Martin MacNeill

Using a bathtub brought into court by prosecutors, neighbors of a former Utah doctor charged with murder in his wife’s death demonstrated Friday how they found the woman’s body.

They also described frantic moments at the home after they were summoned for help by a daughter of defendant Martin MacNeill.

They recalled finding MacNeill in a lab coat, blaming his wife for her condition while asking for help lifting and trying to resuscitate her.

“She looked lifeless and collapsed,” testified Doug Daniels, MacNeill’s next-door neighbor at the time.

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A former Utah doctor accused of hounding his wife to get a face-lift so he could kill her with a lethal combination of prescription drugs acted erratically the day she died and claimed she had wanted the surgery, prosecutors said Thursday in opening statements at the murder trial.

In addition, Martin MacNeill told fellow inmates after his arrest that his wife was a “bitch;” he was glad she was dead; and authorities couldn’t prove he killed her, prosecutor Sam Pead told jurors.

Prosecutors have said the killing was the climax of a twisted plot by MacNeill to carry on an affair with his mistress, who MacNeill invited to his wife’s funeral and asked to marry him weeks later.

The case has shocked the Mormon community of Provo, 45 miles south of Salt Lake City, and captured national attention because the defendant was a doctor.

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HLN is live-blogging the Martin MacNeill murder trial. Minute-by-minute updates can be found under this story.

Former Utah doctor Martin MacNeill was a coldhearted husband who moved his mistress into the family’s house not long after his wife’s funeral, alleged a prosecuting attorney Thursday in the first day of MacNeill’s murder trial.

Prosecutor Sam Pead also accused Martin MacNeill of being all smiles at his wife Michele’s burial, and said he talked about “how odd it was to be a bachelor again.”

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Utah doctor Martin MacNeill is accused of drugging and drowning his wife, Michele, who was found dead in the bathtub of their family home in 2007. MacNeill is charged with first-degree murder. Stay with HLN for all the details of this complicated case as the trial unfolds.

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PROVO — As first responders worked to revive his wife, an agitated Martin MacNeill shouted directives for her treatment and told a fire chief he thought the former beauty queen had overdosed on painkillers and then fallen and hit her head in the tub.

He also railed against God for Michele MacNeill’s apparent death.

“He said that based on his affiliation (with the LDS Church) and the amount of money he’s donated, this is how God repaid him,” Pleasant Grove Fire Chief Marc Sanderson testified.

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Jury selection starts Tuesday; prosecutors say motive was younger woman.

By JessicaMiller | The Salt Lake Tribune

Michele MacNeill, the mother of eight children and a former beauty queen, seems an unlikely candidate to have been killed in her own bathtub. While her husband, a well-known Utah County doctor who also has a law degree, seems just as unlikely in the role of murder suspect.

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The neighbor of Martin MacNeill testified at the Utah doctor’s murder trial today that she found MacNeill’s wife lifeless in a bathtub wearing only a black long-sleeve shirt.

Next-door neighbor Kristi Daniels told the jury that six-year-old Ada MacNeill came to her and said, “my dad needs some help.”

When Daniels entered the home on April 11, 2007, she said she stood in the doorway of the bathroom where Martin MacNeill was with his wife, Michele, who was unconscious in the bathtub and whose skin was a “greenish pale” color.

“It all happened so fast,” Daniels kept saying on the stand in the courtroom in Provo, Utah.

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Jury selection starts Tuesday; prosecutors say motive was younger woman.

By JessicaMiller | The Salt Lake Tribune

Michele MacNeill, the mother of eight children and a former beauty queen, seems an unlikely candidate to have been killed in her own bathtub. While her husband, a well-known Utah County doctor who also has a law degree, seems just as unlikely in the role of murder suspect.

But prosecutors say Martin MacNeill, 57, had an age-old motive — he was driven to kill his wife so he could continue having an affair with a younger woman.

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Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Martin MacNeill, a doctor accused of murdering his wife appears in Judge Sam McVey’s Fourth District Court in Provo Wednesday October 10 for his preliminary hearing.

October 09, 2013 12:25 am  •  Paige Fieldsted – Daily Herald

PROVO — In the final hearing before Martin MacNeill stands trial for murder a number of motions were ruled in hopes of making the extensive trial run smoothly and without interruptions.

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan ruled that prosecutors cannot elicit opinions about whether or not MacNeill grieved appropriately or not following the death of his wife, Michele. Prosecutors may call on witnesses to describe how MacNeill acted and what they saw and heard but the decision as to whether that was appropriate grief will be left to jury.

Judge Pullan also denied a motion to dismiss the obstruction of justice charge against MacNeill. Defense attorney Randy Spencer argued that the statute of limitations had run out and it wasn’t his clients fault that he was in federal prison in Texas and couldn’t be prosecuted before the statute ran out. Pullan denied the motion saying that MacNeill made the choice to be in Texas by committing a federal crime in a state where there is no federal prison.

Judge Pullan also ruled that several federal inmates and at least one former Utah County Jail inmate can testify at the trial. Spencer argued that the inmates are inherently unreliable and are therefore not competent to testify. Judge Pullan said that the defense could show unreliability through cross examination and that there was no legal reason as to why the inmates testimony should be excluded from trial. Pullan, however, did order that the Utah County Attorney’s Office disclose any offers or deals that have been given to or will be given to the inmates based on their cooperation at trial. read more »

PROVO — Just two weeks before Martin MacNeill is scheduled to stand trial for the murder of his wife, Michele, a number of motions are still in the process of being ruled on.

Monday afternoon, 4th District Judge Derek Pullan ruled on a motion filed by the defense regarding a number of statements the prosecution can and cannot make during the trial including calling Michele a victim. read more »

Posted on: 4:37 pm, September 30, 2013, by Ben Winslow, updated on: 05:51am, October 1, 2013

PROVO — A judge has ordered prosecutors to not refer to Michele MacNeill as a “victim” in her husband’s upcoming murder trial.

The ruling by 4th District Court Judge Derek Pullan came at the end of a long day of arguments over motions in the high-profile murder case of Dr. Martin MacNeill. The judge granted a defense motion limiting prosecutors’ remarks in opening and closing statements, including the use of the word “victim.”

Judge Pullan also instructed prosecutors to tell police officers they are not allowed to refer to Michele MacNeill as a “victim” in their testimony, as it makes the presumption that she was murdered (the jury must determine that). read more »

Judge Samuel D. McVey speaks to Martin Joseph MacNeill and his Attorney Randall Spencer during his initial appearance Monday, Aug. 27, 2012 in Provo Utah. Scott G Winterton/Deseret News

September 04, 2013 12:25 am  •  Paige Fieldsted – Daily Herald

PROVO — The murder case against Martin MacNeill has been assigned to a new judge in the 4th District Court.

The motion to disqualify Judge McVey, along with supporting documents, is sealed and not accessible to the Daily Herald, but the motion was granted on Aug. 27 and Judge Derek Pullan was reassigned the case.

According to court documents in the case, the Rule 63(B) motion to disqualify was filed the day prior and a telephone conference with Judge McVey was held on Aug. 27. McVey referred the motion to Presiding 4th District Judge David Mortensen who made the reassignment. According to court documents, the motion was filed by the defense and the Utah County attorney’s office opposed the motion.

According to Utah Code, any party in a case can file a motion to disqualify a judge based on bias, prejudice or a conflict of interest. read more »