Massachusetts cops have arrested a woman and charged her with murder for allegedly poisoning her boyfriend with antifreeze last month, family of the victim confirmed to The Daily Beast on Friday.
Judy Church, 64, is accused of killing 46-year-old Leroy Fowler by dishing him a fatal dose of ethylene glycol the night of Nov. 11, cops say.
Details about why and how she carried out the alleged killing are sparse, but the Essex County District Attorney’s Office told the Daily Voice that Church called 911 around 8 p.m. from her Salisbury home to report that her boyfriend was in “medical distress.”
The Daily Voice reported that Fowler was transferred to three different hospitals before ultimately dying two days later at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.
Church had changed her Facebook profile picture to one of her and Fowler shortly before he died, and her page was initially inundated with messages of support after the mysterious death.
But as news of her arrest spread on Friday it became filled with messages of anger from those who loved Fowler.
It included a post from Fowler’s son, also named Leroy, which included a screenshot of a news story about the arrest, and a caption that said: “Cats out of the bag now. I had to stay quiet but not anymore.. time to pay the piper!”
The younger Fowler denied an interview request from The Daily Beast, but said in a message that his father “was a good man” who “loved his children and loved his grandkids.” He said Church was a retired school teacher, but wouldn’t say more about her.
“He was just a good guy man,” Fowler wrote. “Not perfect but he was a good guy.”
Fowler said his dad was especially close with his 8-year-old grandson, Leo Fowler, who he constantly spent time with.
Leroy Fowler with his 8-year-old grandson, Leo.
Family of Leroy Fowler
The Essex County District Attorney’s Office and Massachusetts State Police did not respond to voicemails and emails sent by The Daily Beast requesting additional information.
Church was reportedly arrested Thursday afternoon by the state police’s “Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section” after an autopsy determined that Fowler was murdered and cops pinned Church as the suspect.
She is being held without bail and had her first hearing on Friday, where she appeared wearing a Boston College hoodie, NBC Boston reported.
“I can’t wait to see her face tomorrow when she can’t walk out,” Tammy Fowler Carbone wrote on Thursday under Church’s profile picture. “To think she thought she could get away with it.”