Rochester Police Arrest Doctor Suspected of Fatally Poisoning His Wife (Update)
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- Rochester Police have arrested a doctor suspected of fatally poisoning his wife.
Police Captain Casey Moilanen says investigation started on August 21 of this year, when the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office reported a 32-year-old woman died on August 20 of suspicious circumstances.
She was admitted to a Rochester emergency room on August 16 and her condition worsened during her stay in the hospital, according to the police report.
Investigators then received information the woman may have been poisoned by her husband, who is identified as 30-year-old Connor Bowman. Moilanen said detectives looked into the allegation and conducted a thorough investigation in collaboration with the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office.
Moilanen said the two-month investigation collected enough evidence to provide probable cause for arrest. Officers then apprehended Bowman without incident during a traffic stop shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday near a residence he’s living at in the 1800 block of 2nd St. Southwest.
Bowman, who is a doctor who previously worked for Poison Control, could face a charge of second-degree murder, Moilanen said. That charge could be upgraded to first-degree murder if the case were to go before a Grand Jury, according to Moilanen.
The criminal complaint in the case sites evidence that indicated Bowman and his wife were experiencing martial issues and that Bowman was in significant death. On the morning of August 16, the victim told a friends she had become ill after having a drink that was mixed into a smoothie with Bowman the previous night.
The court document says Bowman used his hospital credentials to access his wife's medical file. He also is alleged to have tried to stop the autopsy of his wife's body.
The autopsy concluded the victim died of "toxic effects of colchicine" and described the manor of death as homicide. Investigators obtained search warrants for Bowman's devices and found internet searches for purchasing colchicine, the complaint says.
Police also executed a search warrant at Bowman's residence following his arrest. Upon searching detectives located a $450,000 bank deposit slip. Bowman had previously told someone his wife was suffering from a rare condition and that he was planning to get a $500,000 life insurance policy for his wife, the court document states.
Bowman was arraigned Monday morning on a charge of second-degree murder. His conditional bail was set at $2 million and he's due back in court later this month.
Story updated to include the criminal complaint filed against Bowman
