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Judy Church was convicted of first-degree murder in the poisoning death of her live-in boyfriend, Leroy Fowler, in Salisbury, Massachusetts, and sentenced on April 2, 2026, to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the mandatory sentence for that conviction in Massachusetts.

Church, 67 at the time of her trial, lived in Salisbury and spent 31 years as a fourth-grade teacher in Middleton. Fowler had been her live-in boyfriend for roughly 10 years. Prosecutors described their relationship as toxic and dysfunctional. Fowler was also involved with another woman. Prosecutors argued Church was jealous; the defense said that by 2022 Fowler planned to leave the other woman and start over with Church in Florida.

On the night of November 11, 2022, Church called 911 from their home and said Fowler "must have ingested something." First responders found him in obvious medical distress. Prosecutors said Church waited about 30 minutes to call, recorded him struggling and asked, "Are you having fun?" He was taken to Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport and Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, then to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he died on November 13, 2022. The chief medical examiner determined he died of ethylene glycol poisoning. The chemical is usually found in antifreeze, de-icing fluid and hydraulic brake fluid. Prosecutors said Church put it in his fruit punch flavored Powerade.

Fowler's family told Salisbury police the death was suspicious and needed further investigation. Salisbury police, the Essex State Police Detective Unit and the Essex District Attorney's Office investigated. Church declined to let detectives inside and spoke with them on the sidewalk before a later interview at the Salisbury police station. "He'd be dizzy a lot, and I thought he was anemic," she told investigators. Police said she was seen deleting text messages in the station lobby. Investigators recovered a largely empty Powerade bottle from the home. The Massachusetts crime lab found ethylene glycol in its bottom residue; prosecutors said Church's DNA was on the bottle. Police also reported finding a jug of antifreeze in the home.

Massachusetts State Police arrested Church on a warrant on December 22, 2022. Arraigned the next day in Newburyport District Court on a murder charge, she was held without bail. A grand jury later indicted her, and the case moved to Essex County Superior Court in Salem in February 2023.

At trial, the prosecutor called the Powerade bottle "the murder weapon" and said Church was the only person with access to Fowler during the time that mattered. A witness testified that in summer 2022 Church said, "If he ever cheats on me, I will poison him." Fowler's adult son testified that Church kept a voodoo doll of the other woman and stuck pins in it. Fowler's sister testified he had told her Church may have put something in his shake. The defense argued the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, said the "something" Fowler ingested was the painkiller Percocet and said he was already in declining health.

Opening statements were made in Essex County Superior Court in Salem on March 18, 2026. The jury received the case on Friday, March 27, and found Church guilty on Monday, March 30, 2026, on the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. At sentencing, a member of Fowler's family gave a victim impact statement. Church did not speak; her lawyer said he advised her not to because the defense would appeal the verdict. As of November 1, 2026, no appellate ruling had been reported.

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Part 2 of 2 of the recording described above.