ROCHESTER, Minn. — Multiple search warrant applications shed new light on the case investigators and prosecutors are building against a former Mayo Clinic resident accused of killing his wife with poison.
The documents, filed by Rochester police investigator Alex Kendrick on Nov. 3 request access to the bank accounts, computers, electronic devices and other data belonging to 30-year-old Connor Fitzgerald Bowman, now charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife Betty Jo on Aug. 20. An autopsy found toxic levels of a medication in her body that Betty Jo had not been prescribed.
In his applications for the search warrants, investigator Kendrick shared new details, including reports from a close friend of Betty Jo's that she was planning on filing to divorce her husband, saying he was having an extra-marital affair and was hiding a large amount of debt from her. Betty Jo had reportedly learned about the debt after seeing bills that had arrived in the mail.
Another close friend told investigators that Connor made Betty Jo a smoothie while she was visiting about 10 days before the victim's death, something he never did, and that Betty Jo had asked her to taste it. The friend said that the smoothie tasted bitter, and joked that, "Connor must be trying to poison her." Betty Jo reportedly responded that she had considered that possibility, and threw the drink out.
In the affidavits Investigator Kendrick shared other investigative revelations, including:
- A male friend of Betty Jo's told police she canceled plans with him on Aug. 16 after Connor made her an alcoholic drink the night before containing rum, and she became violently ill. Betty Jo ultimately went to the emergency room and ended up dying Aug. 20.
- A coworker and friend of Connor's told police that he had already received $500,000 from an insurance policy on Betty Jo. That same witness also knew of the defendant's financial troubles, and worried that his status as a pharmacist and history working in poison control was "cause for concern."
- A legal officer for the University of Kansas, where Connor Bowman was enrolled, told investigators that an internal audit on a laptop assigned to Bowman revealed that the defendant made multiple online searches involving lethal doses of various substances, specifically involving an individual who weighed 120 pounds, which was Betty Jo's approximate weight.
- The University of Kansas data showed Connor Bowman making multiple online searches, including one that appeared to be an online purchase, for colchicine or liquid colchicine through an online pharmacy. Colchicine is mainly used to treat gout, a condition that Betty Jo Bowman had no history of.
- The MN Department of Health was later able to confirm that colchicine was detected in both Betty’s blood and urine, and the medical examiner’s office advised they also had detected colchicine in Betty’s blood using a sample taken when Betty was admitted into the hospital. There were no records found indicating the victim had ever been prescribed colchicine.
- A previous search warrant executed on the home of Connor Bowman located a deposit receipt for US Bank for $450,178.00, as well as Prudential Life Insurance documents related to a policy for Betty, with the amount disclosed for the account for $450,258.54.
Connor Bowman's next scheduled court appearance is an omnibus hearing scheduled for Jan. 16.
RELATED: Rochester doctor accused of wife's murder after autopsy results determined she was poisoned
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