SAN JOSE, California — A San Jose man who poisoned his mother with fentanyl has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Bradley Dexter, 43, pleaded no contest to first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Kathleen Dexter, 72, and received the sentence on Wednesday, October 21, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced — a sentence also recorded in the Mercury News report listed by the District Attorney's office on October 23.

Source: Mercury News report listed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office

Prosecutors said Dexter laced his mother's oat milk with fentanyl about two weeks before she died; she recovered after hospital treatment, but he then laced her wine with the drug, which proved fatal, and her death was ruled a homicide. Kathleen Dexter was found dead on June 6, 2023. An autopsy found a large amount of fentanyl in her system, and she had no prescription for the drug, according to reporting on the case.

Source: KRON reporting, via True Crime News syndication

Investigators said the case grew out of a family dispute. Police suspected Dexter had poisoned his mother amid a dispute over inheritance money after his grandparents died in 2018, when he believed he was entitled to a larger share, according to a San Jose Police Department report cited in coverage. His sister, Pamela Endsley, said he had claimed he killed his mother for religious reasons and believed she was a sinner — a claim reported as the family's account, alongside the police suspicion about money. Dexter was arrested in September 2023, and poisoning and elder-abuse charges were dropped under the plea.

Source: Law & Crime reporting on the sentencing and police report

At the sentencing hearing, Dexter apologised and described his addiction history and a mental-health crisis. '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,' he told the court, saying he had been experiencing severe psychosis at the time. Deputy District Attorney Marisa McKeown said she was glad the family was spared a trial and pleased the defendant seemed to wholeheartedly take responsibility, and she described Kathleen Dexter as an incredibly loving mother who had stood by her son through years of struggles, including drug addiction and crime.

Source: Law & Crime reporting on the sentencing hearing

Dexter will receive credit for time already served and will be eligible for parole after 18 years, according to reporting on the hearing. The sentence closes a case that began with a death investigators first treated as suspicious in June 2023 and that prosecutors pursued as a deliberate poisoning inside the victim's own home.