Murder of Michele MacNeill

Martin MacNeill (born February 1, 1956) is a convicted murderer, sex offender, identity thief, forger, and fraud. He was also the father of eight children, four of whom were adopted from Ukraine, and was married for nearly 30 years to Michele Marie Somers. He was formerly a physician from Pleasant Grove, Utah, served in the military, and received his law degree. On November 9, 2013, he was convicted of the first degree murder of his wife, Michele, on April 11, 2007. He was also convicted by the Provo, Utah jury of obstruction of justice for hindering the investigation of his wife's murder.

Personal life

Martin MacNeill joined the military in 1973 at the age of 17. Martin was placed on disability leave for mental health reasons in 1975 and received Veterans benefits for years. Michele Marie Somers, born to Milton and Helen Somers in 1957, married Martin MacNeill about 1977; They were married 30 years and had eight children, four of whom were adopted. The MacNeills lived in Pleasant Grove, Utah and were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Martin MacNeill was the medical director of Utah State Development Center and was a former bishop at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although MacNeill also had a law degree, he did not practice law. Martin was reputedly dissatisfied with his marriage, made statements about wanting a divorce and had extramarital affairs, including a relationship with Gypsy Willis before and after the death of his wife, Michele.

In January 2010, MacNeill's 24-year-old son Damien committed suicide. He was a law student at the time of his death.

Events leading up to the murder

Cosmetic surgery

In March, 2007 Martin MacNeill presented the idea to Michele of having cosmetic surgery. Michele was reluctant to have the surgery performed in the short term, preferring to postpone the operation for health reasons. She wanted to ensure that her high blood pressure was well under control and lose some weight. Martin pressed for the surgery, conducted on April 3, 2007, and provided a list of medicines that he wanted prescribed for his wife: Promethazine, Zolpidem, Diazepam, and Oxycodone. Dr. Scott Thompson, who performed the surgery, admitted that he did not normally prescribe Diazepam (or Valium) and Oxycodone for his patients.

Michele spent the night in the hospital and was released April 4. The following morning, Michele was found to be "unresponsive" by her oldest daughter, Alexis, who was on break from medical school. Her father, Martin, told her that he may have "overmedicated" his wife. Although Michele survived, Alexis then took care of dispensing medicine to her mother during the rest of her stay at her parent's home. According to Alexis, Michele was fearful of Martin's efforts to give her medicine she did not need.

Mistress

Prosecutors contended that MacNeill killed his wife so he could be with his mistress, Gypsy Willis. MacNeill hired Willis as a nanny for his youngest children, two weeks after murdering Michele. On April 6, Michele confronted Martin about numerous calls and text messages to Gypsy Willis.

Health condition

During the weeks leading up to the murder, MacNeill gave the impression he had contracted a medical condition that required him to walk with a cane. His medical records showed that he had been in good health. Martin MacNeill also "had been collecting veteran benefits for decades, saying in an application he had bipolar or anti-social disorders."

Death and autopsy

Daughter Alexis returned to medical school on April 10, 2007, believing that her mother's recovery was well underway. The following day, April 11, 2007, Michele MacNeill and Alexis talked at 8:44 a.m. MST and Michele said that she was doing well. At 9:10 a.m., Martin called his daughter Alexis asking her to call her mother, saying he was concerned that she wasn't doing well and wasn't getting out of bed. Although Martin said that he was at work in the morning, he was not seen from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m, when he arrived at a local Safety Fair. After picking up his youngest daughter Ada from school about 11:35, they arrived back at the home between 11:35 and 11:46 and Ada found her mother unresponsive, head down in the master bathroom bathtub. Later that day she was declared dead.

An autopsy was performed, and her cause of death was determined to be cardiovascular disease, and considered a natural death.

The children of Michele and Martin MacNeill questioned their mother's cause of death, and pressed for a review of the toxicology report. Dr. Todd Grey, the State of Utah's chief medical examiner performed the review, and found that none of the medicines found in her body were at toxic levels, but that the combination of Promethazine, Zolpidem, Diazepam, and Oxycodone "could have led to sedation and heart arrhythmia, resulting in cardiac death." Because of Grey's report, her cause of death was changed on October 6, 2010 to "undetermined".

Identity theft

Martin MacNeil and Gypsy Willis were both convicted of identity theft, using the identity of MacNeill's adopted daughter for Willis' benefit. The daughter had been sent back to the Ukraine.

Murder trial

Martin MacNeill pled not guilty, claiming his wife died due to accidental death. Medical examiners did not rule that her death was the result of murder, but prosecutors convinced the jury that Martin MacNeill was responsible for killing his wife by drowning and prescription drugs. The arrest warrant stated that earlier in his life, MacNeill had attempted to murder his mother and had killed his brother, Rufus Roy MacNeill, who had been found dead in a bathtub. MacNeill had not been tried for his brother's death.

After the prosecution filed a motion to ban camera coverage of the trial, the Utah 4th District Court, upholding a state rule which went into effect April 1, ruled that the trial could be broadcast and live-streamed – the first in Utah history. Coverage would exclude video of testimony by federal inmates who feared retaliation.

The 22-day trial started October 18, and was litigated by Chief Prosecutor Chad Grunander and Martin MacNeill's defense team included Randall Spencer. In his closing statement to the jury, 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." During the trial, a previous mistress of Martin MacNeill testified that MacNeill had stated that there was a way to kill a person that would appear to be a natural heart attack. Fellow inmates claimed that MacNeill had claimed he killed his wife, but it couldn't be proven.

The defense claimed that Michele MacNeill had overdosed on her prescribed medication and fallen into the bathtub and drowned. The jury deliberated for 11 hours and on November 9, 2013, found MacNeill guilty of both obstruction of justice and first degree murder. The murder conviction carries a term of fifteen years to life, with an additional 1–15 years for obstruction.

On December 6, 2013, it was reported that he attempted suicide while in jail.

Sexual abuse trial

Martin MacNeill was accused of inappropriately touching his daughter, now named Alexis Somers, on May 23, 2007, five weeks after the death of his wife. In July 2014, an eight-person jury in Provo heard less than one day of testimony from three witnesses in the trial of MacNeill. The jury found MacNeill guilty and he was convicted of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

Sentencing

On September 15, 2014, Martin MacNeill was sentenced to one to 15 years for his conviction on forcible sexual abuse of his daughter, Alexis Somers. Because MacNeill refuses to admit wrongdoing or cooperate with investigators, he is ineligible for sex offender treatment and cannot be considered for probation.

On September 19, 2014, MacNeill was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years up to life in prison for his first-degree murder conviction plus another term of one to 15 years for his conviction on obstruction of justice charges. Since Fourth District Judge Derek Pullman made the murder and obstruction sentences consecutive to the sexual abuse sentence, MacNeill will not be eligible for parole for at least 17 years.

Further reading

• Jennifer Dobner (November 13, 2013). "Mother's words became MacNeill daughter's quest for justice". Desert News.
• Marissa Lang (November 18, 2013). "MacNeill back in court on sex assault charge". The Salt Lake Tribune.
• "Martin MacNeill trial: Timeline". HLN.
• "Martin MacNeill Trial News Stories". ABC News.
• Alexandra Thomas (October 29, 2013). "Martin MacNeill case: Background on the key players". HLN.
• Brian West (November 13, 2013). "Martin MacNeill Timeline". Deseret News.