the dream she lived and those that died too soon with her. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> it was horrifying. this was my mom a vibrant woman just ripped out of the world. thaeverg everything that we thought in our life was shattered. he betrayed us to our very core. >> they were a stunning couple. a doctor and a beauty queen. >> she won homecoming queen. she did modelling. >> but the day she was found dead in the tub set a mystery in

motion. >> my father said, rachel, come home and then he just hung up. >> so many secrets locked tight for so many years uncovered by daughters turned detectives. >> you hacked into his phone? >> yeah. a lot of different things that came out. >> reporter: on things like a mi mistress named gypsy. epic show down. father against daughter and daughter. >> why were you seeking information as to your mother's death? >> because i believe my father killed her. >> reporter: but was the evidence on his side? >> the medical examiner's report listedit as a natural cause of death. >> who will you believe?

was the tragedy a result of natural causes? or cold-blooded murder? here is keith morrison with "secrets in pleasant grove. >> reporter: the story you're about to witness is all too human. oh, what people will do to each other. and, yet, well, puzzle iing. there were three women wouldn't 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? the face in the mirror? or the face bed you in bed at night? no. the story begins with a beauty queen. a former beauty queen named

michelle mcneil and she was -- look at this. she was truly lovely. but this is about what happened to michelle, the year she turned 50, the very last year of her life, though she couldn't possibly have known it. as we contemplated a question a lot of people do as youth fades. plastic surgery, should she or shouldn't she? she answered for one way or another, yes, yes, i will. before long. >> everything that we thought in her life just all shattered. >> reporter: what happened to michelle mcneil? what was behind the breathless play in a utah courtroom and raw family drama played out in full public view and the hidden scenes of -- well, you'll see. here, this is a picture of their magical beginning, both beautiful michelle and martin

mcneil. everybody liked smart, charismatic michelle from childhood on said her sister linda. >> she in her different pageants and she won homecoming queen and she did modeling and she was an exchange student in switzerland and she excelled at everything. >> reporter: martin did too in his open way. took a little while but eventually he became a doctor and enthen a lawyer and leader in the mormons but before he did any of that back when this picture was taken, it was just unstoppable love. did they like e lop or something or run off together? >> they got married by the justice of the peace. >> reporter: 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 kid, three of them from ukraine. alexus from the first set of four followed her father everywhere. was his little shadow. you kind of idolized him? >> i did. i wanted to follow in his fo footstep in some way. i became a doctor because of him. >> reporter: for people from the outside looking in, what would they say? >> a very happy family and a mother who loved her children and a father who was a physician and an attorney and present a lot in their children's lives. >> reporter: rachel, the eldest, shared her father's love of books. >> remembe when i was little just holding on to my father's hand and just to walk with him and he was daddy's little girl. >> reporter: and their mother michelle? >> she was an amazing and beautiful person on the inside and out. >> reporter: and so it went for

nearly 30 years. as he built a career and they, together, raised their big family. and then here is how martin reacted to middle age. >> around the time he turned 50, he lost a lot of weight, started tanning. >> reporter: hello! >> yeah. >> reporter: it was very out of the ordinary, very abnormal for him. >> reporter: and that is when her mother michelle confronted that question, the one about looking looking younger getting something of the past back, the face-lift question. >> she was like, i don't really want it but if your dad is getting all fixed up and looking good, what should i do. >> reporter: what did you say? >> mom, you don't need that. you're beautiful. she was incredibly beautiful. >> reporter: but decision made. in may she checked into the hospital and the doctors worked on her for almost nine hours. a long time for a face-lift. still they proclaimed is a

success and next home went home and her face covered in bandages but otherwise, apparently, in perfect health. alexis had been with her mother for her surgery and stayed with her for week and nursed her through her recovery and now relieved she returned to her medical studies in nevada. >> my mom and my father dropped me off at the airport. i looked back. my mom was doing well. i smiled and i said, i'll cale you, i'll call you soon. >> reporter: which she did. >> i asked her how she was doing. she was fine. she was getting up. she told me, your dad is being so sweet to me. he is being so sweet to me. and that was the last time i talked to her. >> reporter: that was april 11th, eight days after the surgery. >> when i came home from work, 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, what has happened? and he said, rachel, come home. and i said, dad, tell me. tell me what has happened? it's mom. is she okay? and my father said, rachel, come home. and then he just hung up. >> what happened to michelle mcneil? the events of that day would launch a long running mystery. coming up. >> who is in the bathtub? >> my wife. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. my wife. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. fight for blast offs fight for piggyback rides fight for 7 am makeouts. every year, walgreens helps millions of people fight the flu. fight to protect the ones you love. walgreens. be a flu fighter. get your free flu shot today

at your neighborhood walgreens. it can cause damage to the enamel. with pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. it's innovative. with pronamel repair, more minerals are able to enter deep into the enamel's surface. the fact that you have an opportunity to repair what's already been damaged...it's amazing. i think my go-to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. i thitoo many peoplethpaste a restless night's sleep. there's a better choice. aleve pm. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid and the 12-hour pain-relieving strength of aleve. that dares to last into the morning. so you feel refreshed.

aleve pm. there's a better choice. my car insurance to geico. this is how it made me feel. it was like that feeling when you pull your green sock out of the dryer and then the very next sock is the other green one. and then you pull out two blue ones. and you keep going till you've matched every single sock in perfect order. and the owner of the laundromat is so impressed, he hangs a picture of you next to the dryer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. the way you triumph over adversity. and live your lives. that's why we redesigned humira. we wanted to make the experience better for you. now there's less pain immediately following injection. we've reduced the size of the needle and removed the citrate buffers. and it has the same effectiveness you know and trust. humira citrate-free is here.

a little change can make a big difference. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. ask your doctor about humira citrate-free. here's to you.

she was just 50 an lived a clean life and all she wanted to look a little younger and a political prettier for her husband and now. >> dr. martin mcneil panic in his voice and struggling to make the 911 operator understand.

martin performed cpr on his wife until the first responders arrived but it was too late. >> i called alexus and i said, what has happened? something has happened with mom. and i said, mom is dead, isn't she? and alexis said, yes, she is. >> reporter: martin said he left the house early in the morning for work. later in the morning, he accepted an award at a safety fair. then about at 11:30, he left the office to pick up 6-year-old 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.

this was my mom, a vibrant healthy woman who was just ripped out of the world. >> reporter: what happened? michelle was a young 50, didn't drink, didn't smoke. she was carrying more weight than she wanted to but the only thing really out of the ordinary was the surgery she just had. >> i wasn't concerned about the health aspect of her doing the face-lift. i just didn't think she needed it. >> reporter: so if a complication from the surgery seemed unlikely, perhaps this theory from martin made more sense. maybe michelle had taken too pain medication and while running a bath fell head-first into the tub. >> he said she was slumped over the tub, her head down into the water and her legs out of the water. >> reporter: but something about that didn't sound right to alexis. for one thing, 6-year-old 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

fawcett. >> reporter: facing you? >> facing up, fully clothed in her jogging suit. >> reporter: a strange discrepancy but not hard to explain given the turmoil of that day but then alexis remembered how after the face-lift, michelle's doctprescd these drugs. but that her father asked them to also describe these percocet and valium. to alexus that seemed like too much medication. >> he told the plastic surgeon exactly what medication he wanted him to prescribe to her. >> reporter: isn't the surgeon who usually makes those decisions? >> oh, yeah. that was strange. >> reporter: stranger still is what happened after michelle died when alexis went looking for those pills. asked her dad about them. where were they? >> he said the police must have taken them. i later found out that he had my mother 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 her -- having her medication there. >> reporter: very unpleasant thoughts rattled around in alexis' head. and then the business of the funeral. >> my father was very adamant to have her funeral right away. >> reporter: and at the funeral said his daughters, martin talked less about his wife of nearly 30 years than he did about himself. alexis and rachel were appalled by that and angry. even as they wonderpondered whao the autopsy results were released. >> the medical examiner's report indicated that michelle had died

of of myocarditis. >> reporter: classic heart disease a denial all too common among women michelle's age and especially someone with high blood pressure. the daughter's suspicions it turned out were not based on any p palpable facts. as far as the state of utah was concerned the matter was closed. >> medical examiner in the state of utah is the ultimate say when it come to the cause and the manner of death. >> reporter: the attention in the mcneil family worsened. martin and alexis disagreed how to care for the younger children now that michelle was gone. >> he had started saying i'm getting a nanny. i can't take care of these kid by myself. >> reporter: coming up, martin mcneil hires help. >> oh, i found the perfect nanny

and i said, dad, what is her name? oh, it's jillian. i said, dad, i know that woman. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. w that woman. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues.

>> reporter: there are many kind 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 mcneil children. alexis returned to medical school, so rachel volunteered. but their father demanded they find a nanny right away. right away. >> he asked me -- he demanded we go to temple to pray for a nanny which was strange. because a nanny not a at all. >> and there they were approached by a mysterious brunette. >> she said i was at the funeral and i'm so sorry for your loss and my father said, i'm sorry, i know i know you, but what's your name? and she said my name's 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 that's going to

be great and i said dad, what's her name? and he said oh, it's jillian -- i think it's jillian. >> the name jillian didn't 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 michelle 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. so i took his cell phone and was able to download his password and we did see a number my dad had been calling quite a few times. >> you hacked into his phone? >> 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? >> ya. we thought maybe it's a stripper? i don't know what. but anyway, my mom 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 facelifts, but when their husband comes and says you need one? >> yeah. yeah, it was really out of the blue. >> the facelift that preceded michelle's death and now here was gypsy jillian, martin's choice for a live-in nanny. someone he just happened to find. >> so she got the job. she moved into the house and this was a couple of weeks after

my mom's death. >> martin's daughters 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 and was asking anyone with anyone information about my father to contact her. we discovered he had so many different affairs. there was a lot of different things that came out. >> with their aunt linda, they took all the information they gathered on martin and brought it to the authorities. >> pushing and pushing to get them to investigate. >> the local police had never investigated michelle's death as a crime. not from the very first day. and remember that coroner's report? michelle's 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 withever robinson and doug whitney who worked for

the county attorney. you took them seriously off the top? >> not really. >> but then they started to look at the evidence gathered. not evidence of murder but still -- >> they started to challenge a lot of things that their father, who he was, what he was, what he was doing. so we thought, you know what, i'd 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. >> faking the results of college? >> he took somebody else's because there was a different date of entrance and different date of graduation and all of them of straight as. >> then they found before he faked his college transcripts, martin was convicted of forging checks. now, to investigators, the respective doctor was looking anything but respectable. >> it tells me that this is not the guy that goes to church every sunday with his family. >> so there's two martin

mcneil's? >> there's two martin mcneils. >> still didn't mean he murdered his wife did it? >> no no. >> but his daughters looked at the fraud, the infidelity, how they encouraged their mother to have surgery and take so many drugs afterward and they were certain their father killed their mother. >> he betrayed us to our very core. everything that we thought in our life was all shattered. >> it's all a sham? >> it really is. it's been a whole sham. >> but not everyone in the family felt that way. damien, martin's only son, stuck by his father. >> he had a hard time after my mom died. i talked to him about my concerns and he didn't 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 entered her mind. >> that's where he killed her. >> yet, there was still no hard evidence that martin killed michelle. two years went by. martin and gypsy carrying on in plain sight, but then in january 2009. suddenly they're both arrested. >> yes. >> yeah. >> but not for what people might have thought. >> oh, no. >> coming up, two lovers cook up a secret crime. >> he stole her identity. >> for gypsy. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues that they don't need to. i think dentists will want to recommend sensodyne rapid relief. sensodyne rapid relief builds a layer fast on the tooth's surface over those sensitive areas, which means patients are going to get fast relief from their sensitivity. sensodyne rapid relief is clinically proven to work in 3 days. i think dentists will want to recommend this product because it's going to help their patients and that's what we are trying to do is help patients.

[ soft piano music playing ] mm, uh, what do you do for fun? -not this. ♪ -oh, what am i into? mostly progressive's name your price tool. helps people find coverage options based on their budget. flo has it, i want it, it's a whole thing, and she's right there. -yeah, she's my ride. this date's lame. he has pics of you on his phone. -they're very tasteful.

support for impeachment continues to grow in the white house with now 222 representatives in favorite of the inquiry. on saturday president trump fired back on twitter asking, how do you impeach a president who has created the greatest economy in the history of our country? thousands gathered for the annual global central festival

in central park on saturday. it included performances by adam lambert and alee is a keys and many more. now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. forgery conviction and fake college transcripts and allegedly affairs. the more they looked into martin mcneil the more the fraud and another scheme was about to make the detectives question if martin was capable of much worse. once again, here is keith morrison with "secrets in pleasant grove." >> reporter: martin mcneil sieged. their father had turned to family home into a love nest for a so-called nani, the mistress.

for two years, they had been laser focused on approving his guilt. trying to persuade the police or anyone that martin murdered michelle and, sure enough, they discovered a crime. not murder, but shocking none the less. it all started when martin sent his 16-year-old adopted daughter off to ukraine to visit her biological sister. >> the best breakfast ever! >> giselle called my daughter's 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? more digging revealed that martin and gypsy cooked up a scheme and it involved taking over daughter giselle's social security number. he stole giselle's identity? >> for gypsy.

>> yes, for gypsy, who it would emerge was how should we say, financially challenged. the new forged identity wiped her debts away. it also gave her a brand new name jillian mcneil. but the lies didn't end there. they began posing as husband and wife. >> gi sele is out of the pictur. martin wants to make gypsy look like his wife. >> now that was low. but even worse -- >> they used the date of my mom's funeral as their marriage date. >> martin and gypsy were arrested in january of 2009, not for murder, but for fraud. they both pleaded guilty. martin got four years and gypsy 21 months and to avoid any more charges, gypsy promised she would testify against martin in any future legal action. it was a victory for alexis. but her campaign against her father had consequences. >> it's me all by myself. >> like the wedge it drove between the sisters and their brother, damien. put a strain on your relationship? >> it did.

once my dad was sentenced, he kind of didn't want to have anything to to with us. and then he killed himself. >> damien mcneil died by suicide, 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 she gave us at that point. >> she confirmed that chance meeting it temple with rachel was a set up, a ruse to get her into the house. how long had she and martin been planning it. >> so i said you stage and scripted that meeting? yes. 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. >> do you see this medical examiners report? >> death of natural causes? >> that's right. >> there was a new medical examiner. they showed him their report, the files, the arrest for fraud. and i said have you even read our reports? i've scanned it. i said you cannot scan this report. i said just read this must have while we're here. and he did and he goes, hum, okay, i think i'm going to look at this deeper. >> after his review, he 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. >> mcneil was just released from federal prison. >> so by the summer of 2012, martin mcneil was a free man.

he served his time for fraud. he first spoke to alexis after her dad was released from prison. >> he's a free man. how does that make you feel? >> very scared. >> you've been his chief accuser all of these years. >> i'm concerned for myself and my family and for everyone that comes into contact with my father because i know he's a dangerous man. >> the investigators agreed. but the prosecutor wanted something more. something they could take to court. >> show me how she died. i believe i know how she died but i can't prove it yet. >> then one little detail jumped out and said." look at me!" >> the time that came to me was when we heard from the officers and the emt guy when she threw up water. >> if michelle threw up water when the emts did cpr, that meant martin, the doctor, hadn't done it properly, if at all. >> okay, do you know how to do cpr?

>> i'm doing it. >> and with that, all of the circumstantial bits lined up and supported the idea of a planned murder. a plot that began after martin took up with gypsy. >> his wife finally finds out concrete evidence that he's doing it. he's trapped. what do i do? i can't lose my good name because i'm going to lose my job, i'm going to lose my reputation and everything else. so what does he do? >> drugs her and drowns her they now believe. and finally, the prosecutor agreed. and so on august 2012, martin's daughters sat in a utah courtroom holding up pictures of their dead mother as their father appeared in court on charges of first-degree murder. if she hadn't pushed, if she hadn't started making those calls, would this have ever gone anywhere? >> i don't think it would have come to me. >> so would -- >> 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 turns witness. >> my name is gypsy willis. >> and one more secret. mistress number two! when "dateline" continues. line"s i knew that hpv could lead to certain cancers. i knew her risk for hpv increases as she gets older. i knew there was a vaccine available that could help protect her before she could be exposed to hpv. i knew. so i talked to my child's doctor. now that you know that hpv can lead to certain cancers, don't wait. talk to your child's doctor today.

stop dancing around the pain that keeps you up again, and again. advil pm silences pain, and you sleep the whole night. advil pm thenot actors, people, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups.

dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin. and, had significantly less itch. that's a difference you can feel. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. fight for blast offs fight for piggyback rides fight for 7 am makeouts. every year, walgreens helps millions of people fight the flu. fight to protect the ones you love.

walgreens. be a flu fighter. get your free flu shot today at your neighborhood walgreens. woman: i'm here, and suddenly my migraine takes me somewhere else, where there's pain and nausea. but excedrin pulls me back in a way others don't. and it relieves my symptoms fast for real migraine relief.

what a strange thing it was that the day he was charged with murdering his wife, his daughters' only regret was that it had taken more than five years. >> i think really my dad got off on seeing what he could get away with. >> when the trial began on october 17th 2013, martin was noticeably pale and the prosecutor was worried. >> you kind of got the impression maybe the guy was guilty but proving it was not going to be an easy matter. >> it's going to be difficult to wrap it all up early and give the jury this nice box with a pow on top. >> the prosecution told the jury that martin drugged and drowned his wife michelle and made a plan to get rid of her when he had a love affair with that

woman named gypsy, and that once he dispatched michelle he was practically gleeful. even on the day of her funeral. >> the defendant was jovial, laughing and smiling, again remarking that he was going to have to get used to the life of a bachelor. >> how callous, said the prosecutor. but as for evidence 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's uns unconscious. she is under water. >> first piece was martin's behavior during his 911 call. martin seemed angry and he hung up on the operator. >> do you know how to do cpr? >> i'm doing it. >> okay. >> don't hang up! >> 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 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 that she would have already expelled that? >> i believe so. >> and remember how martin said he found his wife head down in the tub, her legs sticking up over the edge? prosecutors showed how his account differed from that of every other witness, even his then 6-year-old daughter. this is a police interview with ada record inside 2008. >> was she all the way in the bathtub or part way in the bathtub? >> all the way. >> please raise your right hand and take an oath. >> then prosecutors called to the stand the woman at the center of it all. the woman who captivated

martin. the mistress and they said the motive. >> my name is gypsy willis. >> she told the jury an online relationship with martin turned sexual. >> it was a very casual thing. whenever we had time and it could be arranged. and it was -- i think we probably had sex half the time. sometimes it was just lunch. >> the very day after michelle's death, gypsy took a sexy selfie and sent it to martin. there's one picture where it's a little bit suggestive. >> showing your buttocks? >> yeah. >> and as we know, it wasn't long before gypsy moved into the house, supposedly hired as a nanny. >> if i told you that others testified you weren't much of a nanny in terms of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children and were just staring go-eyed at the the defendant, what would be your response? >> my response is 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 really did marry martin, they did hear about all the fake documents with a marriage date of april 14th, 2007, the date michelle was buried, and gypsy had to testify as part of her plea deal. probably didn't 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 martin's motive for murder. that is, if it was a murder and if it was, was she involved? >> in light of all of this information, are you telling us you don't know anything more about michelle's 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 co-conspirator and talking about it, evidence speaks for itself. >> and so, gypsy's star turn was over. outside the court, she was overwhelmed with all of the attention. >> it's terrifying experience. >> testifying? >> being in court at all. i've never had more than a speeding ticket up to this point. >> as we know, that wasn't even close to the truth. and back in the courtroom, the jury was finding out that gypsy wasn't martin's first mistress. >> is it fair to say that you and dr. mcneil began an affair? >> yes. >> she had she canoodled with martin before he took up with gypsy and their pillow talk sounded like a prescription for murder. >> did martin ever prescribe to you a process of making someone have a heart attack? >> yes. >> specifically, what did he

tell you? >> there's something that you can give someone that's natural so that it's not detectable after they have a heart attack. >> ms. sommers, please raise your right hand. >> and then in the much anticipated 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 doctor's defense. >> do you still conclude that manner of michelle mcneil's death is undetermined? death is undetermined. >> yes. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues eno. when pain happens, aleve it. all day strong. i was on the fence about changing

from a manual to an electric toothbrush. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. with licensed agents availablep when 24-7,d it. it's not just easy. it's having-jerome-bettis- on-your-flag-football-team easy. go get 'em, bus! ohhhh! [laughing] c'mon bus, c'mon! hey, wait, wait, wait! hey man, i got your flag! i got your flag, man! i got your flag! it's geico easy. with licensed agents available 24/7. 49 - nothing! woo!

why accept it frompt an incompyour allergy pills?e else. flonase sensimist. nothing stronger. nothing gentler. nothing lasts longer. flonase sensimist. 24 hour non-drowsy allergy relief ♪ go where my baby lives b[ growl ]olle♪s good boy. hey. hey.

you must be steven's phone. know who's on your network and control who shouldn't be with xfinity xfi. simple. easy. awesome.

mrs. somers, if you'll come forward to the clerk's desk. >> for six years summers had been the strongest most persistent voice arguing her father murdered her mother. prosecutor chad grunader. >> her testimony was huge. >> under oath, alexis told the same story she told us. >> why were you seeking information as to your mother's death? >> because i believe my fathered 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 it would start by using some of the accusing daughter's own words. remember alexis' claim that her mother was feeling fine just before she died? well it turns out that wasn't

what she said at her mom's funeral. >> last time i spoke to my mom, she was happy. she wasn't feeling good. she was feeling a little sick. but -- >> she was feeling a little sick. that's what you said, right? >> i just don't 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 again their mother was feeling great, no problems on april 11th. >> the implication? there could be a medical explanation for her death and that alexis' memory was flexible. >> i don't remember her feeling bad at all. >> a lot of things you don't remember accurately in this case, right? >> and then the defense honed in on the state's biggest problem.

here they were prosecuting a man for murder when according to the state's own medical examiner the cause of death was most likely heart disease. coroner dr. todd grey admitted on the stand he never classified michelle's 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 to persuade you to change it? >> they ga me an extensive enin-depth presentation what have they thought proved that this was a homicide. >> and when prosecutors tooked very usually step of hiring an outside medical expert to bolster the case for homicide, the defense showed on cross-examination he was no more definitive. >> when you consider all of the circumstances of this case, you still conclude that the manner of michelle mcneil's death is undetermined? >> yes.

>> thank you. >> and remember that water in michelle's lungs? randy spencer had an answer to that, too. >> michelle was found in the bathtub and it's difficult to do cpr in the bathtub. >> why didn't he pull her out of the tub? >> he couldn't. barring some god given grant of super human strength, very few people would be able to lift 182-pound person out of the tub in that situation. >> just in that moment, in that scene regardless of what else he may have done, 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. >> the defense called witnesses who testified they saw martin right about the time that michelle collapsed in her bathtub. in other words, he wasn't there. couldn't have killed her. this is 6-year-old ada's

kindergarten teacher. >> mcmr. mcneil pick her up that day? >> yes. >> so he was there between 11:30 and 11:35 to pick up ada? >> yes. >> all of those competing facts took closing arguments to put them together. the prosecutor was aggressive. >> make no doubt, he intentionally and knowingly caused the death of his wife. the evidence supports it. the motive is there, 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 hadn't 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 don't rise to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. >> then the jury began

deliberating. they huddled hour after hour, late into that night. midnight came and went and they were still talking. >> the longer the deliberations went, the more worried i got. >> quicker deliberation is better? >> in this particular case, i thought so. because our case is fairly simple. >> then after 11 hours, 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, november 9th, 2013. >> having reviewed the evidence and testimony in the case find the defendant as to count one murder -- guilty. >> at that moment, michelle's family couldn't hide their relief. finally after years of fighting, they had gotten what they wanted, what they demanded and but until that moment, martin's defense attorneys believed, more

than martin himself, would be acquitt acquitted. >> i thought i'm not okay. >> 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. so he understands. >> he told you that? >> he did, yeah. >> we are so happy he can't hurt anyone else. we miss our mom and we can't get her back, but that courtroom was full of so many people who loved my mom. >> do you feel he has finally got justice? >> there is justice for my mom today. >> martin mcneil was sentenced to 17 years to life. he would not serve his time in

full. in april of 2017, martin died by suicide. >> that's all for this edition of ""dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. >> he's a monster. >> he's evil. he's pure evil. she that character in those horror movies. >> he hid in the shadows, a killer in a mask. >> he's clearly a brilliant individual. a brilliantly scary individual. >> his target, a doting young mom. >> she was a georgeous strawberry blonde that loved her son more than anything in the whole world. >> he struck once. would he kill again and would she be next. >> you're just so