Martin MacNeill

March 06, 2013 12:25 am  •  Paige Fieldsted – Daily Herald

PROVO – Tuesday should have marked the beginning of a six-week murder trial in the Martin MacNeill case, but instead attorneys are still hashing out issues of evidence and alleged misconduct by both parties.

In December MacNeill’s defense attorneys filed a motion to dismiss or disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office from prosecuting the case. On Tuesday morning the two sides met to argue the state’s motion to strike that motion.

Prosecutor Sam Pead argued that the defense didn’t provide grounds for dismissal in its original motion. Pead also argued that the defense brought forth a number of issues that weren’t addressed in the original motion, which shouldn’t be considered by the judge when he makes his decision. read more »

By Emiley Morgan, Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, March 5 2013 5:28 p.m. MST

PROVO — A judge on Tuesday threw out a motion to dismiss the murder case against a Pleasant Grove doctor accused of killing his wife.

But 4th District Judge Samuel McVey will let attorneys for Martin MacNeill, 57, pursue an alternative course in seeking to have the Utah County Attorney’s Office disqualified from prosecuting him.

“I believe the defense should be able to present their case,” the judge said Tuesday, noting that he will ask defense attorneys to give a specific list of issues they want to explore. “I want to make sure this doesn’t turn into a fishing expedition.” read more »

By Emiley Morgan, Deseret News
Published: Monday, Dec. 17 2012 1:20 p.m. MST

ROVO — Attorneys for a Pleasant Grove doctor charged with murdering his wife filed a motion Monday to dismiss the case.

In the motion, attorneys for Martin MacNeill ask for either a dismissal of the charges against their client or the disqualification of the Utah County Attorney’s Office from prosecuting the case. They allege that prosecutors and investigators with the Utah County Attorney’s Office kept them from more than 1,000 pages of information — some of it “explosive” — that they believe points to their client’s innocence.

MacNeill, 56, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, in the April 11, 2007, death of his wife, Michele MacNeill, 50. He was ordered to stand trial following a preliminary hearing in October. A five-week trial is scheduled to begin March 5, 2013.

MacNeill’s attorneys argue that the case has been “irreparably compromised” because of evidence they say they asked for and never received, including information about the MacNeills’ son, Damian. read more »

Paige Fieldsted – Daily Herald

PROVO — Attorneys for a former Pleasant Grove doctor filed a motion Monday morning asking a judge to dismiss the murder charge against him.

Attorneys Randall Spencer and Susanne Gustin asked that the case be dismissed or that the Utah County Attorney’s Office be disqualified from prosecuting the case against Martin MacNeill. MacNeill has been charged in the 2007 death of his wife, Michele MacNeill.

In a 47-page memorandum outlining the reasons for their motion the attorneys wrote, “One of the main reasons for this motion is that the defense team has obtained ‘explosive’ information from a ‘thumb drive’ containing nearly one thousand pages of documents that were not provided to counsel after repeated requests for information from the Utah County Attorney’s Office.” read more »

November 27, 2012 12:26 pm  •  Daily Herald

Martin MacNeill was in court on Tuesday morning for a scheduling conference. After the defense filed a motion requesting a bill of particulars earlier this month oral arguments were set for Dec. 17.

Defense attorney Randy Spencer said they are looking for the date, time, place and acts that MacNeill did to cause his wife Michelle’s death so they can defend against those accusations.

It also was decided a pool of 120 potential jurors will be use to select the jury and that the jury selection process will begin in early January.

The trial is scheduled to begin in March.

November 15, 2012 12:22 am  •  Paige Fieldsted – Daily Herald

PROVO – Martin MacNeill, a former Pleasant Grove doctor accused of killing his wife in 2007, is seeking more information on the charges he is facing.

In a motion filed by defense attorney Randall Spencer this month, MacNeill is asking the court to require prosecutors to provide a document called a bill of particulars. Specifically, the defense is asking for “a more specific statement of the state’s theory as to the precise time defendant allegedly administered drugs to the decedent, how defendant allegedly administered drugs to the decedent, the precise time of death and the precise cause of death — was it a heart arrhythmia, drowning, potassium poisoning or something else?” Spencer wrote in his motion. read more »

October 23, 2012 12:18 am  •  Paige Fieldsted – Daily Herald

PROVO – Martin MacNeill pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and obstruction of justice on Monday. MacNeill is charged with killing his wife Michele in 2007.

Earlier this month, 4th District Judge Samuel McVey ruled there was enough evidence for MacNeill to stand trial on the two felony charges after six days of testimony during a preliminary hearing. The trial will be from March 5 to April 10.

“We are happy it is after the holidays,” Alexis Somers, MacNeill’s daughter, said. “I am anxious to see this resolved and put my father in jail permanently for my mother’s murder.”

Defense attorneys Randall K. Spencer and Susanne Gustin say they will be using at least a week during the trial for MacNeill’s defense.

“We have plenty of time to be prepared and we will be putting on a vigorous defense,” Gustin said. “Martin is looking forward to proving his innocence.”

MacNeill will be in court again on Nov. 26 for a scheduling conference.

Posted on: 12:01 pm, October 11, 2012, by Brittany Green-Miner, Meredith Forrest Kulwicki and Tamara Vaifanua

PROVO, Utah – A Utah County doctor will stand trial for allegedly killing his wife in 2007.

The decision was made Thursday during Dr. Martin MacNeill’s preliminary hearing. read more »

Pleasant Grove man showed “evidence of a guilty mind” after woman’s ’07 death.

By Jessica Miller | The Salt Lake Tribune - First Published Oct 11 2012

Provo • There wasn’t any single piece of evidence that made up Judge Samuel McVey’s mind when he ruled that Martin MacNeill, a 56-year-old Pleasant Grove doctor, would stand trial in the 2007 death of his wife.

After making the ruling on Thursday in 4th District Court, McVey rehashed details of the case that seemed suspicious or showed MacNeill may have had a guilty mind.

First, his daughter saw him looking up medications in a dusty, seldom-used Physicians’ Desk Reference in the days before his wife’s death.

Then, MacNeill insisted on plastic surgery for his 50-year-old wife and pushed through despite her reservations about high blood pressure and wanting to lose weight. read more »

JIM DALRYMPLE – DAILY HERALD

PROVO — After nearly two hours of argument Thursday morning, Judge Samuel McVey walked into a Provo courtroom and ordered Martin MacNeill to stand trial for murder.

MacNeill, who was shackled and sitting across the room in a jail jumpsuit, cocked his head slightly to the left but otherwise showed no emotion as the judge read the ruling.

The decision means a jury likely will hear the evidence that in August led prosecutors to charge MacNeill with first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstruction of justice. The charges stem from allegations that MacNeill killed his wife, Michele, in 2007 a week after pushing her to have plastic surgery.

After delivering his ruling Thursday, McVey provided a lengthy explanation of the case as it had been argued over nearly two weeks of testimony. Among other things, the explanation detailed how MacNeill, a doctor, was having an affair with Gypsy Willis at the time of Michele’s death. McVey went on to single out testimony by Willis and another of MacNeill’s former mistresses as being “inherently incredible.” read more »

Pleasant Grove doctor ordered to stand trial for murder in wife’s 2007 death

• Martin MacNeill, 56, ‘gave wife Michele lethal cocktail of drugs before she was found drowned in the bath at their home’ in 2007
• Gypsy Jyll Willis ‘met him online in 2005 and started a relationship’
• She ‘moved into a house he owned and he gave her an unlimited credit card’
• After wife’s death, MacNeill ‘orchestrated a meeting between his daughter and Willis at a Mormon temple and pretended not to know her’

A woman who had a year-long affair with a doctor before he allegedly killed his wife has testified that he moved her into his family home just weeks after the murder to be the new nanny.

Gypsy Jyll Willis detailed the clandestine relationship as she took the stand in the fifth day of a preliminary hearing of Martin MacNeill, 56, in Provo, Utah on Wednesday.

As she left the stand, she locked eyes with MacNeill, staring adoringly at him as she walked past.

MacNeill, a former Mormon Sunday school teacher and father of seven is accused of murdering his wife Michele, who was found drowned in the bathtub at their Pleasant Grove, Utah home in 2007.

He is accused of forcing her to have a face lift before giving her a cocktail of lethal drugs, which he claimed would help her recovery. She was found dead eight days later.

Look of love: Gypsy Willis passes Martin MacNeill, a doctor accused of murdering his wife, after testifying against him on Wednesday. They had an affair for more than a year before the death read more »

October 12, 2012 12:25 am  •  Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

PROVO – After nearly two hours of argument Thursday morning, 4th District Judge Samuel McVey walked into a Provo courtroom and ordered Martin MacNeill to stand trial for murder.

MacNeill, who was shackled and sitting across the room in a jail jumpsuit, cocked his head slightly to the left but otherwise showed no emotion as the judge read the ruling.

The decision means a jury likely will hear the evidence that in August led prosecutors to charge MacNeill with first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstruction of justice. The charges stem from allegations that MacNeill killed his wife Michele in 2007 a week after pushing her to have plastic surgery.

After delivering his ruling Thursday, McVey provided a lengthy explanation of the case as it had been argued over nearly two weeks of testimony. Among other things, the explanation detailed how MacNeill, a doctor, was having an affair with Gypsy Willis at the time of Michele’s death. McVey went on to single out testimony by Willis and another of MacNeill’s former mistresses as being “inherently incredible.” read more »

PROVO — Pleasant Grove doctor Martin MacNeill faced his daughter and a former girlfriend in court Wednesday, as prosecutors presented their case against him in the death of his wife.

Outside the courtroom, close friends of the late Michelle MacNeill said this case has shown them a side of Martin they never knew existed.

Michelle was found dead in her bathtub in April of 2007. Prosecutors say her husband gave her a dangerous combination of drugs shortly after she underwent a plastic surgery procedure.

“He presented to be very much in love with Michelle,” said Michelle’s friend Loreen Thompson.

he “woman” Radmall was referring to is Gypsy Jillian Willis. Martin MacNeill hired her to be the family’s nanny after his wife died. read more »

Posted on: 7:19 pm, October 10, 2012, by Ben Winslow

PROVO — The woman Dr. Martin MacNeill is accused of having an affair with at the time of his wife’s mysterious death testified against him at his preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Gypsy Willis testified about her relationship with him, which began in 2005, about two years before Michelle MacNeill died. She was later hired as the children’s nanny.

“I thought he was wonderful,” Willis told the court during testimony.

Prosecutors say MacNeill killed his wife in 2007 by drugging and then drowning her inside their Pleasant Grove home so he could continue his affair with Willis. Outside the courthouse, she sprinted from reporters and news cameras, refusing to answer questions.

Willis testified as part of a plea bargain to state and federal charges she was facing, prosecutors said. read more »

Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

PROVO — Dr. Joshua Perper testified Wednesday that Michele MacNeill likely died from drowning. Perper, a doctor and author who testified for prosecutors, said that drugs found in Michele’s blood may have contributed to the death, but that he still thought she died in a bathtub in 2007. Perper said he couldn’t determine if the drowning was accidental or “homicidal.”

Prosecutors, however, believe that Michele’s death was intentionally carried out by her husband Martin MacNeill on April 11, 2007. They charged MacNeill with murder in August, and Perper’s testimony was part of a lengthy preliminary hearing that began last week. The hearing was an opportunity for prosecutors to prove they have sufficient evidence to proceed to trial in the case. read more »

Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

PROVO – Just days after Rachel MacNeill’s mother, Michele, died in 2007, her father, Martin MacNeill, asked her to accompany him to the LDS temple in American Fork. He wanted to pray about getting a nanny for the family, Rachel testified Wednesday in court, so she went.

But when Rachel and her father arrived, he suggested participating in initiatory ceremonies — which meant they wouldn’t have a chance to talk about getting a nanny — then later he met her outside where they were confronted by a woman.

According to Rachel, MacNeill asked the woman her name at least three times. Each time, the woman replied that she went by Jillian. After she left, MacNeill suggested they take the woman out to lunch, though Rachel insisted she just wanted to talk about the nanny. Then MacNeill snapped.

“He said ‘Rachel, you’re never going to amount to anything in life. You think everything’s going to be handed to you,’ ” Rachel testified. read more »

Doctor killed wife, prosecutors say, so he could continue extra-marital affair

By Jessica Miller | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Oct 10 2012 01:14 pm

Provo • Gypsy Jyll Willis said she never intended to start a serious relationship with Martin MacNeill.

But that all changed after MacNeill’s wife was found dead in a bathtub at her Pleasant Grove home on April 11, 2007.

Willis said her sexual relationship with MacNeill began in November 2005, while MacNeill was still married.

“It was just for fun, just exciting,” she testified in 4th District Court on Wednesday. “Just for on the side.”

But she said “circumstances changed completely” after Michele MacNeill’s death.

MacNeill needed support, she said, so he decided to bring her into the family — but he staged a meeting, pretending like she was only an acquaintance and brought her into his family’s home as a nanny. read more »

Martin MacNeill accused of killing wife to continue affair with another woman.

By Jessica Miller | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Oct 09 2012 01:08 pm

“cocktail” of drugs that would have caused loss of consciousness, respiratory depression and coma, according to an expert who testified Tuesday during a preliminary hearing in 4th District Court.

Four drugs were found in Michele MacNeill’s blood after her death in April 2007: oxycodone, promethazine, diazepam and zolpidem, which is also known as Ambien.

Gary Dawson, a clinical pharmacologist and forensic toxicologist from Idaho, testified that all four drugs are central nervous system depressants, and all have an additive effect to one another.

Dawson said the level of Ambien found in Michele MacNeill’s blood would indicate the drug was taken within a few hours of her death, and would not be in her system if she had taken it the night before, as is typical to treat insomnia.

The “cocktail” of drugs and accompanying effects, according to Dawson, “would likely render the victim unable to respond appropriately to her environment, including potential threats to her safety.” read more »

October 10, 2012 12:25 am  •  Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

PROVO – Steve Mickelson had worked with Martin MacNeill for seven years when he received a call on April 11 saying there was a problem.

“I had just received a call from Martin,” Mickelson testified Tuesday in court. “Something’s wrong at Martin’s home, and can you come over.”

Mickelson said when he arrived at the home he saw MacNeill’s wife, Michele, on the floor receiving CPR. Mickelson also testified that Michele wasn’t wearing any clothes and that a nearby bathtub was empty.

Michele never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead later that day. Mickelson’s testimony was part of MacNeill’s preliminary hearing, during which prosecutors are attempting to prove they have sufficient evidence to charge him with murder for her death. The hearing began last week and has included testimony from various experts, law enforcement officers and MacNeill family members. read more »

April 11, 2007 marks the beginning of this madness and the tragic end of my sister’s life. It has been a long battle to get to this courtroom. It seems inconceivable that the days have finally arrived, yet years overdue.

It has been very difficult for me to listen to a description of Michele’s final days.  I found myself having to go somewhere else in my mind to withstand the aching inside as the tragic details are unraveled.  I would hear the proceedings, but would have to, at times, take my mind back to our innocent childhood days as sisters.   I would reflect back upon some good memories I could recall like playing with our dog Daisy’s puppies, pulling wagons, riding bikes, piling on the couch with mom to watch our favorite tv shows, sucking big fresh dill pickles from the grocery store deli for a dime, getting ready for school together and so many other special times. It got me through the day to relive these warm calm happy feelings that we felt in our carefree days as children; confident that’s what Michele was feeling now. read more »

October 04, 2012 1:47 pm  •  Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

PROVO — One of the first cops to arrive at the home of Martin MacNeill on April 11, 2007, Pleasant Grove officer Ray Ormond said he found a woman lying on a bathroom floor.

“She was bluish in color, kind of pale,” Ormond testified Thursday morning in court. “She had clothing on the upper half of her body, she was wet on the upper half of her body.”

The woman was MacNeill’s wife, Michele, who was pronounced dead later that day, despite efforts by Ormond and others to revive her. After an extensive investigation, prosecutors charged MacNeill with murder, saying he intentionally plotted Michele’s death. read more »

Witnesses testify of day Michele MacNeill died in her Pleasant Grove home

PROVO — Martin MacNeill was the “stronger” personality, the “dominant” personality, the one who neighbors talked to and the one who commanded conversations with the doctors who worked with his wife, Michele, witnesses testified Wednesday.

He taught Sunday School classes. She wrote on the board for him in her beautiful calligraphy. He answered questions about her medical history for her as she deferred to him. Neighbors who often talked to Martin MacNeill, 56, said they don’t remember doing much more than exchanging casual pleasantries with his wife. read more »

October 04, 2012 3:20 pm  •  Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

PROVO — Anna Walthall was going through a messy divorce in 2005 when she turned for support to the doctor working at her laser hair removal company.

“I was going through lots of life changes and didn’t have a support system,” she said. “And Martin stepped in to help me. It turned info a sexual relationship. An affair.”

Walthall was referring to Dr. Martin MacNeill, who sat across a courtroom from her, shackled and facing a murder charge for killing his wife, Michele, in 2007 after she had plastic surgery.

Years before that alleged killing, however, Walthall recalled hearing MacNeill make a series of homicidal comments. She said shortly after her relationship with MacNeill turned sexual he told her about a time that he nearly killed his mother. According to Walthall, MacNeill didn’t have a good relationship with his mother and one day saw her passed out on a couch. He responded by going around the house, collecting all the medication he could find and putting them in a beer. Then he served it to his mother. read more »

PROVO, Utah – A prominent Utah doctor charged with his wife’s murder was back in court Wednesday. read more »

Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

PROVO — Midway through the first afternoon of Martin MacNeill’s murder hearing on Wednesday prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call he made on April 11, 2007. In the call, MacNeill can be heard screaming almost unintelligibly that his wife had “fallen in the bathtub,” was under water and “was not breathing at all.”
Play MacNeill 911 Call

read more »

Prosecutors allege Martin MacNeill killed his wife in 2007 so he could continue affair.

Provo • Utah County prosecutors began presenting evidence Wednesday alleging Martin MacNeill, a 56-year-old Pleasant Grove doctor, killed his wife five years ago to free himself for an affair with another woman.

Following the five-day preliminary hearing, which is scheduled to end next week, a 4th District judge will decide if there is enough evidence to order MacNeill stand trial on charges of first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstructing justice.

MacNeill is accused of giving 50-year-old Michele MacNeill a deadly mixture of prescription drugs after she came home to recover from cosmetic surgery in April 2007. Martin MacNeill picked up one of his daughters from school on April 11, 2007. When they got home, the daughter found her mother in a bathtub that was a quarter full of reddish-brown water, charging documents state. read more »

Witnesses testify of day Michele MacNeill died in her Pleasant Grove home
By Emiley Morgan, Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 3 2012 6:46 p.m. MDT