Poison Specialist Accused of Murdering Wife by Putting Chemicals in Drink Wanted to Have Her Cremated: Docs

Connor Bowman, 30, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree murder with intent

A former Mayo Clinic medical resident who was arrested in October 2023 and charged with killing his wife by poisoning her drink has been indicted by a grand jury in Minnesota, authorities said.

On Jan. 4, an Olmsted grand jury indicted Connor Bowman, 30, on an upgraded charge of first-degree premeditated murder as well as second-degree murder with intent, the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office announced in a press statement.

Bowman had initially been charged with second-degree murder following his arrest on Oct. 20, 2023. If convicted of the first degree murder charge, Bowman “shall be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of release,” the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office said.

Bowman, a medical student who also worked as a poison specialist fielding phone calls for the University of Kansas, is accused of using liquid colchicine to poison his wife Betty Bowman last August, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by PEOPLE.

The National Library of Medicine states that the substance is used for treating gout, but can be fatal if administered at a high dosage — which is anything over 0.5mg/kg.

Related: Poison Expert Accused of Fatally Poisoning Wife — as Police Reveal Alleged Web Searches

Betty was hospitalized on Aug. 16, 2023, due to symptoms that resembled food-poisoning, according to the complaint. She had been admitted with severe gastrointestinal distress and dehydration and her condition “deteriorated rapidly,” the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Betty told a friend that she thought the smoothie she had the night before while drinking at home with her husband was to blame for her illness. Four days later, on Aug. 20, 2023, she died “following a sudden onset autoimmune and infectious illness,” according to an online obituary, a cause of death which authorities alleged in the complaint was included by Connor.

The complaint states Connor allegedly suggested to doctors that his wife suffered from hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare auto-immune disease in which white blood cells attack other blood cells and can cause multi-organ failure, per Johns Hopkins Medicine. However, tests for HLH came back inconclusive.

Following Betty's death, her husband allegedly urged the medical examiner's office that she be cremated immediately, claiming that her death was natural, according to the complaint. Connor also allegedly attempted to cancel the autopsy, saying his wife did not want to be a cadaver, and asked an investigator if the toxicology tests would be more thorough than the one typically done at the hospital. The complaint further states Connor also asked for a list of what Betty was specifically going to be tested for.

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Connor was arrested two months later in connection with his wife’s death. He had allegedly conducted online searches to determine Betty’s weight in milligrams and then multiplied that by 08.mg before purchasing the drug online, according to the complaint. Authorities allege he also accessed his wife’s medical records while she was hospitalized using his hospital credentials.

In late September 2023, police searched Connor’s home and seized a University of Kansas laptop. His online searches allegedly showed purchase queries for the substance five days before Betty’s death, as well as queries on whether internet searches can be used in court and about deleting Amazon data, according to the complaint.

Betty's toxicology findings, taken while she was hospitalized on Aug. 17, 2023, showed that the level of colchicine in her blood was 29 ng/mL, which was taken around 24 hours after she started exhibiting symptoms that sent her to the hospital, according to the complaint. Her medical records did not show she was diagnosed with gout or HLH.

The medical examiner eventually determined Betty’s cause of death was toxic effects of colchicine and the manner of death to be homicide, the complaint states. At the time of Connor's October 2023 arrest, authorities searched his home again, and allegedly found a receipt for a $450,000 bank deposit.

According to the complaint, Betty had reportedly told others that Connor was in debt, so they kept separate bank accounts. At one point, Connor allegedly told a woman who spoke with police and is identified in the complaint as SEL, that she had been suffering from HLH and he was going to get $500,000 in life insurance as a result of her death.

Authorities said in the complaint that a separate witness claimed the couple had been having marital issues and were talking about a divorce following infidelity.

On a GoFundMe page organized by one Sarah Leeser, Betty was remembered as “a light to so many people.” Leeser is raising funds for Betty’s mother Nancy Sponsel for assistance regarding memorial costs, legal costs and other bills, according to the GoFundMe description.

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone for their generous support on the GoFundMe page,” Sponsel wrote in an Oct. 27 update. “The donations have been overwhelming and I feel truly blessed to have so many wonderful people out there.”

“This has exceeded more than I could ever imagine,” the grieving mother added. “I want to thank everyone again for your generosity. Betty was an amazing person and we miss her dearly.” The fundraiser has garnered more than $13,000 in donations as of Jan. 8.

Connor is expected to be arraigned in court on Jan. 16, according to the Olmsted County Attorney's Office. In a statement shared with PEOPLE last October, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota said Connor is a former resident of the facility.

“We are aware of the recent arrest of a former Mayo Clinic resident on charges unrelated to his Mayo Clinic responsibilities,” the statement read. “The resident's training at Mayo Clinic ended earlier this month.”

It’s unclear if Connor has retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.

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