the trial behind him, beth's father, the artist john lochtefeld, finished the book he and beth had worked on together. it was published after she died. he illustrated her words and dedicated the book to beth and her dreams, the dream she lived and those that died too soon with her. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." it was horrifying. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." this was my mom, a vibrant woman, just ripped out of the world. everything that we thought in our life is just all shattered.

he betrayed us to our very core. craig melvin (voiceover): they were a stunning couple, a doctor and a beauty queen. she won homecoming queen. she did modeling. craig melvin (voiceover): 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. craig melvin (voiceover): so many secrets locked tight for so many years uncovered by daughters turned detectives. you hacked into his phone. yeah. there was a lot of different things that came out. craig melvin (voiceover): things like a mistress named gypsy. was she a motive for murder? in court, an epic showdown, father against daughter and daughter. man: why were you seeking information as to your mother's death? because i believed my father killed her. craig melvin (voiceover): but was the evidence on his side? the medical examiner's report listed it as a natural cause of death.

craig melvin (voiceover): who will you believe? [music playing] hello, and welcome to dateline. martin and michele macneill were a dream couple. he was a handsome doctor. she was a whip smart former model. together they built a loving home and filled it with eight children. but the seemingly happy family would be torn apart by a sudden death and suspicions of foul play. was the tragedy a result of natural causes, or cold blooded murder? here's keith morrison with secrets in pleasant grove. keith morrison (voiceover): the story you're about to witness is all too human-- oh, what people would do to each other. and yet, well, puzzling. there were these three women-- wouldn't have a story to tell without them-- two sisters and their aunt, and what

they discovered, of course. which 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-- well, 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 couldn't possibly have known it. as she contemplated a question a lot of people do as youth fades, plastic surgery, should she, or shouldn't she? she answered, for one reason or another, yes, yes, i will. and before long-- everything that we thought in our life is just all shattered. keith morrison (voiceover): what happened to michele macneill? what was behind the breathless play

by play in a utah courtroom, the raw family drama played out in full public view, the hidden sins of-- well, you'll 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 over in switzerland. she excelled at everything. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 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.

but did they, like, elope, or something, or just run off together basically? they got married by the justice of the peace. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 on the outside looking in, what would they see? very happy family, a wonderful mother who doted on her children, and a father who is a physician and an attorney and present a lot in their children's lives. rachel, the oldest, shared her father's love of books. i remember, when i was little, just holding on

to my father's hand and just to walk with him and i was daddy's little girl. keith morrison: and their mother, michele? she was an amazing and beautiful person on the inside and out. keith morrison (voiceover): and so it went for nearly 30 years, as he built a career and they together raised their big family. and then, here's 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, very abnormal for him. keith morrison (voiceover): and that's when her mother michele confronted that question, the one about looking younger, getting something of the past back, the facelift question. she's like, uh, you know what, i don't really want it. but if your dad's getting all fixed up and looking good, then maybe i should. what did you say to her? i said, mom, you don't know that.

you're beautiful. i mean, she was incredibly beautiful. keith morrison (voiceover): but decision made, on april 3rd, 2007, michele checked into the hospital in bountiful, utah. the doctors worked on her for almost nine hours, long time for a facelift. still, they proclaimed it a 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, i'll call you-- i'll call you soon. keith morrison (voiceover): which she did. i asked her how she was doing. she was fine. she was getting up. she told me that, alexis, your dad's being so sweet to me. he's just being so sweet to me. and that was the last time i talked to her.

keith morrison (voiceover): that was april 11, 8 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's happened? and he said, rachel, come home. and i said, dad, tell me, tell me what's happened. it's mom. is she ok? and my father said, rachel, come home. and then he just hung up. what happened to michele macneill? the events of that day would launch a long-running mystery. coming up. when dateline continues. ♪♪ when your child has moderate-to-severe eczema,

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eating up the financial favors of the 1%. what would become of them when they discover robinhood gold allows others to earn their very liberal rates on idle cash, unlimited deposit bonuses and handsome retirement matching? they would descend into chaos. merciless chaos. ying] keith morrison: she was just 50 years old. she lived a clean, healthy, mormon life. all she wanted was to look a little younger, a little prettier for her husband. and now--

dr. martin macneill, panic in his voice, struggled to make the 911 operator understand. martin performed cpr on his wife until the first responders arrived, but it was too late. rachel macneill: i called alexis and i said, alexis, what's happened? something's happened with mom. and i said, mom's dead. isn't she? and alexis said, yes, she is. keith morrison: 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 11:30, he left the office to pick up six-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. alexis somers: it was horrifying. i mean, this was my mom-- a vibrant, healthy woman who was just ripped out of the world. keith morrison: 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 had just had. alexis somers: i wasn't concerned about the health aspect of her doing the facelift. i just didn't think she needed it. keith morrison: so if a complication from the surgery seemed unlikely, perhaps this theory from martin made more sense. maybe michelle had taken too much pain medication, and while running a bath, fell headfirst into the tub. alexis somers: he said she was slumped over the tub, her head

down into the water, and her legs out of the water. keith morrison: but something about that didn't sound right to alexis. for one thing, six-year-old ada, who also saw her mother in the tub, had a slightly different memory. alexis somers: she said that she found her laying back her head by the faucet. keith morrison: facing up. alexis somers: facing up, fully clothed in her jogging suit. keith morrison: a strange discrepancy-- though not hard to explain, really, given the turmoil of that day. but then alexis also remembered how, after the facelift, michelle's doctor prescribed hydrocodone, promethazine, and ambien, but that her father asked him to also prescribe percocet and valium. to alexis, that seemed like too much medication. alexis somers: he told the plastic surgeon exactly what medication he wanted him to prescribe to her. keith morrison: isn't it the surgeon who usually-- alexis somers: oh, yeah. keith morrison: --makes those decisions? alexis somers: that was strange. keith morrison: stranger still was

what happened after michelle died, when alexis went looking for those pills, asked her dad about them. where were they? alexis somers: he told me that, 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. keith morrison: some very unpleasant thoughts rattled around in alexis's head. and then there was the business of the funeral. alexis somers: my father was very adamant to have her funeral right away. keith morrison: 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, but even as they pondered what to do with their blossoming suspicion, the autopsy results were released. and to then police chief michael smith, the results seemed crystal clear. michael smith: the medical examiner's report indicated that michelle had died of myocarditis and hypertension, and it listed it as a natural cause of death. keith morrison: in other words, it was classic heart disease, a cause of death all too common among women michelle's age, especially someone with high blood pressure. the daughters' suspicions, it turned out, were not based on any palpable facts. the drugs in michelle's system were at therapeutic levels, said the toxicology report. far as the state of utah was concerned, the matter was closed. michael smith: the medical examiner in the state of utah is the ultimate say when it comes to the cause and the manner of death. keith morrison: but the tension in the macneill family worsened.

martin and alexis disagreed over how to care for the younger children now that michelle was gone. alexis somers: he had started saying, i'm gonna get a nanny. we need a nanny. i can't take care of these kids by myself. [music playing] announcer: coming up, martin macneill hires help-- alexis somers: oh, i found the perfect nanny. and i said, dad, what's her name? he said, oh, it's gillian. and i said, dad, i know that woman. announcer: --when "dateline" continues. some people just know they could save hundreds

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keith morrison (voiceover): 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. well, 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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, i'm sorry, i know i know you.

what's your name? and she said, my name is jillian. and my father said, oh, ok. keith morrison (voiceover): but 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. keith morrison (voiceover): the name, jillian, didn't mean anything to rachel. but alexis-- and i said, dad, i know that woman. i know mom was concerned you were having an affair with her. keith morrison (voiceover): 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? 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 a gypsy jillian willis. gypsy jillian willis? yeah. and we thought, maybe it's a stripper, i don't know what. but, anyway, my mom, with that information, with the lady's name, went to my dad and confronted him. keith morrison (voiceover): 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, but when their husband comes and says, you need one. yeah. i mean, it was really out of the blue.

keith morrison (voiceover): the facelift that preceded michele'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 just a couple of weeks after my mom's death. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 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. keith morrison (voiceover): with their aunt linda, they took all the information they had gathered on martin, and brought it to the authorities. pushing and pushing, yeah, to get them to investigate. keith morrison (voiceover): the local police had never investigated michele's death as a crime, not from the very first day. and remember that coroner's report? michele's death was caused by heart disease.

for us, to be able to overcome something like a medical examiner's office that said she died of natural causes is a huge task. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): but then they started to look at some of the evidence the amateur sleuths had 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. and so we thought, you know what, i'd like to find out if he really is a doctor. keith morrison (voiceover): yes, they learned. martin did have a medical degree, but-- he fraudulently got into medical school. absolutely. by faking the results of college. he obviously took somebody else's because there was a different date of entrance, there was a different date of graduation, and all of them were straight as. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. it tells me that this is not the guy that goes to church every sunday with his family. so there are two martin macneills. there's two martin macneills. still, it didn't mean he murdered his wife, did it? no, no. keith morrison (voiceover): but martin's daughters, they looked at their father's 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, it's just 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. damian, 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. keith morrison (voiceover): but alexis' conviction was absolute. every time she set foot in her parents' home, only one thought went through her mind. alexis somers: here's where he killed her. keith morrison (voiceover): 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're both arrested. yes. yeah. but not for what people might have thought. no, no. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, two lovers cook up a secret crime. he stole giselle's identity. for gypsy. craig melvin (voiceover): when dateline continues.

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i richard louis with the news update. vice president kamala harris released her medical records from her licensed physician. the detail later he deemed her,, quote, excellent health. for president donald trump lunch to do the same has yet to do so. boeing plans to cut about 10% of its workforce for about 17,000 people over the next few months. company machinists have been on strike for little over a month now idling at aircraft factories. for now, back to dateline. looked into ma neill, the more the good doctor seemed like a fraud. and another scheme was about to be revealed, making detectives question if martin was capable of much worse. once again, here's keith morrison with secrets in pleasant grove. keith morrison (voiceover): martin macneill's daughters seized.

their father had turned the family home into a tawdry love nest for a so-called nanny, the mistress, gypsy willis. for nearly two years, they'd 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. woman: here's giselle. keith morrison (voiceover): it all started when martin sent his 16-year-old adopted daughter giselle off to ukraine to visit her biological sister. 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 giselle's social security number. keith morrison: he stole giselle's identity.

for gypsy. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 brand-new name, jillian macneill. but the lies didn't end there. they began posing as husband and wife. giselle's out of the picture. martin wants to make gypsy look like his wife. keith morrison (voiceover): now, that was low. but even worse-- they used the date of my mom's funeral as their marriage date. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 she'd testify against martin in any future legal action. it was a victory for alexis. but her campaign against her father

had consequences, like the wedge it drove between the sisters and their brother damian. keith morrison: did it put a strain on your relationship? it did. once my dad was sentenced, he kind of didn't want to have anything to do with us and then he killed himself. keith morrison (voiceover): damian macneill died by suicide january, 2010. he was such a wonderful guy. i miss him. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): the investigators went back to the prosecutor, over and over, urging him, charge martin with murder. but-- what did the prosecutor say to you? you see this medical examiner's report? death of natural causes. that's right. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 much while we're here. and he did, and he goes, hmm, ok, i think i want to look at this deeper. keith morrison (voiceover): after his review, the me 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.

reporter: macneill was just released from federal prison. keith morrison (voiceover): and so by the summer of 2012, martin macneill was once again a free man. he'd served his time for fraud. we first spoke to alexis right after her dad was released from prison. he's a free man. how does that make you feel? very scared. you know. you've been his chief accuser all the years. yeah. i'm concerned. i'm not only concerned for myself and for my family, but for everyone who comes into contact with my father, because i know he's a dangerous man. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 can't prove it yet. keith morrison (voiceover): and then, 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.

keith morrison (voiceover): if michele threw up water when the emts did cpr, that meant martin, the doctor, hadn't done it properly, if at all. 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 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, i'm going to lose everything else. so what does he do? keith morrison (voiceover): drugs her and drowns her, they now believed. and finally, the prosecutor agreed. and so in 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.

keith morrison: 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. i think-- so it would have just-- probably would have closed it out as unfounded. keith morrison (voiceover): now, the family drama would play out for a jury. but the outcome? oh, at that point, it was far from certain. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, a mistress turned witness. my name is gypsy willis. craig melvin (voiceover): and one more secret, mistress number two. when dateline continues. hey, get your head in the game, son. the scout from football college is up in the stands. maybe i'd rather go to school for insurance. i didn't raise no insurance man. but you did, dad. football's your passion. but mine is providing around-the-clock protection to progressive customers who bundle home and auto. jamie, we need you out here for football. you're giving up on your dream, james.

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keith morrison (voiceover): what a strange thing ask your eczema specialist 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. keith morrison (voiceover): when the trial began on october 17, 2013, in provo, utah, martin was noticeably pale. and prosecutor chad grunander was a little worried. it seemed like a case where 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 little box with a bow on top. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 was going to have to get used to the life of a bachelor. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): first piece, they said, was martin's behavior that morning during his 911 call. martin seemed angry. he hung up on the operator. 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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, is that what you're saying? i believe so. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 different from that of every other witness, even his then six-year-old daughter ada. this is a police interview with ada recorded in 2008. judge: please raise your right hand and take an oath.

keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): gypsy told the jury an online relationship with martin turned sexual. it was a very casual thing. it's just whenever we had time and it could be arranged. and it was-- chad grunander: go ahead. i think we probably had sex half the time. i mean, sometimes it was just lunch. keith morrison (voiceover): the very day after michele's death, gypsy took a sexy selfie and sent it to martin. there's one picture where it's a little bit suggestive. chad grunander: it's showing your buttocks. yeah. keith morrison (voiceover): and as we know, it wasn't long before gypsy moved into the macneill house, supposedly hired as a nanny. chad grunander: 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 just staring goo-eyed 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. keith morrison (voiceover): though, gypsy told the jury she never did marry martin, they did hear about all those fake documents with a marriage date of april 14, 2007, the day michele was buried. and remember, 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 this information, are you telling us you don't know anything more about michele'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, talking about it, the evidence speaks for itself. keith morrison (voiceover): and so gypsy's star turn was over. outside the court she said she was overwhelmed by all the attention. it's a frightening experience. testifying here today? being in court at all. i've never had more than a speeding ticket to this point. keith morrison (voiceover): of course, as we know, that wasn't even close to being true. and back in the courtroom, the jury was finding out that gypsy wasn't martin's first mistress. chad grunander: is it fair to say that you and dr. macneill began an affair? yes. keith morrison (voiceover): 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. chad grunander: did martin ever describe to you a process of making someone have a heart attack? yes. chad grunander: specifically, what did he tell you? there's something you can give someone that's natural, so that it's not detectable after they have a heart attack. chad grunander: ms. somers, please, raise your right hand and take an oath. keith morrison (voiceover): and then, then 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. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, the doctor's defense. do you still conclude that the manner of michele macneill's death is undetermined? yes. craig melvin (voiceover): when dateline continues.

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keith morrison (voiceover): 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 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. 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 and over again that your mother was feeling great. there was no problems on april 11. keith morrison (voiceover): 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, mmm, flexible. i just don't remember her feeling bad at all. there's a lot of things you don't remember accurately in this case, right? keith morrison (voiceover): and then the defense homed 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 michele'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. randy spencer: and they worked hard to try and persuade you to change it. they gave me an extensive and in-depth presentation of what they thought proved that this was a homicide. keith morrison (voiceover): and when prosecutors took the very unusual step of hiring an outside medical expert

to try to bolster the case for a 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 michele macneill's death is undetermined? yes. thank you. keith morrison (voiceover): and remember that water in michele's lungs? defense co-counsel randy spencer had an answer for that, too. michele was found in the bathtub, and it's very difficult to do cpr in the bathtub. so why didn't he pull her out of the tub? he couldn't. barring some god-given grant of superhuman strength, very few people would be able to lift a 182-pound 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.

judge: please raise your right hand and-- keith morrison (voiceover): the defense called witnesses who testified they saw martin right about the time that michele collapsed in her bathtub. in other words, he wasn't there. couldn't have killed her. this is six-year-old ada macneill's kindergarten teacher. and mr. macneill picked her up that day? yes. so he was there between 11:30 and 11:35 to pick up ada? yes. keith morrison (voiceover): and all those competing facts, took closing arguments to put them together. the prosecutor was aggressive. make no doubt a [audio out] would believe he intentionally and knowingly caused the death of his wife. the evidence supports it. the motive is there. it's dripping. the means are there. and the opportunity is there. keith morrison (voiceover): and the defense had to concede martin was a cad and a cheat, but insisted

that 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 of the prosecution that's submitted to you is consistent with homicide. they don't rise to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. keith morrison (voiceover): and then, the jury began deliberating. they huddled hour after hour late into that friday, midnight came and went. they were still talking. the longer the deliberations went, the more worried i got. a quicker deliberation is better? in this particular case, i thought so, because our case was really fairly simple. keith morrison (voiceover): 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, november 9, 2013. woman: we, the jury, having reviewed the evidence and the testimony in the case [inaudible],, as to count one, murder, guilty.

[cries] keith morrison (voiceover): at that moment, michele's family couldn't hide their relief. finally, after years of fighting, they had gotten what they wanted, what they demanded. but until that moment, martin's 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, i'm ok. and i was thinking, i'm not ok. keith morrison (voiceover): 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 believe that he killed his wife, he would expect them to advocate for her, and so he understands. he told you that? he did, yeah. we're just so happy he can't hurt anyone else. we miss our mom and we'll never get her back.

but that courtroom was full of so many people who loved my mom. reporter: do you feel that you finally got justice? alexis somers: there was justice for my mom today. keith morrison (voiceover): martin mcneill was sentenced to 17 years to life, but he would not serve his time in full. in april, 2017, martin died by suicide, a dark ending for the story of a family that began with so much hope. that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] this sunday edition of morning joe weekend. here's some of the conversations you may