Death Without Mercy

Summary

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48 Hours (CBS News)

Episode: Death Without Mercy

Date: November 27, 2025

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Main Theme

“Death Without Mercy” explores the shocking murder of James “Jimmy” Michael in Morgantown, West Virginia. The episode unpacks the events surrounding the fatal fire at the Michael home, charting the investigation that led to his wife, Shelly Michael—a pediatric nurse and former cheerleader—being charged and ultimately convicted of his murder using a rare paralytic drug. The story delves deeply into the investigation, courtroom drama, and the personal histories and relationships at the heart of the case.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Fire and Early Investigation

• Initial Response:
  • Jimmy Michael is found dead in his bed after a fire tears through his home.
  • Shelly Michael reacts with visible shock, but Detective Paul Mezzanot is struck by her lack of outward emotion (10:02–10:45).
• Atypical Scene:
  • The firemen detect something unusual about Jimmy’s body positioning and lack of escape attempt (13:43).
  • Medical examiners confirm Jimmy was dead before the fire; no soot found in his airways (11:18, 14:14).

2. Shelly Michael’s Background

• All-American Image:
  • Shelly, maiden name Michelle Gooch, is described as an ambitious cheerleader and a high-achieving nurse (04:23–05:47).
  • Known for her energy and later her quest for a “perfect family” image (08:09, 08:28).
• Complicated Relationships:
  • Jimmy met Shelly while both were married to other people. Their affair led to divorces and eventually marriage (06:24–08:08).

3. Early Red Flags & Suspicion

• Detective’s Perspective:
  • Mezzanot notes the lack of distress from Shelly at the fire scene, fueling suspicion (10:38–11:07).
  • Shelly claims innocence but is formally charged with murder and arson (03:54, 04:10, 19:24).
• Alibi Questioned:
  • Shelly insists she was at work when the fire started, but security footage shows her leaving for 17 minutes near 8:11am, with the fire discovered at 10:30am (17:08–17:36).
  • A neighbor’s account further undermines Shelly’s alibi (17:44–17:55).

4. Motive & Method

• Affair and Life Insurance:
  • Investigators uncover Shelly’s ongoing affair with Bobby Teets, and the recent purchase of a $500,000 life insurance policy by Jimmy (23:22–23:34).
  • The prosecution’s narrative: Shelly stole hospital-grade rocuronium, a paralytic, injected Jimmy, and later set the fire to cover the crime (19:24–21:39).
• Chilling Details:
  • Rocuronium would cause “a slow suffocation,” in which the victim is conscious but unable to move or cry for help—“like being buried alive” (19:24–21:01).
  • Prosecutor Marcia Ashdown calls it “unconscionable” and details the horror:

    “As paralysis slowly crept over him, a terrified Jimmy Michael would have been totally helpless. It's like Edgar Allan Poe, not being able to cry out.” (21:39)

5. Shelly’s Defense & Alternative Theories

• Defense Narrative:
  • Lawyer Tom Dyer challenges the state’s timeline, suggesting the fire could not have been set at 8am and smoldered for two hours without advanced arson devices (22:59).
  • Suggests Shelly’s history of affairs never ended in violence; lack of direct evidence (23:08–23:22).
• Attempting Doubt:
  • Defense floats a possible suicide theory or other suspect—Jimmy’s ex-wife, Stephanie—even though she has an alibi (24:08–24:50).
  • Dyer:

    “Could it be suicide? He knows what rocuronium does. He's a respiratory therapist. … It won't look like suicide. This evidence … is all the reasonable doubt you would ever need in a case like this.” (41:48–42:29)

6. Trial & Testimony

• Prosecution’s Tactics:
  • Relies on circumstantial evidence; stresses Shelly’s lies during the investigation as evidence of guilt (36:29–36:46).
• Shelly Testifies:
  • Defends her lies as products of shame and fear of losing her job or harming her kids, not guilt (35:01–35:25, 36:44–37:15).
  • Memorably lists her petty insurance claims, including “12 bottles of nail polish,” underlining her perceived greed (36:07).
  • On stand, Shelly says:

    “I didn't do it, and I wanted everybody to hear me.” (37:36)

• Jury Perception:
  • The episode emphasizes whether jurors see Shelly as a guilt-ridden liar or a cold-blooded killer (39:31–39:52).

7. Verdict & Aftermath

• Jury Deliberation & Decision:
  • Jurors convict Shelly Michael of first-degree murder and arson; “with mercy,” meaning potential parole (43:30–44:00).
  • Shelly’s family maintains her innocence. Jimmy’s parents express satisfaction at the verdict but sorrow at the crime (44:21–44:59).
  • Closing remark from Jimmy’s father:

    “She had planned this thing out, what she thought would be maybe the perfect crime.” (44:59)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the investigation:

  • Detective Mezzanot:

    “The people that were showing up, they seemed to be more upset than she was.” (10:38) "Surveillance cameras don't lie. We got your car leaving the hospital grounds." (17:36)

• On the murder method:

  • Marcia Ashdown, Prosecutor:

    “It's unconscionable. … as paralysis slowly crept over him, a terrified Jimmy Michael would have been totally helpless.” (21:01, 21:39)

• On defense’s challenge:

  • Tom Dyer:

    “They keep manipulating these things … They can't squeeze the square peg into the round hole.” (32:58)

• On Shelly’s denial:

  • Shelly Michael:

    “I have nothing to do with it.” (23:54) “I didn't do it, and I wanted everybody to hear me.” (37:36)

  • After verdict:

    “My honest value in life is honesty, and I know it didn’t show that day, that's for sure.” (40:13)

• On the jury’s pivotal decision:

  • Tom Dyer:

    “It's all or nothing. First degree murder. Guilty or not guilty.” (39:31)

  • Dennis Michael:

    “We don't hate Shelly, if you can believe that. But we hate what she did. I'm not looking for revenge, just justice.” (42:55)

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Important Timestamps

• Fire and scene details: 00:55–02:30
• Start of affair and marriage: 06:24–08:08
• Immediate suspicions & body discovery: 10:02–11:14
• Medical examiner’s finding: 11:18
• Affair confirmed, alibi dispute: 15:31–17:36
• Security footage contradiction: 17:17–17:36
• Drug ID and murder method: 19:24–21:01
• Prosecution & defense theories: 21:39–23:08
• Trial testimony & cross-examination: 34:35–38:00
• Jury verdict and reactions: 43:13–44:59

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Episode Takeaways

• Investigative Tenacity: The case was built largely on circumstantial evidence, requiring dogged investigation and careful unravelling of lies, alibis, and relationships.
• Emotion, Perception, and Conviction: Both the prosecution and defense focused heavily on Shelly’s demeanor, previous conduct, and motives—ultimately swaying the jury on perception as much as evidence.
• Uncommon Murder Weapon: The use of hospital-only paralytic rocuronium added not just complexity, but horror, to the case, cementing its infamy in Morgantown and beyond.

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“She had planned this thing out, what she thought would be maybe the perfect crime.”
— Dennis Michael (Jimmy’s Father) [44:59]

Shelly Michael’s trial leaves listeners pondering: Was it calculated evil, or just a tragic string of lies and coincidences? The episode provides a multifaceted, immersive look at the pursuit of justice and the human flaws that complicate true crime.

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Transcript

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[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

It was Tuesday, November 29, 2005, 10, 20, 27am in the morning when the call came out.

[Narrator/Host]

Heavy. Second floor. Okay, we got the fire department on the way.

[Shelly Michael]

My name is Shelly Michael. I'm 35 years old. I am a registered nurse.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

When I arrived, the fire was venting through the roof. There was a hole burned through the roof.

[Shelly Michael]

I pick up the phone and my friend Kelly is on the line and she says, shelly, your house is on fire. And I just threw the phone down and said, I have to go.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

It was a very intense fire and it was very difficult to extinguish.

[Shelly Michael]

As I'm driving to the house, I'm shaking, I'm nervous. I'm calling Jimmy on the phone saying, where are you? Our house is on fire. Call me back.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

My name is Dennis Michael. I'm the father of James Michael. And when they contacted, they said there was a fire and Jimmy was in the fire. But they wouldn't give us any details.

[Shelly Michael]

I see Jimmy's car in the garage and I start yelling, what's going on? Why is Jimmy's car in the garage? I just remember saying, please go find him. Please go find him.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

You had a fully involved fire in.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

That bedroom which had reached the flashover.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Stage, which means everything in that room was pretty much on fire at that point.

[Shelly Michael]

I was in the police car and a fireman, I believe, said, we found your husband. He didn't make it.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

And I was driving every 80 mile an hour all the way. And you're just thinking you want to get there as soon as you possibly can. And of course we, my wife Ruth and myself, we both realized in our hearts that Jimmy was gone.

[Shelly Michael]

I have not taken my wedding set off ever since. We've been married, and I'm not ever gonna take it off. Jimmy gave it to me, and I'll always be his wife.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

There were a lot of red flags concerning this fire. The position of the body was unusual.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

For a fire inside of a bedroom.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

When I made it up the stairs and I saw the damage to that bedroom and I walked in, it actually took me a couple of seconds to find the body on the bed. That's how bad it was. Devastated. My name is Paul Mezzanot. I'm a Morgantown police detective. And on November 29, 2005, I became involved in the death investigation of James Michael. From an investigative standpoint, there was just something really wrong.

[Shelly Michael]

I am the wife of Jimmy Michael, and I am charged with first degree murder and first degree arson. And I'm wrongly accused.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Death without mercy.

[Narrator/Host]

Opening game for the 2007 West Virginia Mountaineers, pride of the entire state. From small towns to remote mountain valleys, kids here dream of being part of the excitement in Morgantown. Young Michelle Gooch, raised in nearby Clarksburg, was no different. And her dream came true. Shelly, as she liked to be called, was a straight A student and cheerleader in high school. And it was clear to everyone, including her mom, that she had what it takes.

[Shelly Michael]

She would go into the backyard and.

[Narrator/Host]

Do backflips and cartwheels and getting herself ready for cheering.

[Shelly Michael]

Cheering was her first love as far as sports.

[Narrator/Host]

When she got to West Virginia University in 1990, her looks, brains and talents paid off. She won a coveted spot on the cheerleading squad. And Shelly also had a more serious side.

[Shelly Michael]

I wanted to be involved with children somehow. That was never a question. I always wanted to be a pediatric nurse.

[Narrator/Host]

After graduation, she landed a job at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. Respiratory therapist Stephanie Estle remembers Shelly well. Hard not to.

[Shelly Michael]

She says cheerleader moves in the unit, and she was all about flirting with the boys that we worked with and.

[Narrator/Host]

What do you mean, cheerleader moves in the unit? You're in an intensive care unit, right?

[Shelly Michael]

I can remember she just came over and did this high kick to her ear and just kind of giggled and kept on walking.

[Narrator/Host]

This did not endear her to Stephanie.

[Shelly Michael]

Thought she was slightly annoying. And she's not a person I would have picked to be my friend.

[Narrator/Host]

But what Stephanie found annoying apparently made a very good impression on another therapist in the unit, Jimmy Michael.

[Shelly Michael]

Jimmy was very handsome. He was very kind and loving and very generous. Very family oriented.

[Narrator/Host]

Very Christian man, but a very married Christian man. Married, in fact, to her colleague, Stephanie Estle. Yes, that's Stephanie Estle who had two kids. And did we mention that Shelly by then was married too to Rob Angus? And Shelly also had two kids, none of which appeared to deter her or Jimmy in the slightest.

[Shelly Michael]

Jimmy and I would talk off and on at work and I knew that he and Stephanie were having issues and Rob and I were not getting along very well and we kind of, kind of just connected that way. We would just kind of sit around in chairs around work when it was slow and talk chit chat. What you doing?

[Narrator/Host]

By the fall of 1998, you mean quit it? Stephanie suspected something was up.

[Shelly Michael]

The phone rang and I said hello and there was a hesitation and then there was a dial tone and I hit the return call code and this number came back and I wrote it down. And when I went to work a couple days later, I said to one of the girls hey, who's phone number is this? And she opened up the nurse's phone number list and it was the very first number on the top of the page was Shelly Angus.

[Narrator/Host]

Soon both couples divorced and just eight months after hers was final, Shelly and Jimmy, both 28, got married, moving to the house on Killarney Drive, only minutes away from her job at the hospital.

[Shelly Michael]

We had a whole future plan together.

[Narrator/Host]

So you saw yourselves getting old together?

[Shelly Michael]

Oh yes.

[Narrator/Host]

And this blended family was working out fairly well. And that can be pretty difficult when you've got somebody else's kids, your kids and so forth.

[Shelly Michael]

Right. And I, I thought it was working out very well.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

We thought a lot of her. She was more outgoing than Stephanie and she was friendly. I mean she seemed like she was good for Jimmy.

[Narrator/Host]

It seemed a perfect match. And Jimmy's parents, Dennis and Ruth, say that perfect was very important to Shelly. When they walked out that front door, it was like perfection. Hair was neat, everything was just perfect.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

She wanted everybody to think that they were the perfect model family.

[Narrator/Host]

Jimmy had left the hospital to start a medical supply business, coaching football in his spare time while Shelly coached the cheerleaders and true to form, made sure everyone knew it. What did she do? Oh, back flipped right across this floor.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

Flipped all the way down through my yard, you know, one right after another. It was just.

[Narrator/Host]

November 28, 2005, a quiet evening. The Michaels were alone in the house, the kids staying with their exes. Jimmy turned in early, Shelly says, and was still asleep when she left the next morning.

[Shelly Michael]

I left to go to work around 6ish. I got there about 6:10, 6:15 and I went in and just did my.

[Narrator/Host]

Normal routine work, Shelly says it Was Hours later, about 10:30am when that horrible phone call came telling her that her house was on fire. So the adrenaline takes over. You race to the house. What's the scene like when you get there?

[Shelly Michael]

Crazy firemen everywhere. I was saying, where's Jimmy? Where is he? And they just kept saying, we don't know. We can't find him. We don't know.

[Narrator/Host]

Firefighters fought the ablaze for half an hour before finding him. Jimmy Michaels charred remains were in the master bedroom, still lying in what was left of the bed.

[Shelly Michael]

I remember crying in the police car. I don't know who was there with me. I remember yelling, go get him. Go do cpr. I remember telling Jeremy to ask God to give him back.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Just thought that at that time we had a fire with a fatality.

[Narrator/Host]

But his impressions changed, says Detective Paul Mezzanot, the minute he got to the scene and began watching Shelley Michael.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

The people that were showing up, they seemed to be more upset than she was. And it was just kind of different when we talked to her that day.

[Narrator/Host]

The more they talked, the more he was sure that this was a person of interest.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

She didn't have a reaction.

[Narrator/Host]

She didn't have a reaction, you mean?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

I just, I never.

[Narrator/Host]

Was she crying? Was she upset?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

I never saw her cry. There was something that just kept drawing me to be around her because something never sat right with me from the beginning of the investigation.

[Narrator/Host]

And then there was the crime scene itself with Jimmy Michaels body simply lying on the bed.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

When we saw the body, something just stuck out to me that there wasn't something right with this.

[Narrator/Host]

Just three days later, the medical examiner confirmed why all these somethings weren't right. Jimmy Michael, he found, had not died in the fire. No, he was dead before. Before the blaze even started. This was murder.

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Morgantown, West Virginia prides itself on being just a little bit sleepy, a quiet place. So we will have a short for tomorrow. Yes. And says editor Jerry Ferrara of the local Dominion Post, it is a place where nothing much happens. Morgantown still maintains a small hometown flavor. Everyone knows everyone. So imagine the shock in town when police discovered the charred body of a popular businessman and pee wee football coach in his burned out home and he'd been murdered in his bed. Premeditated murder of that nature with all the bells and whistles, doesn't happen, not in Morgantown. But Detective Mezzanot says investigators suspected murder from the minute they saw Jimmy Michael.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

The body looked as if he was asleep. There was like no fire damage I'd ever seen on a body.

[Narrator/Host]

It just struck you as bizarre.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Very bizarre.

[Narrator/Host]

Bizarre because intense heat normally causes muscles to contract. Not only was Jimmy Michael lying flat on the bed, this healthy 33 year old man apparently made no effort at all to escape.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

The house was pretty much salvageable other than just some water and smoke damage. And I thought that was very weird.

[Narrator/Host]

When the medical examiner found no soot in Jimmy's breathing passages, police knew this was murder. The fire set by someone to destroy evidence. Rumors began that that someone was Shelley Michael. One anonymous caller even naming a drug she might have used.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Everybody that we talk to, you know, are you looking at the wife? Are you looking at Shelly? Shelly's this, Shelly's that. Check for drugs. She's got access to this, you know. Was he poisoned? Everybody that we talked to wanted to talk to us about her.

[Narrator/Host]

Toxicology results would take weeks. But meanwhile, investigators interviewed family and friends. And when they checked out the Michaels perfect marriage, they hit paydirt.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

They thought that there was possibility of an affair.

[Narrator/Host]

Often speculation like that though, is just sheer gossip, because who could believe it's true? Not here. The perfect family wasn't so perfect after all.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

We were able to confirm that there was an affair. And then that kind of started driving the investigation.

[Narrator/Host]

Shelly Michaels lover was a man named Bobby Teets, who worked for her husband. When questioned, Teets admitted the affair. It started, he said, at this Chicago hotel when the two supposedly were on a business trip. And it was ongoing. Teet said they'd had sex just three days before the fire in the very bed where Jimmy Michael was found. Did he have an alibi?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

He had an alibi for the day of the fire. He was making deliveries and he was at the warehouse. And we have people that are putting him there.

[Narrator/Host]

Investigators also briefly looked at Jimmy Michaels ex wife, Stephanie. But although she and Jimmy had had an ugly divorce, mezzanot couldn't see her killing her children's father.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

She has a new husband at the time this murder happened. She had a four month old baby. You know she has no motive to do this.

[Narrator/Host]

No. Every lead led him to the same place. But Shelly had an alibi. She'd been at work when the fire was discovered, apparently sure that that would clear her. She actually asked to come in and chat with detectives a second time. And she came without a lawyer.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

The interview took place for about nine hours. Did you see Jimmy before you left?

[Shelly Michael]

I gave him a kiss on the forehead.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

Okay.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Anything weird about that? Okay. And you're at the hospital by what time?

[Shelly Michael]

I think I was there by 6:10 or 6:15.

[Narrator/Host]

The only time she left, she said, was to retrieve a forgotten pager from her truck. Now how did you know that this wasn't the case?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

With video from the hospital security video.

[Narrator/Host]

Something Shelly apparently overlooked. On the video, she is seen leaving the hospital at 8:11 and returning at 8:28am 17 missing minutes.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Surveillance cameras don't lie. We got your car leaving the hospital grounds.

[Shelly Michael]

I didn't leave the hospital grounds.

[Narrator/Host]

Complicating her denials, a neighbor actually saw her pull out of her own driveway at 8:20 when she insisted she was at work.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Why did you go home?

[Shelly Michael]

I didn't go home.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

That's something that we can't explain away. We got your car leaving the hospital grounds.

[Shelly Michael]

I didn't leave the hospital grounds either.

[Narrator/Host]

In the end, Shelly finally admitted it, saying okay, she did leave briefly for an errand around eight, but that was a full two hours before the fire was discovered. And she doggedly stuck to her denial of the affair, not knowing that Bobby Teets already had fessed up. Have you ever had an affair with him? Why would Bobby say they could hear?

[Shelly Michael]

I don't know.

[Narrator/Host]

The detectives were flabbergasted at her denials and completely unpersuaded.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

She brought the investigation to herself. We didn't center it around her. You know, everything that she did was a lie. You know everything that she did was a lie.

[Narrator/Host]

Then In February of 2006, the toxicology results finally came back. And just as that anonymous caller had suggested, Jimmy Michael did indeed die of a lethal dose of a drug. A drug called rocuronium. Rocuronium is used in hospital procedures when doctors need to temporarily paralyze muscles. But the patient always is put on a ventilator to help him breathe. Because without a ventilator, an injection of rocuronium causes slow suffocation.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

The way that it was explained to me that made the most sense would be that you would be awake and kind of watch yourself die.

[Narrator/Host]

Can you imagine a more agonizing way to die than that? No. For police, it was the last piece of the puzzle. And on March 10, 2006, they charged nurse Shelley Michael with first degree murder and arson. It was front page news. Our readers wanted every single detail. Our single copy sales were phenomenal. Morgantown was reeling again. People look at her as a cool cucumber. That's the word around town, is that they thought that she was so cold. Yet there were questions. Could Shelly Michael really leave work, kill Jimmy, ignite a fire, and return to the hospital in just 17 minutes? And why was it two hours before any sign of fire? The whole story, says her attorney, Tom Dyer, is preposterous.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

The defense is able to contend that the murderer and the arsonist are one and the same person. And we know absolutely this young lady is not the arsonist. So it's going to be our position she's not the murderer.

[Narrator/Host]

This is the type that. That people didn't want anyone to get away with. And no one was more determined to make Shelley Michael pay than District Attorney Marcia Ashdown. Especially given how rocuronium kills. It's like being buried alive, not being able to move. What an awful way to die. Exactly. It's unconscionable. The lead prosecutor on the case, Ashdown, says that as paralysis slowly crept over him, a terrified Jimmy Michael would have been totally helpless. It's like Edgar Allan Poe not being able to cry out.

[Shelly Michael]

Right.

[Narrator/Host]

The state's theory of the crime is this. Shelley lifted the vial of rocuronium from the hospital, injected Jimmy probably while he slept, and then around 6am left for work as usual, only to secretly return home some two hours later. So you think she had time to leave the hospital, go back to her house, set this fire, and get back to the hospital in 17 minutes?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes.

[Narrator/Host]

It only takes, even by her own accounting, maybe four or five minutes one way. And how long does it take to flick a Bic? But why then was the fire not spotted until 10:30? 2 hours after Shelly was seen at the house, Ashdown says it's very significant that all the windows and doors to their bedroom were closed. This was an oxygen deprived fire, meaning that it could burn in a limited area for a period of time until some smoldering is sufficient to burn into something else that then becomes fuel. A fire that smolders for hours and then suddenly bursts into flames. To Shelly's lawyer, Tom Dyer, that makes no sense.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

This fire had to have started sometime after 10 o'.

[Narrator/Host]

Clock.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

There's no evidence of any delayed combustion device or anything like that.

[Narrator/Host]

Not only is there no hard evidence against Shelley, Dyer insists she had no motive, not even the affair. Shelly's reputation, after all, was for loving and leaving her men, not killing them.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

She has had affairs and run around on other men previously. She's divorced previously. She's taken advantage of her relationships with men in the past and never harmed any of them.

[Narrator/Host]

Prosecutors say the motive is obvious. Turns out Jimmy had recently taken out a half million dollar life insurance policy. But despite the money, despite the affair, Shelly swears she's innocent. You had absolutely nothing to do with his death? Nothing at all with this drug that you work with all the time?

[Shelly Michael]

I work with it every day. I have nothing to do with it.

[Narrator/Host]

And she has another suspect in mind. Is there a scene in your mind that puts anybody else in that room with him when this is happening?

[Shelly Michael]

Kind of, yeah.

[Narrator/Host]

And who would that be?

[Shelly Michael]

I know that there was one person that gave him a lot of trouble all the time, constantly made him miserable. Seemed like it was her point in life to make him miserable. And it worked.

[Narrator/Host]

Shelly is talking about Stephanie Estell, Jimmy's ex wife. But she has an alibi. Stephanie was at home with her new baby. Making trouble for somebody is a long way from injecting them with rocaronium and setting the house on fire. You can't believe that about her.

[Shelly Michael]

I can believe that she is capable of it, yes, I can.

[Narrator/Host]

But the challenge for the defense is to convince the jury that Shelly isn't capable of it. And her lawyer is worried. Worried that jurors may decide to punish her for the affair, for lying, or for simply not really being the bubbly ex, cheerleader and perfect mother she tried to present to the world.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

She has a reputation for being a bit abrasive, a bit of a disciplinarian around her children and those who are working with her and for her under her at the hospital.

[Narrator/Host]

Is the jury going to like this woman? Does it matter to you?

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Sure, absolutely. I mean, it's Especially important when the state's case is entirely circumstantial.

[Narrator/Host]

But Shelly doesn't always make herself easy to like. Out on bail. She was put on strict home confinement by the court. Not that Shelly seemed to care. We had people calling, saying, I think I saw Michelle Michael drive by the Killarney house. Is it possible she was getting her nails done? A pedicure.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right.

[Narrator/Host]

She stopped by a nail salon and got a pedicure. Did you just figure that wouldn't get noticed or what?

[Shelly Michael]

I think so. Think about it.

[Narrator/Host]

You've got children without a father. You have parents who lost their son and in a terrible way. And you have someone who's been accused who just went and got her nails done. Did she not understand?

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Honest to goodness, Susan, she is indignant that she's on home confinement during this period of time. She is highly indignant that she's being accused of her husband's death.

[Narrator/Host]

An equally indignant judge threw her in jail a month before the trial, which was moved 150 miles to Charleston because of all the publicity. If that fazed Shelly, you'd hardly know it. Even as the trial began. I can tell you that that photo that we used, where she's going like this, people couldn't believe it. How could she? She's on trial for the murder. How could she give the thumbs up? You think her attorney would have warned her not to do that? I just sort of wonder as you look at your life and what's happened here, you were really rocketing along there and it's sort of come to this. I mean, what do you think happened?

[Shelly Michael]

I have no idea. I've been asking that question over and over again.

[Narrator/Host]

Where did things sort of turn the.

[Shelly Michael]

Other way when I got arrested, when Jimmy died?

[Narrator/Host]

How this drama ultimately unfolds soon will be up to a jury.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

All right.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

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[Narrator/Host]

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[Shelly Michael]

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[Narrator/Host]

Fire on Killarney Drive, all that's left is an impromptu memorial to Jimmy Michael. That and a prosecutor totally convinced that it was his wife, Shelley Michael, who killed him. What do you think your strongest evidence is going into this? The manner of death, the murder weapon. But prosecutors have no evidence directly linking Shelley Michael to the murder weapon or any aspect of this crime. And her lawyer, Tom Dyer, insists the circumstantial case is a weak one.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

This is my first whodunit. This is the first case that it doesn't involve either direct evidence of guilt, an eyewitness, a smoking gun, so to speak, or a confession.

[Narrator/Host]

Prosecutors Marcia Ashdown and Perry de Christopher wasted no time providing jurors with painful details of Jimmy's death. James Michael died of an intentional poisoning of a substance called rocuronium, a death without mercy and lurid testimony of Shelly's infidelity.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

We were, you know, kissing and holding hands and flirting.

[Narrator/Host]

Shelly's lover, Bobby Teetz, says the affair started at this Chicago hotel. The pair caught on tape checking in and was still going on just three days before the fire.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

I stopped over there in the morning.

[Narrator/Host]

Okay, why did you stop over there in the morning?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Once again, be, I guess, intimate with her. Call your next witness.

[Narrator/Host]

During excruciating testimony, Jimmy's dad wonders if even his son's murder ended the affair.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

I come in the back door and I went into the rec room. Bobby Teach was in his pajamas and he had his arms around Shelly, kissed her on the cheek. She immediately shoved him away. When I walked in, this was the night before the funeral.

[Narrator/Host]

Admitting that the affair makes their client look bad, defense co counsel Jim Zimierowski reminds jurors that motive without opportunity means nothing. And Shelly has an alibi. She has been at work, even under the state's theory, for several hours. The defense suggests the fire started shortly before it was spotted around 10:30. Prosecutors say Shelly said it when she was seen at the house shortly after 8 o'. Clock. But if that's so, it would have had to have smoldered for two full hours before bursting into flame. To sort it all out, the state called on arson experts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They built six models of the Michael bedroom, exact replica, down to the mattress, carpet and paint, and set them on fire. In the test, the bedroom erupts into flames after smoldering for 2 hours and 12 minutes. Although, as the defense points out, that result came only after several failed tries.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

They keep manipulating these things in the first five tests, they don't get anywhere near what they're looking to prove. They can't squeeze the square peg into the round hole.

[Narrator/Host]

Still, the prosecution has scored points simply by showing it's possible for a fire like this to smolder undetected for two hours.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

There was never another person that we investigated with motive to do this. And there was never another suspect that was developed.

[Narrator/Host]

She's the only one. And that, the defense argues, was the problem. Police really investigated no one else, not even others who had access to Rocuronium. Like Jimmy's ex wife, Stephanie. Estle listens as the defense tries to finger her for this murder. From what I heard, she was unaccounted for between 7:30 and 9:30. And her only other alibi between the hours of 6 and 10 were her husband, Dan. You verified all that?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Yes, sir.

[Narrator/Host]

And you took them at their word?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Why wouldn't I take them at their word?

[Narrator/Host]

Why wouldn't you take Michelle Michael at her word?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Because every time I gave her an opportunity to do that, she lied.

[Narrator/Host]

Courtroom dramas on TV often feature dramatic moments when the defendant takes the witness stand to try to undo damaging testimony like that. But in real life, it rarely ever happens. Certainly not to defendant who's been caught on tape lying repeatedly. But Shelley Michaels case is in seeming shambles. And so she rolls the dice and steps into the witness box.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Please call your next witness. Was there another matter that you were not truthful about and you were meeting with Detective Mezzanot?

[Shelly Michael]

Yes.

[Narrator/Host]

Her lawyer, Tom Dyer, sympathetically elicits all the reasons she chose to lie.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Why did you not tell them the truth about leaving the hospital that morning?

[Shelly Michael]

I didn't want my boss to find out I left. I didn't want to get fired.

[Narrator/Host]

As for not admitting her affair to the detective.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

And why would you lie to him about that?

[Shelly Michael]

I was ashamed of myself. I just cheated on my husband and I just didn't want to cause any more pain, make it worse.

[Narrator/Host]

The life insurance Shelly insists was for the children, though she was the beneficiary. She testifies the couple had no debts and she had no motive to kill Jimmy.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Shel, did you have anything at all to do with the death of your husband?

[Shelly Michael]

No, I did not.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

How about the fire at your house?

[Shelly Michael]

No, I did not.

[Narrator/Host]

But prosecutor DeChristopher is merciless. That, in fact, was a lie to cover up. A lie saying Shelly killed out of greed. And she points to her initial 34 page insurance claim to show just how greedy Shelly could be. You claimed reimbursement for 12 bottles of nail polish totaling $72.

[Shelly Michael]

I had a big basket of nail polish. Actually, it was probably an understatement.

[Narrator/Host]

You requested reimbursement for the value of Jim's dress socks. 30 pair totaling $240. Is that right?

[Shelly Michael]

I guess so. If it's on there, you put a.

[Narrator/Host]

Price on your framed wedding vows. $40.

[Shelly Michael]

It was in Michael's frame.

[Narrator/Host]

Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't hear that.

[Shelly Michael]

Yes, ma'.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Am.

[Narrator/Host]

Over and over, did Christopher ridicule Shelly's character, Claim that at heart, she really is an honest person? And in your interviews with Detective Mezzanot, you lied to him over 100 times, correct?

[Shelly Michael]

I lied a lot.

[Narrator/Host]

Well, would you doubt that it was over 100 times?

[Shelly Michael]

Yes, ma'. Am. I actually counted.

[Narrator/Host]

Well, so did I. 52 times on December 8th regarding the car. You lied five times on December 7th about moving your car. Does that sound about right? Probably. You lied 28 times on December 7th regarding the affair.

[Shelly Michael]

Probably.

[Narrator/Host]

You lied 20 times on December 8th about the affair. That sound about right?

[Shelly Michael]

Sure.

[Narrator/Host]

So that adds up to over 100.

[Shelly Michael]

Okay.

[Narrator/Host]

But the most important lie. The prosecutor says you took flame to the bed where Jim's body lay already dead. Correct?

[Shelly Michael]

No.

[Narrator/Host]

Cross examination was brutal, but Shelly says she had to testify.

[Shelly Michael]

I didn't do it, and I wanted everybody to hear me.

[Narrator/Host]

The ex cheerleader who'd twirled and charmed her way through life could only hope that when the jurors saw her struggling in that witness box, they saw an innocent person. Do you feel like taking the stand helped?

[Shelly Michael]

I don't know if it did or not.

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[Shelly Michael]

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[Shelly Michael]

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[Shelly Michael]

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[Shelly Michael]

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[Shelly Michael]

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[Shelly Michael]

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[Narrator/Host]

The jury is about to get the case, and nothing less than Shelly Michaels future is on the line.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

It's all or nothing. First degree murder. Guilty or not guilty.

[Narrator/Host]

The decision may rest on how jurors see Shelly. Is she still the perky cheerleader whose white lies made her the easy target of investigators? Or is she a psychopath, a murderer of unimaginable cruelty?

[Shelly Michael]

I'm still scared to death because I'm not those 12 members and I don't know what's in their head.

[Narrator/Host]

As the trial winds down, Shelly insists again, she only lied because she was scared, not because she was guilty.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Surveillance cameras don't lie. We got your leaving the hospital grounds.

[Shelly Michael]

I didn't leave the hospital grounds. My honest value in life is honesty, and I know it didn't show that day, that's for sure.

[Narrator/Host]

To be honest, if you will, I mean, looking at the testimony, that's laughable, I know. But I do want to respond. All those lies figure mightily in closing arguments. Her lies are a symptom of her guilty knowledge. Prosecutor Marcia Ashdown dramatically recreates her her version of the crime. She had injected her husband with rock uranium. All she had to do about a second and to get the fire started. This is all she had to do. The evidence may be circumstantial, but Ashdown says it is overwhelming. Who had access to the murder weapon? Who had access to the victim's home? Who had access to the victim's body? Who had motive or Something to gain from Jimmy Michaels death.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

She's guilty of lying, cheating, there's no question about that. She guilty of murder and arson? No.

[Narrator/Host]

In a last ditch effort to plant doubt, the defense shocks the court by suggesting that perhaps no one is guilty. Perhaps this isn't even a murder.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

So why is this guy found in bed? Could it be suicide?

[Narrator/Host]

Perhaps. Tom Dyer continues. Jimmy Michael killed himself making it look like a murder so his family would get the life insurance money.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

He knows what rocuronium does. He's a respiratory therapist. He knows it's going to give him a little bit of time to start a fire. It won't look like suicide. This evidence was alone. Is all the reasonable doubt you would ever need in a case like this.

[Narrator/Host]

Jimmy's family is appalled.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

That's the most unbelievable part. That my son would ever commit suicide.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Never ever would he do that.

[Narrator/Host]

Never. Finally, after eight days of testimony, the judge gives the case to the jury.

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

All rise.

[Narrator/Host]

As you wait for the jury, what are you most concerned about?

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

We're always worried that she'll come back not guilty or even guilty with mercy. Because she's guilty. And we don't hate Shelly, if you can believe that. But we hate what she did. I'm not looking for revenge, just justice.

[Narrator/Host]

There's not long to wait. The jury has a verdict in a day and a half. All robbed.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Please be seated. Has the jury reached a verdict in this case?

[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

Yes, sir.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

Is the verdict unanimous in each case? Yes, sir, it is. Will the defendant please stand? With respect to the charge of murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant Michelle Michael guilty with a recommendation of mercy.

[Narrator/Host]

And guilty as well. On the arson charge, guilty. The murder conviction alone carries an automatic life sentence. With mercy only means parole is theoretically possible. Shelly seems stunned, emotionless. Her family takes it hard.

[Shelly Michael]

My daughter did not do this, could not have done this. This would not have it in her to do it.

[Narrator/Host]

But Shelly never convinced Morgantown. There are. There are an awful lot of people who would love if Michelle Michael never saw the light of day again. Again because of the type of crime that it was. And she certainly hasn't convinced the Michaels. Was justice done?

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

Yes. Yes.

[Narrator/Host]

I don't know how a person becomes the person she is to be able to do what she did.

[Dennis Michael (Jimmy's Father)]

She had planned this thing out, what she thought would be maybe the perfect crime.

[Narrator/Host]

She will have ample time to consider what went wrong. Why someone so good at living the picture perfect life fared so badly at the perfect crime.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

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[Narrator/Host]

Dearest Eva, I think about you all the time. Once I find you and your daughter, then I will kill you both. Those words and those threats were absolute psychological terrorism. Surviving 12 years of terror. You be prepared for my arrival. Oh, my God. He found our house. And he was coming. My nightmare stalker.

[Tom Dyer (Defense Attorney)]

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[Detective Paul Mezzanot]

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