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A SCIENTIST specializing in the study of poison has been charged with murdering his 32-year-old wife, authorities say.
Connor Bowman, 30, was booked into the Olmsted County Jail in Rochester, Minnesota, on Friday.
In August, the man’s wife, Betty Bowman was rushed to the Mayo Clinic’s Saint Mary’s Hospital after experiencing severe symptoms that seemed like food poisoning, authorities say, per ABC News 19.
Tragically, she died four days later on August 20 of an autoimmune and infectious illness,” according to an online obituary written by Connor.
Hospital staff and friends of Betty told investigators Connor said that she died from a rare condition called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, per CBS Minnesota.
Betty’s friends claim that he cited this condition as the cause of her sudden death in her obituary.
Connor called medical examiners at the hospital to halt the autopsy immediately following Betty’s death because he said that she, “didn’t want to be a cadaver,” as reported by CBS Minnesota.
Two months after Betty’s sudden death, Connor was arrested on suspicion of administering liquid colchicine to his wife according to a criminal complaint, reported by CBS Minnesota.
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Colchicine is used to treat gout, however, if administered at a dose higher than 0.5 milligrams per kilogram, according to The National Library of Medicine, the medication can be fatal.
Betty did not suffer from gout, so would have been no reason to administer the drug.
Connor had allegedly searched online how to calculate his wife’s weight in milligrams and then multiplied that number by eight to determine the lethal dosage.
His online searches also allegedly revealed that he searched for how to purchase the substance five days before Betty’s death.
Additionally, he also allegedly looked up if searches can be used in court and about deleting Amazon data, according to the complaint, per People.
At the time of his wife’s death, Connor was a resident at The Mayo Clinic where he took phone calls about poison for The University of Kansas.
“We are aware of the recent arrest of a former Mayo Clinic resident on charges unrelated to his Mayo Clinic responsibilities,” a hospital representative told People in a statement.
“The resident’s training at Mayo Clinic ended earlier this month.”
It’s unclear if the disgraced medical worker has entered a plea deal or retained an attorney.
On a GoFundMe page organized by one Sarah Leeser, Betty was described as “a light to so many people.”
In her obituary, Connor remembered Betty as “a vibrant and outgoing young woman” who “lived life to the fullest.”