SALEM, Mass. — A former Massachusetts teacher has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally poisoning her boyfriend’s drinks with a chemical commonly found in antifreeze.
Judy Church, 67, of Salisbury, appeared Thursday in Essex Superior Court in Salem, where a judge informed her that she would spend the rest of her life in prison without parole for murdering 55-year-old Leroy Fowler in the first degree “with premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty.”
A jury convicted Church on Monday, finding she was guilty of placing ethylene glycol in his Powerade bottle in November 2022.
Fowler was rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined that he had antifreeze in his system, causing significant damage to his internal organs. He died two days later.
Testing on a Powerade bottle seized from Church’s home found it to contain antifreeze residue at the bottom.
Investigators say they also found a photo and video on Church’s cellphone showing Fowler suffering from poisoning before she called 911 to get him emergency treatment.
Fowler had previously told his relatives he thought Church was poisoning him, according to prosecutors.
During her trial, prosecutors outlined Church’s motive for killing her boyfriend, revealing evidence that showed she was jealous of Fowler’s relationship with another woman.
Prosecutors also said Church created a voodoo doll of the other woman.
Church previously spent 31 years working as a fourth-grade teacher in Middleton.
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