A worried millionaire rushed to Ireland after receiving an alarming report from a friend who noticed his son wandering the streets in a vivid pink fur coat, looking disoriented.
Just a day after arriving in Ireland, John McGowan, a financier from Connecticut, was tragically found dead, with his son facing charges for the alleged murder.
The incident occurred in November 2024 at the luxurious Ballyfin Demesne hotel located in County Laois, where McGowan’s son, Henry, then 30 years old, was accused of the crime.
Henry had been struggling with mental health issues since 2022. He vanished from his New York City apartment, eventually surfacing in Europe, according to family members and sources who spoke with The New York Times.
During his time abroad, Henry spent a month in a Paris psychiatric facility. Upon discharge, he appeared to be on the mend.
By 2023, Henry had been diligently following a treatment plan for his bipolar I disorder, aiming to steer his life in a more positive direction.
All hell broke loose less than a year later, in October 2024, when he seemed to relapse into a manic episode and fled to Europe again.
Though he stayed in touch with his family, a friend met up with Henry in London and expressed immense concern for his well-being.
They called the McGowans to say that Henry, normally dressed conservatively, was ‘roaming the city in a hot pink faux fur jacket and had a wild look in his eyes.’
McGowan had reportedly been on a trip around Europe before he made his way to Ireland back in 2024, images show him at what appears to be a ski resort
John McGowan, 66, has been a head partner for a brokerage firm that specialized in trading on the New York stock exchange
Without hesitation, John booked a flight to Dublin on November 11, the next stop on Henry’s voyage.
He had planned to corner his son when they connected at the airport, but after Henry’s plane landed, he was missing and his phone’s location stopped updating.
Henry called his sister to say he’d thrown away his passport, medication, and phone.
He added that he had run over six miles to be admitted to Mater Misericordiae University Hospital because of his ‘racing thoughts.’
After learning of this, John rushed to the hospital, but staff told them there was no available bed.
He booked a luxury hotel for the night and planned to go to the hospital they recommended the next day.
In the meantime, medical helicopter doctor Lisa Cunningham was in touch with John and his family to help navigate the Irish medical system, as they were connected by a mutual friend.
Cunningham, located about 150 miles away from the two, consulted a nearby hospital about Henry’s alarming behavior.
They deemed he was in urgent need of admission, and the doctor relayed the information to the McGowans.
McGowan was found unresponsive inside the leisure area of the hotel, seen here, and was later pronounced dead
It was at the exclusive hotel that his father later joined him after flying to Ireland from New York on Monday evening, after worried staff reported him acting erratically
Images taken at parties in the Hamptons show him rubbing shoulders with the likes of award winning architect Ted Flato, seen here second from the left alongside Henry, center
His father had jetted across the Atlantic, leaving his $1.9 million home in Canaan, Connecticut, seen here, to help his son
The family called John to update him on Cunningham’s new plan – but he was not answering the phone.
After hours of calling the hotel, police, and John’s phone, they had no idea what was happening.
The family finally reached the police, and an officer said only that ‘there was bad news,’ without providing details.
One of the family members discovered a local Irish news article at 11.30pm, and it read: ‘A man in his 60s has died after he was assaulted in Co Laois.’
‘A man, aged in his 30s, was arrested.’
One of the McGowan daughters shared the link with Cunningham, texting: ‘Henry killed our dad.’
Henry is now at a forensic mental hospital outside Dublin, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition combining symptoms of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
John’s children remember him as ‘warm, down-to-earth, intellectually curious and sometimes goofy.’ The father was a bookworm, loved crossword puzzles and sports.
In a statement to the Times, the hospital said: ‘The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital’s priority is to be at the frontier of compassion, concern and clinical care for all our patients and their families.’
‘The Mater Hospital cannot comment on individual patient cases for confidentiality reasons.’
