Michele married Martin MacNeill, who became a doctor, and quickly built a big family with eight children. When he turned 50, he made some big life changes, and convinced his wife to get a facelift.
Their eight children were Rachel, Vanessa, Alexis, Damian, Giselle, Sabrina, Elle, and Ada. Michele gave Alexis a warning about Martin days before her own death. Source: CNN
To the outside world, the MacNeills seemed like the quintessential all-American family. Living in Pleasant Grove, Utah, Michele and Martin raised their eight children, four of whom were adopted. But behind closed doors, the relationship between Michele and Martin was always strained.
She raised four children and then opened her heart and her life and adopted four more children. And she was just a wonderful example of just love and compassion.” Take an inside look into the life and death of Michele MacNeill in ABC’s 20/20 episode airing June 14 at 9 p.m. ET.
Martin MacNeill, 58, of Utah, is still awaiting sentencing for the 2007 murder of his wife, Michele, who he overmedicated so she would drown in a bathtub. Now he could receive up to 15 years on top of that for the sexual assault of his daughter Alexis Somers, 30. Brave Alexis Somers after her father was found guilty of sexually abusing her.
Their eight children were Rachel, Vanessa, Alexis, Damian, Giselle, Sabrina, Elle, and Ada. Michele gave Alexis a warning about Martin days before her own death.
In November 2013, Dr. Martin MacNeill was convicted of first-degree murder. 2. He Committed Suicide in Prison on April 17 Michele MacNeill’s daughter Rachel MacNeill walks away from the media after her father, Martin MacNeill was found guilty of the murder of his wife Michele MacNeill on November 9, 2013 in Provo, Utah.
What happened to Michele MacNeill?
Though it was initially ruled that she passed from natural causes, two of her daughters, Alexis Somers and Rachel MacNeill, suspected that their father, Martin MacNeill, murdered their mom.
Martin’s only son, Damian, had a girlfriend at the time, Eileen Hang. At the trial, she testified that her boyfriend’s dad asked her to flush the pills down the toilet, explaining, “He asked me to and he just lost his wife and I wanted to help.”.
Prosecutors argued at the trial that Martin encouraged his wife to get a facelift since he was losing weight and focusing more on his appearance. After the surgery, he asked the doctor for a list of prescription medications, which was supplied to him. Article continues below advertisement. Source: ABC.
Alexis told the jury that since her mom had patches over her eyes from the plastic surgery, she wanted to feel each of the pills in her own hands to know what Martin was giving her because she too suspected foul play.
Why did Michele MacNeill’s kids lose their mother?
In April 2007, the eight kids of the MacNeill family lost their mother, Michele MacNeill, in what authorities quickly determined to be due to natural causes, just days after she had undergone facelift surgery. But some of those children and others in Michele MacNeill’s family led a dogged campaign to have a thorough investigation …
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Michele MacNeill was found lifeless in a bathtub in 2007.
Rachel MacNeill was kicked out of the family home with her sister Alexis in the wake of their mother’s death. (MORE: Days after death of Utah doctor who killed wife, daughter opens up about decadelong nightmare) Michele MacNeill began to suspect her husband was having an affair and confronted him about it.
Most of the MacNeill daughters took the stand and testified about their relationship with their father, how their trust had slowly eroded, and how they came to believe that he killed their mother. “To be actually in that court room and to have my father having to listen was kind of surreal,” Somers said.
Somers wanted to count how much of the medication was left to see how much her mom had taken , but found out her father had already asked someone to flush the remaining pills down the toilet.
Daughter Alexis MacNeill now goes by her mother’s name, Somers.
In July 2012, MacNeill was released from prison after serving three years for fraud. He returned to the same home where he and Michele had lived together.
Why did Michele MacNeill overmedicate?
Michele MacNeill was overmedicated by her husband so he could be with his mistress. Source:Supplied. They say the former bishop killed his wife so he could be with his mistress, Gypsy Willis. Willis, who was the children’s nanny, spent every night in MacNeill’s bed after his wife was killed.
Ms Somers, who was 24 at the time, said she moved into the family home after her mother died to take care of her younger sisters. “I was feeling panic, horror, fear that my sisters were not safe,’ she told the jury. “They were at the home of someone who just murdered my mum.”.
MacNeill tried to kill himself in December, leaving a suicide note an slitting a major artery with a razor however prison officials saved his life.
