New court documents detail case against former Mayo doctor charged with murdering wife
New court documents suggest Connor Bowman, a former Mayo Clinic resident now charged with fatally poisoning his wife, was previously investigated for mistreatment of a patient.
According to warrants, two people who knew Bowman — including one he worked with at Mayo — told police that a complaint had been filed with the state board of medicine.
Calls and emails to the state board of medicine were not immediately returned. In a statement, a Mayo spokeswoman said the charges are unrelated to the former resident’s responsibilities and declined to comment further.
Bowman, 30, was charged last month with second degree murder of his wife, Betty, 32, a pharmacist who also worked at Mayo. He’s currently being held in jail on $2 million bail.
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Betty died in August at Mayo Clinic after being admitted and treated for severe gastrointestinal issues. Doctors initially thought she had food poisoning, but her condition quickly deteriorated and she did not respond to standard medical treatment.
Connor unsuccessfully attempted to stop the autopsy, according to court documents. Results of the procedure showed Betty had a drug in her system typically used to treat gout — a condition that Betty didn’t have.
The warrants offer new details in the case.
Multiple friends of the Bowmans told police that Connor did not appear to mourn Betty’s death and asked some of them out for drinks just days after she died.
The documents also allege the Bowmans were on the precipice of divorce, and that both were in extramarital relationships, which friends told police were straining their marriage. They also told police that Connor carried significant debt, which he allegedly hid from Betty.
Among the details in the search warrant is what police call a “suspicious smoothie” — a drink Connor made Betty in the days leading up to her death that Betty shared with one of her love interests. The love interest told police that she and Betty believed it tasted so bad that they threw it out.
Several days later, police say Betty texted another romantic interest that she would not be able to meet up with him after getting sick from a rum drink Connor had made her the night before. She was admitted to the hospital hours later and died soon after.
The Rochester Police Department executed warrants for Connor’s devices and bank accounts, among other things.
Connor, who worked part time for the University of Kansas to assist in poison control calls, used his university-issued laptop to research lethal doses of several drugs for a 120 pound person — Betty’s approximate weight.
According to the warrants, in the days leading up to Betty’s death, Connor allegedly used an online pharmacy to purchase colchicine, the drug used to treat gout that was found in Betty’s system by the medical examiner’s office.