Henry McGowan charged in the murder of his father, John McGowan millionaire financier at Ireland’s 5 star Ballyfin Demesne during bi-polar episode. Father had flown in from New Canaan, Connecticut to come to his son’s aid.
A Brooklyn domiciled man struggling with a bi-polar disorder has been charged with the murder of his millionaire financier father at a luxury hotel in Ireland.
Henry McGowan, 30 is accused of stabbing his father, 60-year-old-man, John McGowan on Tuesday at the 5-star hotel Ballyfin Demesne located in County Laois, Ireland on Tuesday, Nov. 12, RTÉ News reported.
John sustained serious injuries following an assault in the leisure center of the hotel and was later pronounced dead, the Irish media outlet reported.
Millionaire’s son amidst mental health crises
Local police — known as ‘Garda’ in Ireland — responded to the hotel at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday and found McGowan sr ‘deceased.’ The victim’s son, was arrested ‘at a Garda station in the Eastern Region.’
Irish authorities declined to provide details on how the elder McGowan came to be killed.
Henry — who has a Brooklyn, New York address — appeared before Ireland’s Portlaoise District Court on Thursday, Nov. 15, where his lawyer, Barry Fitzgerald, told the court that he had significant mental health difficulties, according to The Irish Times.
Fitzgerald further requested that the man receive a psychiatric assessment while at Cloverhill Prison, where he is being held in custody, which Judge Andrew Cody agreed to. The man’s case is now adjourned to November 18.
The New York Times cited family saying that the elder McGowan left the $1.9 million family home in New Canaan, in Connecticut, on Monday for Ireland in a bid to tend to assist the beleaguered son undergoing a mental health crises.
Garda sources told Extra.ie that Henry had arrived at the hotel several days before the death after a trip around mainland Europe.
The outlet reported that he soon started acting erratically at the hotel and staff then alerted his father who was in the US at the time, prompting the father to leave the U.S for Ireland to come to his son’s aid.
‘… reconnecting with reality’
In his marathon fundraiser, Henry said he had a ‘manic episode’ in January of 2022 and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He added: ‘I was released from the hospital and began the process of reconnecting with reality, my dear friends and family, and eventually my work and hobbies.
‘It was a painstaking path, but being on the other side of it, I am deeply grateful for and in disbelief at how much my life has improved in this relatively short time.
‘There is no greater lesson from this experience than the importance of community.
‘My family, friends, therapists/psychiatrists, and employer were a formidable force that put a large landing pad (spanning from NYC to Paris) underneath me, one that very well could have saved my life.’
According to John McGowan’s Linkedln profile the father had been a head partner for a brokerage firm specializing in trading on the New York stock exchange.
McGowan had first worked as a Head Partner for Cohen, Duffy, McGowan & Co LLC, before more recently working with Torus Capital.
He had graduated from Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, with a Bachelors of Arts in Economics.
The Ballyfin Demesne where the U.S multi-millionaire’s murder took place is set in a 614-acre estate near the Slieve Bloom mountains, offering a ‘gourmet dining’ experience along with access to the site’s luxury swimming pool, vitality pool, sauna. The perfect get-away. Or not.
