Doctor accused of poisoning spouse with gout medication | EUROtoday

A Minnesota physician who used to work as a poison management specialist has been charged with homicide two months after investigators say he poisoned his spouse with gout medication.

Connor Bowman, 30, was arrested Friday after a months-long investigation into the dying of his 32-year-old spouse Betty Jo Bowman, who died in August.

Betty was admitted to the hospital in Rochester for “severe gastrointestinal distress” on 16 August and died 4 days later, in keeping with the legal grievance obtained by KAAL.

Her husband, who was additionally a former medical resident at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, tried to cease the post-mortem, and demanded she be cremated, the legal grievance said. During her keep within the hospital, he claimed she had a uncommon sickness, which checks later didn’t affirm.

The health worker’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 medication used to deal with gout.

Betty, who was additionally a pharmacist at Mayo Clinic, had signs just like meals poisoning when she was admitted to the hospital, however her “condition deteriorated rapidly,” and she or he skilled cardiac points, fluid in her lungs and organ failure.

An investigation discovered that Mr Bowman labored as a poison specialist in August and used University of Kansas-issued gadgets to seek for details about colchicine, the drug used to deal with gout, and sodium nitrate.

A girl from the University of Kansas informed investigators about his searches, mentioning he had not acquired any calls about colchicine, nor had some other staff.

His on-line search historical past additionally included “internet browsing history: can it be used in court?” “delete amazon data police” and “food v. industrial grade sodium nitrate.”

Following Betty’s dying, her family members reported to the police that her husband had been after her $500,000 life insurance coverage coverage. During the search of their residence 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 Adult Detention Center Tuesday on a $2m bond. He is scheduled to look in court docket on 1 November.

A GoFundMe has been arrange by shut mates to assist Betty’s household with authorized prices, meals, payments and extra.

“Betty adored her mom and I know she would want her and her family to be taken care of during this difficult time,” reads the GoFundMe. “Betty was a light to so many people and words cannot express how much she will be missed.”