Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20160326

Gypsy. Was she a motive for murder . In court, an epic showdown. Father against daughter. And daughter why were you seeking information as to your mothers death . Because i believed my father killed her. But was the evidence on his side . The medical examiners report listed it as a natural cause of death. Who will you believe . Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with secrets in Pleasant Grove. The story youre about to witness is all too human. Oh, what people will do to each other. And yet, puzzling. There were these three women. Wouldnt have a story to tell without them. Two sisters and their aunt. And what they discovered, of course, might make you wonder, can you ever really see the truth in the face in the mirror or the face beside you in bed at night . The story begins with a beauty queen. All right, a former beauty queen named Michele Macneill and she was look at this. She was truly lovely. But this is about what happened to michele the year she turned 50, the very last year of her life. Though she couldnt possibly have known it. As she contemplated a question a lot of people do as youth fades, plastic surgery. Should she or shouldnt she . She answered, for one reason or another, yes, yes, i will. And before long everything that we thought in our life was just all shattered. What happened to Michele Macneill . What was behind the breathless playbyplay in a utah courtroom, the raw family drama played out in full public view, the hidden sins of well, youll see. Here. This is a picture of their magical beginning. Both beautiful, michele and Martin Macneill. Everybody liked smart, charismatic michele from childhood on said her sister linda cluff. She entered different pageants. She won homecoming queen. And she did modeling. She was an Exchange Student in switzerland. She excelled at everything. Martin did, too, in his own way. Took a little while but eventually he became a doctor and then a lawyer and then a leader in his local ward of the church of the jesus christ of latter day saints. The mormons. But before he did any of that, back when this picture was taken, it was just unstoppable love. Did they like elope or something . Uhhuh. Did they just run off together . They got married by a justice of the peace. They had four children. Eventually set up house in a place called Pleasant Grove in utah and loved their family life so much they adopted four more little kids, three of them from ukraine. Alexis from the first set of four, followed her father everywhere, was his little shadow. You kind of idolized him, huh . I did. I wanted to follow in his footsteps in some way. I became a doctor because of him. So for people from the outside looking in, what would they see . A very happy family. A wonderful mother who doted on her children and a father who was a physician and an attorney and present a lot in their childrens lives. Rachel, the eldest, shared her fathers love of books. I remember when i was little just holding on to my fathers hand and just to walk with him and i was daddys little girl. And their mother, michele she was an amazing and beautiful person on the inside and out. And so it went for nearly 30 years. As he built a career and they together raised their big family. And then heres how martin reacted to middle age. Around the time he turned 50, he lost a lot of weight, started tanning hello . Yeah. It was very out of the ordinary. Right. Very abnormal for him. And thats when her mother michele confronted that question, the one about looking younger, getting something of the past back, the facelift question. Shes like, i dont really want it but if your dads getting all fixed up and looking good, then maybe i should. What did you say to her . I said, mom, you dont need that. Youre beautiful. I mean, she was incredibly beautiful. But decision made on april 3rd, 2007, michele checked into the hospital in bountiful, utah. The doctors worked on her for almost nine hours. A long time for a facelift. Still, they proclaimed to be complete success and the very next day she went home again. Her face covered in bandages. But otherwise, apparently in perfect health. Alexis had been with her mother for the surgery, stayed for a week to nurse her through her recovery and now relieved, alexis returned to her medical studies in nevada. My mom and my father dropped me off at the airport and i looked back, my mom was doing well, i smiled, and i said, ill call you soon. Which she did. I asked her how she was doing. She was fine. She was getting up. She told me that, alexis, your dad is being so sweet to me. Hes just being so sweet to me. And that was the last time i talked to her. That was april 11th, eight days after the surgery. When i came home from work, i i checked my cell phone and saw that i had missed i believe it was 20 something calls, and i called my father. I said, dad, whats happened . And he said, rachel, come home. And i said, dad, tell me. Tell me whats happened. Its mom. Is she okay . And my father said, rachel, come home. And then he just hung up. When we come back, what had happened to Michelle Macneill . The events of that day would launch a longrunning mystery. Whos in the bathtub . My wife one that would rip this closeknit family apart. It was horrifying. T was horr. This is a vanilla bean. I see vanilla specks. A little crushed vanilla bean. Twenty hundred vanilla specks. Breyers has fresh cream, sugar and milk. Breyers natural vanilla. Milk and fresh cream. And only sustainably farmed vanilla. Heres my ice cream dance. Ever spin on your head . Yeah. Once. Breyers. The good vanilla. Were proud to announce that our milk and cream come from cows not treated with artificial growth hormones. 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Amope. Love every step. She was just 50 years old. She had lived a clean, healthy, mormon life. All she wanted was to look a little younger, a little prettier for her husband and now police department. I need an ambulance. Okay. Whats the problem, sir . Medical. Sir, whats wrong . My wifes fallen in the bathtub. Whos in the bathtub . Whos in the bathtub . My wife dr. Martin macneill, panic in his voice, struggled to make the 911 operator understand. I need help they are on their way. Is your wife breathing . She is not. I am a physician. I have cpr in progress. Youre doing cpr . Yes sir, how old is your wife . My wife is 50 years old. She just had surgery a couple days, a week ago. What kind of surgery did she have . A facelift. She had a facelift . Yes. Do you know how to do cpr . I am doing it okay, do not hang martin performed cpr on his wife until the First Responders arrived, but it was too late. I called alexis. I said, alexis, whats happened . Somethings happened with mom. And i said, moms dead, isnt she . And alexis said, yes, she is. Martin said he left the house early in the morning for work. Later in the morning, he accepted an award at a safety fair. And then about 11 30, he left the office to pick up 6yearold daughter ada from school. When they got home, ada rushed up the stairs to see her mother and found her in the bathtub, unresponsive. It was horrifying. I mean, this was my mom, a vibrant, Healthy Woman who was just ripped out of the world. What happened . Michele was a young 50, didnt drink, didnt smoke. She was carrying more weight than she wanted to, but the only thing really out of e ordinary was the surgery she had just had. I wasnt concerned about the health aspect of her doing the facelift. I just didnt think she needed it. So, if a complication from the surgery seemed unlikely, perhaps this theory from martin made more sense. Maybe michele had taken too much pain medication, and while running a bath, fell headfirst into the tub. He said she was slumped over the tub, her head down into the water and her legs out of the water. But something about that didnt sound right to alexis. For one thing, 6yearold ada, who also saw her mother in the tub, had a slightly different memory. She said that she found her laying back, her head by the faucet. Facing up . Facing up, fully clothed and in her jogging suit. A strange discrepancy but not hard to explain given the turmoil of that day. But then alexis also remembered how after the facelift, micheles doctor prescribed hydrocodone, promethazine and ambien but that her father also requested ambien and percoset. To alexis, that seemed like too much medication. He told the Plastic Surgeon exactly what medication he wanted him to prescribe to her. Isnt it the surgeon that usually prescribes the medication . Oh, yeah. That was strange. Stranger still was what happened after michele died, when alexis went looking for those pills, asked her dad about them. Where were they . He told me, oh, the police must have taken them. But i later found out that he had my brother and his girlfriend flush them down the toilet and throw the bottles away and his reasoning for that, he told them that it made him too sad looking at having her medication there. Very unpleasant thoughts rattled around in alexis head and then there was the business of the funeral. My father was very adamant to have the funeral right away. And at the funeral, said his daughters, martin talked less about his wife of nearly 30 years than he did about himself. Lord, i thought i was your boy. Lord, i thought i was doing a good job. As the hours passed last night, the answer came to me. Ive had such a good life. Alexis and rachel were appalled by that and angry. But even as they pondered what to do with their blossoming suspicion, the autopsy results were released. And the police chief Michael Smith the results seemed crystal clear. The medical examiners report indicated that michele had died of myocarditis and hypertension and it listed it as a natural cause of death. In other words, it was classic Heart Disease, a cause of death all too common among women micheles age, especially someone with high blood pressure. The daughters suspicions, it turns out, were not based on any palpable facts. The drugs in micheles system were therapeutic levels said the toxicology report. As far as the state of utah was concerned, the matter was closed. The medical examiner in the state of utah is the ultimate say when it comes to the cause and the manner of death. But the tension in the macneill family worsened. Martin and alexis disagreed over how to care for the younger children now that michele was gone. He had started saying, im going to get a nanny. We need a nanny. I cant take care of these kids by myself. Coming up, Martin Macneill hires help. Nanny or not . Oh, i found the perfect nanny and i said, dad, whats her name . He said, oh, its jillian. And i said, dad, i know that woman. Yes, she did. And so will you. When dateline continues. Datel. Discover all the naturally moisturizing flavors of burts bees lip balm. Sfx ambient office sounds, a phone rings, laughter life makes you deal with things far outside your job description. Life needs ziploc sfx containers stacking sc johnson at baas hard as the family everthat earned it. Work thats why were putting more food in our salisbury steak dinners and adding real cream to our mashed potatoes. So now. Theres more to love with banquet. Now serving. A better banquet. Are you powered by protein . Milk has 8 grams to help give you energy to unleash your potential. Start every day with milks protein and milk life. Dont let dust and allergies get and lifes beautiful moments. With flonase allergy relief, they wont. Most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. Flonase controls six. And six is greater than one. Flonase changes everything. Every Auto Insurance policy has a number. But not every Insurance Company understands the life behind it. Those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. There are many kinds of grief. Alexis and rachel were struggling with the angry kind. Not angry with their mother for dying. No. It was what grew from the suspicion they felt that their father was hiding something very bad. But still, there were practical matters to deal with, such as who should care for the four younger macneill children . Alexis returned to medical school so rachel volunteered. Their father, martin, insisted they find a nanny instead right away. He asked me he demanded that we go to the temple to pray about having a nanny, which was very strange, because my father was not a very spiritual person at all. And there outside the temple, they were approached by a mysterious brunette. She said, oh, i was at the funeral, and i am so sorry for your loss and my father said, oh, im sorry, i know i know whats your name . And she said, my names jillian. And my father said, oh, okay. About a week after that encounter, martin hired that friendly, sympathetic woman and told his daughters oh, i found the perfect nanny. I found someone thats going to be great. And i said, dad, whats her name . And he said, oh, its jillian i think its jillian. The name, jillian, didnt mean anything to rachel. But alexis i said, dad, i know that woman. I know mom was concerned you were having an affair with her. An affair . Well, yes. Or at least before michele died, that is certainly what she suspected. So worried about it, she asked alexis to help her find out for sure. My mom confided in me about everything, all of her feelings, her concerns. And so i took his cell phone and was able to download his password, and we did see a number that my dad had been calling quite a few times. You hacked into his phone . Uhhuh. Yeah. We called the number. And a woman answered and then hung up right away. So i paid for an Online Search and it came up with a name. And it was gypsy Jillian Willis. Gypsy Jillian Willis . Yeah. I mean, at first, we had no idea like gypsy, what kind of name is gypsy . I mean, we thought maybe it was a stripper. I dont know what. But anyway, my mom with that information, with the ladys name, went to my dad and confronted him. Martin denied everything, said alexis. And then the very next day, he made a curious suggestion. My father came to my mom and told her that she needs a facelift. That is i mean, lots of women decide they want facelifts. Yeah. But when their husband comes and says, you need one yeah. I mean, it was really out of the blue. The facelift that preceded micheles death. And now, here was gypsy jillian, martins choice for a livein nanny, someone he just happened to find. So, she got the job. She moved into the house, and this was just a couple of weeks after my mothers death. Martins daughter were furious. They wanted to know what other secrets their father had been keeping. They expanded their investigation. My sister put a blog up and was asking anyone with any information about my father to contact her. I mean, we discovered that he had had so many different affairs. There was a lot of Different Things that came out. With their aunt linda, they took all of the information they had gathered on martin and brought it to the authorities. Pushing and pushing to get them to investigate. The local police had never investigated micheles death as a crime, not from the very first day. And remember that coroners report . Micheles death was caused by Heart Disease. For us to be able to overcome Something Like a medical Examiners Office that says she died of Natural Causes is a huge task. But the women were relentless. They met with Jeff Robinson and doug witney who worked for the county attorney. You took them seriously right off the top, the daughters . Not really. But then they started to look at some of the evidence the amateur sleuths had gathered. Not added to murder, but still. They started to challenge a lot of things that their father, who he was, what he was, what he was doing. And so we thought, you know what, id like to find out if he really is a doctor. Yes. They learned martin did have a medical degree, but he fraudulently got into medical school. Absolutely. By faking the results of he obviously took somebody elses. Because there was a different date of entrance. There was a different date of graduation and all of them were straight as. Then they dug deeper and found that before he faked his college transcripts, martin was convicted of forging checks. Now to investigators, the respected doctor was looking anything but respectable. This tells me that this is not the guy that goes to church every sunday with his family. So there are two Martin Macneills . There are two Martin Macneills. Still doesnt mean he murdered his wife, does it . No, no. But to martins daughters, they looked at their fathers list of offenses, the fraud, the infidelity, how he encouraged their mother to have surgery and take so many drugs afterwards. And they were certain their father killed their mother. He betrayed us to our very core. I mean, everything that we thought in our life was all shattered. Its all a sham. It really is. Its been a whole sham. But not everyone in the family felt that way. Damian, martins only son, stuck by his father. He had a hard time after my mom died. I had talked to him about my concerns, and he didnt want to believe that my father was capable of killing my mom. But alexis conviction was absolute. Every time she stepped foot in her parents home, only one thought went through her mind this is where he killed her. And yet, there was still no hard evidence that martin killed michele. Almost two years went by, martin and gypsy still carrying on in plain sight. But then, in january 2009 suddenly they are both arrested . Yes. Yeah. But not for what people might have thought. Oh, no. Oh, no. Coming up, two lovers cook up a secret crime. He stole giselles identity . For gypsy. And two sisters suffer another heartbreaking loss. He was such a wonderful guy. I miss him. I miss him. To the couple who set aside the whole day to sell their old car and buy a new one. Oops. Nanas got the kids til 9. But its only 2. Guess youll just have to see a movie. Then get some dinner. What a pity. Hush my darling. Dont fear my darling. The lion sleeps tonight. [snoring. ] hush my darling. [snoring. ] dont fear my darling. The lion sleeps tonight. [snoring. ] take the roar out of snore. Yet another innovation only at a sleep number store. Martin macneills daughters seethed. Their father turned their house into a tawdry love nest into a home for gypsy willis. For nearly two years, they had been laser focused on proving his guilt, trying to persuade the police or anyone that martin murdered michele. And sure enough, they discovered a crime, not murder, but shocking nonetheless. Giselle it all started when martin sent his 16yearold adopted daughter, giselle, off to ukraine to visit her biological sister. Giselle called my daughters phone and then they started talking and giselle started crying and told her story that she got left there. Abandoned, basically . Right. Why would he do that . Well, a bit more digging revealed that martin and gypsy had cooked up a scheme, and it involved taking over daughter giselles Social Security number. He stole giselles identity . For gypsy. Yes, for gypsy, who it emerged was how shall we say financially challenged. The new forged identity wiped her debts away. It also gave her a brandnew name, jillian macneill. But the lies didnt end there. They began posing as husband and wife. Giselles out of the picture. Martin wants to make gypsy look like his wife. Now that was low. But even worse they used the date of my moms funeral as their marriage date. Martin and gypsy were arrested in january 2009. Not for murder. For fraud. They both pleaded guilty. Martin got four years, gypsy 21 months. And to avoid any more charges, gypsy promised shed testify against martin in any future legal actions. It was a victory for alexis. But her campaign against her father had consequences. Its me all by myself. Like the wedge it drove between the sisters and their brother damian. It put a strain on your relationship . It did. Once my dad was sentenced, he kind of didnt want to have anything to do with us. And then he killed himself. Damian macneill committed suicide in january 2010. He was such a wonderful guy. I miss him. But the Murder Investigation continued. Picked up steam, in fact. The two investigators debriefed gypsy in prison. That was a treasure trove of information that she gave us at that point. She confirmed that chance meeting at the temple with rachel was a setup, a ruse to get her into the house after michele was gone. How long had she and martin been planning it . I said, so you staged and scripted that meeting . Yep. And when did you script it . Was it during the funeral . Was it before the death . So no comment. The investigators went back to the prosecutor over and over, urging him, charge martin with murder but what did the prosecutor say to you . See this medical examiners report . Death of Natural Causes . Thats right. There was a new medical examiner. They showed him their report, the file, the arrest for fraud. And i said, have you even read our reports . He said, ive scanned it. I said, you cannot scan this report. I said, just read this much while were here. And he did, and he goes, hmm, okay, i think im going to look at this deeper. After his review, the m. E. Did agree to make one small change in the manner of death from natural to undetermined. But that hardly broke the case wide open. He refused to call it a homicide . Sure. Absolutely. Macneill was just released from federal prison. And so by the summer of 2012, Martin Macneill was once again a free man. He had served his time for fraud. We first spoke to alexis after her dad was released from prison. Hes a free man. How does that make you feel . Very scared, you know you had been his chief accuser all these years. Yeah. Im concerned not only for myself and my family, but for everyone who comes into contact with my father because i know hes a dangerous man. The investigators agreed. But the prosecutor wanted more, something they could take to court. Show me how she died. Show me how she died. I said, i believe i know how she died, but i just cant prove it yet. And then one little detail jumped up and said, look at me. The time that came to me is when we heard from the officers and the emt guys when she threw up water. If michele threw up water when the emts did cpr, that meant martin, the doctor, hadnt done it properly, if at all. Okay. Do you know how to do cpr . Im doing it and with that, all the circumstantial bits seemed to line up and support the idea of a planned murder, a plot that began after martin took up with gypsy. His wife finally finds out concrete evidence that hes doing it. Hes trapped. What do i do . I cant lose my good name because im going to lose my job. Im going to lose my reputation. Im going to lose everything else. So what does he do . Drugs her and drowns her. And finally, the prosecutor agreed. And so in august 2012, martins daughters sat in a utah courtroom holding up pictures of their dead mother as their father appeared in court on charges of firstdegree murder. If she hadnt pushed, if she hadnt started making those calls, would this have ever gone anywhere . I dont think it would have come to me. I think so it would have just so probably would have closed it out as unfounded. Now, the family drama would play out for a jury. But the outcome, at that point, it was far from certain. Coming up a mistress turned witness. My name is gypsy willis. And one more secret. Mistress number two. Is it fair to say that you and dr. Macneill began an affair . Yes. When dateline continues. Heres how it feels to get 50 off most National Carrier rates too. 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Hi guys, need you on set for the kiss. Great. Well be out in five, thank you. Siri, find game of thrones. No, no, no. Do you mind . Open apple music. What are you doing . Play jeremih. Oh yea. Yeah you know what were good. What . Were overthinking it. What a strange thing it was, that the day Martin Macneill was charged with murdering his wife, his daughters only regret was that it had taken more than five years. I think my dad really got off on seeing what he could get away with. When the trial began this october 17th, provo, utah, martin was noticeably pale and prosecutor chad grunander was a little worried. It seems like a case where you kind of got the impression that the guy was guilty, but proving it was not going to be an easy manner. Its going to be difficult to wrap it all up early and give the jury this nice little box with a bow on top. Gypsy willis and the defendant the prosecution told the jury that martin drugged and drowned his wife michele, that he made a plan to get rid of her when he had a love affair with that woman named gypsy. And that once he dispatched michele, he was practically gleeful, even on the day of her funeral. The defendant was jovial, laughing and smiling again remarking that he would have to get used to the life of a bachelor. How callous said the prosecutor, but as for evidence that he murdered her, remember, the autopsy said Heart Disease was the cause of death, not murder. This case is a puzzle with many pieces. Your wife is unconscious . She is unconscious. Shes underwater. First piece, they said, was martins behavior that morning during his 911 call. Martin seemed angry. He hung up on the operator. Okay. Do you know how to do cpr . Im doing it. Okay. Do not hang First Responders had trouble finding the house. And when they finally did arrive, the police said martin was acting so erratically, it made them nervous. I was concerned about my safety, actually. And while martin, the doctor, was performing cpr he was kind of yelling at her, why did you do this . Why did you do this . And then he struck her in the chest with one of his hands. But when the police took over, remember she expels three to four cups of water. And what would have happened had he done cpr is she would have already expelled that . Is that what youre saying . I believe so. And remember how martin said he found his wife head down in the tub, her legs sticking over the edge . Prosecutors showed how his account differed from that of every other witness, even his then 6yearold daughter, ada. This is a Police Interview with ada recorded in 2008. Was she all the way in the bathtub or just partway in the bathtub . All the way. Please raise your right hand and take an oath. And then prosecutors called to the stand the woman at the center of it all, the woman who so captivated martin, the mistress. And, they said, the motive. My name is gypsy willis. Gypsy told the jury an online relationship with martin turned sexual. It was a very casual thing. It was just whenever we had time and it could be arranged. Okay. And it was go ahead. I think we probably had sex half the time. I mean, sometimes it was just lunch. The very day after micheles death, gypsy took a sexy selfie and sent it to martin. There was one picture where it was a little bit suggestive. Showing your buttocks . Yes. And as we know, it wasnt long before gypsy moved into the macneill house, supposedly hired as a nanny. If i told you that others have testified that you were not much of a nanny in terms of cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children and were instead staring gooeyed at the defendant, what would be your response . My response is that when the Adult Children were home, i deferred to them and went back to studying my nursing. I did actually help with the children. Though gypsy told the jury she never did marry martin, they did hear about all those fake documents, including the marriage date of april 14th, 2007, the date that michele was buried. And remember, gypsy had to testify as part of her plea deal. Probably didnt want to. She clearly minimized their relationship, but i think in so doing, the jury saw that. But just to be sure, the prosecutor had gypsy read love letters martin wrote to her from federal prison. I love you and miss you every minute. I can think of nothing but how wonderful you are. So gypsy, said the prosecutor, was martins motive for murder. That is, if it was a murder and if it was, was she involved . In light of all this information, are you telling us you dont know anything more about micheles death . That is correct. Do you believe she had something to do with it . Well, as far as the actual death, we have no evidence to show that she did. As far as being a coconspirator, talking about it, the evidence speaks for itself. And so gypsys star turn was over. Outside the court, she said she was overwhelmed by all of the attention. Its a frightening experience. Testifying here today . Being in court at all. Ive never had more than a speeding ticket to this point. Of course, as we know, that wasnt even close to being true. And back in the courtroom, the jury was finding out that gypsy wasnt martins first mistress. Is it fair to say that you and dr. Macneill began an affair . Yes. This woman said she canoodled with martin before he took up with gypsy. And their pillow talk, she told the jury, included what sounded like a prescription for murder. Did martin ever describe to you a process of making someone have a heart attack . Yes. Specifically, what did he tell you . Theres something you can give someone thats natural so that its not detectable after they have a heart attack. Miss somers, please raise your right hand. And then the muchanticipated showdown, daughter versus father. After years of digging, collecting, and persuading others that her father was an evil, guilty man, alexis was about to take the stand. But the defense was about to argue alexis had her own problems with the truth. Coming up, the doctors defense. You still conclude that the manner of Michele Macneills death is undetermined . Yes. And the verdict. What would it be . When they were coming back after 11 hours, i was a little bit nervous. Bit nervous. T some water can dr. Rain threes. Even drain a buzzer beater. Were all made of water, so make every drop amazing. With brita. You are what you drink. Drink cleaner. Healthier. Amazing. With brita. 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I cant believe its made with real, simple ingredients. I cant believe. Were on a whale. [whale] i cant believe they talked me into this. I cant believe my role isnt bigger. Real, simple ingredients. Unbelievable taste. Oh its real enjoy i cant believe its not butter miss somers, if youll come forward to the clerks desk. For six years, Alexis Somers had been the strongest, most persistent voice arguing that her father murdered her mother. Prosecutor chad grunander. Her testimony was huge. Under oath, alexis told the same story she told us. Why were you seeking information as to your mothers death . Because i believe my father killed her. But now, the defense was going to try to prove alexis wrong. In fact, they were going to question if there was a murder at all. And they would start by using some of the accusing daughters own words. Remember alexis claim that her mother was feeling fine just before she died . Well, it turns out that wasnt what she said at her moms funeral. The last time i spoke to my mom, she was happy. She wasnt feeling she was feeling a little sick, but she was feeling a little sick. Thats what you said, right . I just dont remember her saying that she was feeling a little sick. I remember her being up and getting ready for the day. But you remembered it on the day of her funeral, right, three days later . And since that time, you have said over and over and over again that your mother was feeling great, there were no problems on april 11th. The implication . If michele was feeling sick just before she died, there could be a medical explanation for her death and that alexis memory was flexible. I just dont remember her feeling bad at all. She was feeling great. There are a lot of things you dont remember accurately in this case, right . Objection. And then the defense honed in on the states biggest problem. Here they were prosecuting a man for murder when, according to the states own medical examiner, the cause of death was most likely Heart Disease. Coroner dr. Todd grey admitted on the stand he never classified micheles death as a homicide. And that even his decision to call it undetermined was not exactly based on science. You met with the investigators in your office, correct . Yes, that is correct. And they worked hard to try and persuade you to change it . They gave me an extensive and indepth presentation of what they thought proved this was a homicide. And when prosecutors took an unusual step of hiring an outside medical expert to try to bolster the case for homicide, the defense showed on crossexamination he was no more definitive. When you consider all of the circumstances of this case, you still conclude that the manner of Michele Macneills death is undetermined . Yes, sir. Thank you. And remember that water in micheles lungs . Defense cocounsel Randy Spencer had an answer for that, too. Michele was found in the bathtub, and its very difficult to do cpr in a bathtub. So why didnt he pull her out of the tub . He couldnt. Barring some godgiven grant of superhuman strength, very few people would be able to lift a 182pound person out of a tub in that situation. Just in that moment, in that scene, regardless of what else he may have done that impugned his character, that morning, what was the strongest evidence that he did not kill his wife . I think that the strongest evidence was likely the time of death and where martin was that morning. Please raise your right hand and be sworn. The defense called witnesses who testified that they saw martin right about the time that michele collapsed in her bathtub. In other words, he wasnt there, couldnt have killed her. This is 6yearold ada macneills kindergarten teacher. And mr. Macneill picked her up that day . Yes. And he was there between 11 30 and 11 35 to pick up ada . Yes. And all those competing facts took closing arguments to put them together. The prosecutors was aggressive. Make no doubt, we believe he intentionally and knowingly caused the death of his wife. The evidence supports it. The motive is there. Its dripping. The means are there. And the opportunity is there. And the defense had to concede, martin was a cad and a cheat. But insisted the prosecution hadnt even proved there was a murder, let alone that martin committed it. I submit to you that none of the circumstances that the prosecution has submitted to you is consistent with homicide. They dont rise to the level of proof of beyond a reasonable doubt. And then the jury began deliberating. They huddled, hour after hour, late into that friday night. Midnight came and went. They were still talking. The longer the deliberations went, the more worried i got. Quicker deliberations the better . In this particular case, i thought so, because our case was fairly simple. Then, after 11 hours, the signal, a verdict. Too quick, thought the prosecutor. When they were coming back after 11 hours, i was a little bit nervous. It was 1 00 in the morning on saturday. We the jury, having reviewed the evidence of testimony in the case, find the defendant as to count one, murder, guilty. At that moment, micheles family couldnt hide their relief. Finally, after years of fighting, they had gotten what they wanted, what they demanded. But until that moment, martins Defense Attorneys believed, perhaps more than martin himself, that he would be acquitted. I think martin took it better than we did. He was like, im okay. And i was thinking, im not okay. And then according to defender Randy Spencer, martin said something quite remarkable. This may seem strange, but he even respects what his daughters did, not because he killed his wife, but because if they really believed that he killed his wife, he would expect them to advocate for her, and so he understands he told you that . He did. Yeah. Martin macneill received a sentence of 17 years to life in prison. He is appealing his conviction. Were just so happy he cant hurt anyone else. We miss our mom. Well never get her back but that courtroom was full of so many people who loved my mom. Do you feel you finally got justice . There is justice for my mom today. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Well see you again next friday at 10 00, 9 00 central and of course ill see you each weeknight for nbc nightly news. Im lester holt. Exclusi w infmatiothatraisg qu clarcountjail. Terry 2hot goodvenin im rry m squlrchlts right now at 11, exclusive information. First the cameras, then the fight. Shedding new light on what may have triggered