Inset (left): Bradley Dexter (San Jose Police Department). Inset (right): Kathleen Dexter (Legacy.com obituary). Background: Santa Clara County Superior Court in Morgan Hill, Calif. (Google Maps).
A California man has been sentenced to prison for poisoning his mother to death over a money dispute.
Bradley Dexter, 43, pleaded no contest to first-degree murder and was handed a sentence of 25 years to life on Wednesday, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced. According to the DA, Bradley Dexter killed his mother, 72-year-old Kathleen Dexter, by putting a fatal dose of fentanyl in glasses of oat milk and wine. She was found dead on June 6, 2023, amid an ongoing dispute with her son about inheritance money.
The Mercury News obtained a police report in which police said Bradley Dexter admitted to poisoning his mother during an interrogation in connection with an alleged assault against his father months after Kathleen Dexter's death. During the conversation, which took place on Sept. 25, 2023, Bradley Dexter told police that he first laced his mother's oat milk with fentanyl on the day of his son's high school graduation.
When Kathleen Dexter survived that poisoning attempt, Bradley Dexter poisoned her a second time, this time by putting fentanyl in his mother's wine. Kathleen Dexter's grandson, who found her unresponsive, told police that his grandmother had been vomiting for three days prior to her death. Before that time, she had no major medical issues.
An autopsy revealed the presence of fentanyl in Kathleen Dexter's system. Since she had not been prescribed the medication, police believed foul play was involved in her death.
Investigators spoke with several members of the family, who pointed authorities to her son as a prime suspect. Family members told police that Bradley Dexter argued with his mother about inheritance money that he believed he was entitled to, and some suspected he was stealing her Social Security money. Bradley Dexter also reportedly threatened to kill his mother before he finally carried out the fatal poisoning.
According to reporting by local CW affiliate KRON, Bradley Dexter felt he deserved more inheritance money after his grandparent's death in 2018.
During the three years Bradley Dexter's case progressed, he provided different reasons for why he killed his mother. Kathleen Dexter's sister, Pamela Endsley, told KRON that he said he killed his mother because she was a "sinner."
Family members and friends told KRON that Bradley Dexter struggled with drug addiction, but his mother "always wanted to give Brad another chance."
During his sentencing, Bradley Dexter spoke in court about his past struggles with drugs, saying that he had spent three years in jail dealing with his addiction and "skeletons" from his childhood. At the time he killed his mother, he said, he was going through a mental health crisis and was in a state of "psychosis."
He told the court, "I'm very sorry for what happened. Not a day goes by that I don't regret my actions. I love my mom. If I could give up my own life to bring her back, I would. I'm not the person I was."
Bradley Dexter got credit for time served and will be eligible for parole in 18 years.
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