‘Happy’ Mayo Clinic Doc Charged in Wife’s Alleged Poison Smoothie Murder Wanted Open Marriage and Her $500k Life Insurance Policy: Indictment

The Mayo Clinic employee who allegedly killed his wife with a poisoned smoothie had previously demanded an open marriage and was hoping to cash out on her $500,000 life insurance policy, according to an indictment issued by a Minnesota grand jury last week.

Connor Bowman, 30, is charged with the first and second-degree murder of his wife Betty Bowman. Prosecutors allege that Connor, a poisons specialist, gave Betty a lethal dose of the gout medicine colchicine.

Betty suddenly became sick and was admitted to a hospital in Rochester, Minnesota on August 16. When she died four days later, her husband attributed the death to a rare autoimmune disorder. 

Friends claimed that Connor seemed “happy or at least indifferent” when he went out for drinks in the days following Betty’s death, the Daily Mail reported.

Connor attempted to cancel an autopsy and have his wife cremated immediately – though the Southeast Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office halted the cremation and told the police that Betty’s death was suspicious.

Friends of the couple also told police that they “were having marital issues and were talking about a divorce following infidelity and a deteriorating relationship.”

The couple reportedly agreed to open up their marriage, with no restrictions on extramarital relationships.

When Connor became increasingly close to another woman Betty suggested that they file for divorce. Connor, who was in debt, would have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from his wife’s life insurance policy, the Daily Mail reported.

Connor is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 16.