Trial of Martin MacNeill

Season 1, Episode 1

Physician Martin MacNeill is charged with killing his wife, Michele MacNeill

Michele Marie MacNeill, née Somers, (January 15, 1957 – April 11, 2007) was an American murder victim, fashion model and homemaker. Michele was married for nearly 30 years to the physician Martin MacNeill and was the mother of eight children.

She died in Pleasant Grove, Utah, on April 11, 2007, while at home recovering from cosmetic surgery performed eight days earlier.

At her husband's request, the operating surgeon prescribed four medicines for her recovery; two of the drugs, Diazepam and Oxycodone, would not normally be prescribed to his patients.

Michele had been concerned during her recovery that Martin was having an affair and that she had been given medication by him inappropriately. Her daughter Alexis, a medical student at that time, then took responsibility for giving Michele her medicine. Michele recovered sufficiently for Alexis to return to school and Michele died the following day.

Initially, police and autopsy reports concluded that Michele died of cardiovascular disease, but after being pressed to review the toxicology report, the state's chief medical examiner found that the combination of medicines in her body could have contributed to cardiac death.

During the trial, which began on October 17, 2013, Chief Prosecutor Chad Grunander stated, "It was an almost perfect murder, [MacNeill] pumped her full of drugs that he knew would be difficult to detect once she was dead."
Martin MacNeill was convicted of Michele's murder and obstruction of justice in a widely publicized case involving marital infidelity, sexual abuse, and outward religious devotion.

Martin MacNeill was sentenced to 17 years to life. He committed suicide in prison in April 2017.

Related keywords: True Crime, Court, Court in the Act, Holly Street, Max Street