The State of Utah vs. Dr. Martin MacNeill

Dr. Martin MacNeill's murder trial is set to begin on October 15, 2013 in Salt Lake City Utah. The trial is expected to be televised, although it is not clear if coverage will be local or national.  Court documents on HLN's website give us a peek into the state's case against the bad doctor, who also happens to hold a law degree.

In a court document filed on August 24, 2012, the state alleges that Martin MacNeill administered a lethal cocktail of drugs to his wife - enough drugs to render her unable to move about or function on her own, and then he drowned her in the bathtub of their Pleasant Grove, Utah home.  Michele MacNeill had underwent cosmetic surgery approximately a week prior to her death. The state alleges Martin MacNeill used the drugs prescribed by the surgeon (at his suggestion) to drug his wife.  According to many people who had contact with Michele after her surgery, she was recovering well and functioning on her own. She did not need the prescription painkillers and sedatives any longer by the time of her death.

The evidence shows that on the morning of her death, Michele was given Valium, Percocet, Phenergan and Ambien. Martin then continued his morning running errands and dropping his children off at school. There were several periods of time when his whereabouts could not be accounted for, and he was in close proximity to the home. Martin MacNeill left a voicemail for daughter Alexis, saying he had been interacting with Michele that morning. Alexis was in Las Vegas attending medical school. Court records state that two days after the surgery, Alexis found her mother listless and unresponsive. When Alexis confronted her father about giving her mother too much medication, he admitted he may have given her too much. It is during this time when Michele reportedly told Alexis "if something happens to me, make sure it wasn't your dad". This statement has haunted Alexis and Michele's family.

Alexis returned to Las Vegas to attend classes on April 10, 2007. On April 11, 2007 Michele was dead. Coincidence or murder?  Martin MacNeill's varying accounts of what happened to Michele and how her body was discovered should have been the first clue that something was amiss.  If Michele, a otherwise healthy 50 year old woman who didn't need or want to take the medication she was prescribed for the surgery ended up with so much drugs in her system, shouldn't that have been probable cause to look into how the drugs got in her system? Why didn't law enforcement officials take Alexis' statements about her own father more seriously, and at least leave the investigation open longer? I'm not sure why this took so long to become a homicide case, but thankfully it did.

This trial should be full of shocking revelations. A Hollywood script writer couldn't come up with something so sordid. The main character in this trial, in addition to the defendant should be a woman named Gypsy Willis. She was Martin's mistress for at least a year prior to Michele's death - shortly after her death, she became the children's nanny and moved into the MacNeill home. Also expected to testify are witnesses only referred to as "Inmate #1" and "Inmate #2".  These are people Martin MacNeill allegedly confided in while he was serving time in federal prison for identity theft, forgery, misuse of a social security number and a slew of other white collar crimes.  Inmate #1 and #2's identity will be protected and they will not be photographed or shown on television.

Undoubtedly Martin MacNeill's attorneys will argue that Michele took the prescription drugs on her own, and the bathtub drowning was nothing more than a horrible accident.  The 911 call he made after he found her will take center stage, his actions or in actions in removing his wife from the bathtub will be put under a microscope as well as his alleged efforts in performing CPR on his wife prior to the ambulance arriving will all be examined. What was Martin's motive to kill Michele? She was planning to divorce him. He didn't want to lose his assets and she wanted out. They had many children, and he would've likely had to pay a great deal of money to support them. And then there's the matter of that mistress, Gypsy. This should be a jaw dropping trial. But let's not forget the reason there is going to be a trial. Michele was a mother, a sister, a daughter and a friend. And she didn't have to die.