indicted Bowman on a charge of premeditated first-degree murder.
According to court documents, Bowman is accused of poisoning his wife with liquid colchicine. Bowman’s wife, Betty, was hospitalized on Aug. 16, 2023, with symptoms consistent with food poisoning and started to deteriorate rapidly. She died a few days later, on Aug. 20, 2023.
Court records indicate Betty started feeling sick on Aug. 16, 2023, thinking it was due to a night of drinking at home with Bowman and consuming a large mixed smoothie drink.
Bowman suggested his wife was suffering from a rare illness, Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis "HLH", and listed the cause of death as a "sudden onset autoimmune and infectious illness" in the obituary, but the tests came back inconclusive.
Court documents say that Bowman went to pharmacy school in Kansas and worked in poison control, but was then attending medical school and doing his residency at Mayo Clinic.
Bowman requested Betty to be cremated "immediately" and insisted her death was natural. He attempted to have the autopsy canceled and was questioning if the toxicology analysis would be "more thorough" than standard and wanted a list of the tests, charges allege.
The couple had separate bank accounts because Bowman had debt, but according to court documents, he indicated that he would receive a $500,000 life insurance payout from Betty’s death allegedly related to HLH.
According to court documents, Bowman’s computer history indicates that on Aug. 10, 2023, he was looking up medical journals for information on lethal dosages of substances and converting Betty’s weight to kilograms. He also searched for "liquid colchicine" while visiting online shopping websites at the same time.
Medical officials ran tests on Betty's blood and urine and located colchicine in her system. The medical examiner determined her cause of death was the toxic effects of colchicine and the manner of death was a homicide.
Bowman was arrested on Oct. 20, 2023, and authorities executed another search warrant at his home. They found a receipt for a $450,000 bank deposit. Authorities did not indicate where the money came from.
Bowman's next court appearance will be Jan. 16, 2023.