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[Music]
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up next an unexplained death had medical
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experts baffled at the end of the
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autopsy I didn't find anything slightly
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wrong whatsoever each new clue raises
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more questions betrayal is getting
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warmer and warmer until a microscopic
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clue reveals the ultimate betrayal no
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one would ever expect someone would do
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this sort of thing to to another human
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being
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[Music]
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[Music]
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fall means football at the University of
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[Music]
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Florida it's also time for thousands of
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students to get back to their
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studies 24-year-old Michelle hearnden
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was entering her senior year after
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graduation she hoped to do volunteer
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work she wanted to go join the p core
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she had a very long list of of dreams
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and hopes to accomplish to pay her way
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through school Michelle worked as a
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personal trainer between classes and her
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job Michelle kept to a predictable
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schedule but one day shortly before
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Thanksgiving she didn't attend any of
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her classes or show up for work this was
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so unlike her not to return their calls
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or not to show up and I guess their
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Sixth Sense was that something is very
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very
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wrong Michelle's fiance Jason Doyle
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immediately drove the 400 miles from his
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home in Miami to Michelle's home in
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Gainesville to see what was
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wrong he finds Michelle's house is it's
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locked up all the doors are locked all
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the windows are locked the outside
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lights are still on as they would had
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been left on from the night
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before her dog was inside and the TV was
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on through a crack in the blinds Jason
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could actually see what later turned out
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to be Michelle's
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foot when police arrived they found
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Michelle's body in her bedroom face down
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it was clear she'd been dead for some
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time she was in a somewhat awkward
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position with her left arm folded up
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underneath her body at first glance
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there was no trauma to the body no
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bruises no wounds no blood we had no
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indication of what would have caused her
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death the medical examiner thought the
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position of Michelle's Body Face Down
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was unusual if somebody is sick and in
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the process of dying most folks tend to
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end up either on their side or on their
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back there were no foreign fingerprints
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in the apartment no signs of forced
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entry and no valuables were
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missing her VCR her television set her
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radio jewelry it was all intact and
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there was no indication this was a
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suicide if it's going to be a suicide
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there's going to be pill bottles lying
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around them frequently in note there was
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none of that on this
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case there was a half full bottle of
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beer next to Michelle's body only
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Michelle's fingerprints were on the
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bottom
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there was no indication that she had
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gotten drunk off the one beer that was
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lying on the bed um there was either
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beer in the refrigerator there was just
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nothing to indicate that she had passed
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out drunk they wanted to see if perhaps
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something had been inside of the beer
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bottle perhaps a foul play a substance
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place in the beer bottle that may have
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contributed to her death but no foreign
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substances were found inside the bottle
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it was baffling wow how could this
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healthy 24 4year old young lady have
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died and is it even possible that she
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would have simply died of natural
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causes in most cases the medical
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examiner doesn't have much difficulty
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determining the cause and manner of an
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individual's death but Michelle hen's
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case was different at the end of the
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autopsy I really had no idea I didn't
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find
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anything anything slightly wrong
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whatsoever to find somebody that's
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deceased without any indication of what
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what caused him to die especially
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somebody that's that young was highly
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unusual the medical examiner estimated
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that Michelle died about 24 hours before
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her body was found so investigators
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interviewed everyone who was with
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Michelle during that time frame they
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also checked the Alibis of those closest
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to Michelle including her fiance say
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Jason squeaky clean Jason had an alibi
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of being at work and was quickly removed
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as a potential suspect then the medical
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examiner took a closer look at something
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on Michelle's left arm a tiny Mark
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smaller than most needle marks we needed
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to find the explanation for that
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puncture wound and there could be a very
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legitimate explanation for it but
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Michelle's personal physician said she
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didn't have any blood drawn before her
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death or receive any
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injections so the medical examiner told
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investigators to widen their search at
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the crime scene looking for possible
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evidence of drug use or an overdose in a
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case like this where we have no clues
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every clue is
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significant investigators noticed that
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the trash cans inside Michelle's
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apartment were empty on a hunch they
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looked looked outside the apartment to
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see where the trash was Kept For
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disposal we went over to where the trash
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bins for that particular little
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Community are stored and on the ground
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in a small plastic bag I could see what
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was visible was a bottle a
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pharmaceutical bottle and I called the
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investigator over and said we got to
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look at this the bag contained two vials
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of a drug labeled
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propol some syringes and a pach Patric
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butterfly IV and it obviously had come
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from Michelle's house cuz contained
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within the bag was some maale that had
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been addressed to her to use a pediatric
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butterfly
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IV is Tiny it would leave a tiny little
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pin prick that would be very hard to
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discover the items were dusted for
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fingerprints but none were
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found investigators needed to know what
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propol was used for propofol is in a
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nutshell the world's most powerful anti-
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breathing drug in the medical setting
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it's used by anesthesiologists to
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essentially put people to sleep propol a
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prescription sedative is an intravenous
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medication administered by medical
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professionals the kind of anesthetic
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that when it's administered the
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anesthesiologist says count backward
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from 100 and you get to about
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99 very powerful stuff to too much
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propol can cause death within
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seconds investigators asked that
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Michelle's Toxicology test be screened
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specifically for propofol it's highly
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unusual we wouldn't typically see
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propofol in our drug screen so we've
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never detected it in other cases as
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expected tests were positive for
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propol I can't say with specificity how
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much drug she got but one thing was
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clear the dose was Lethal the amount of
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drug that was administered was
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sufficient to cause someone to fall
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unconscious and to stop breathing to the
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medical examiner it all started to make
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sense whoever it was used a pediatric
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sized needle to make the tiny puncture
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wound in Michelle's left arm since there
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was virtually
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no hemorrhaging all of those things were
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highly suggestive of somebody who has a
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lot of skill in this the medical
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examiner believed that this was the work
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of a medical professional most likely
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someone who worked in a hospital and
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probably someone Michelle knew whoever
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had injected Michelle hearnen was
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someone that for whatever the reasons
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were she had trusted enough to offer
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that person her left arm she would not
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have been able to administer the dose
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and then clean up and take the medical
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waste the 60 ft from her body where it
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was
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located but who was this
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person to find out detective Mark
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woodmancy came up with an idea that
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changed the course of the
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investigation he told analysts to test
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the syringe caps found in Michelle's
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trash I can remember seeing medical
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staff hold needle caps in their mouth
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while they were giving an injection and
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I thought that there was a potential
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there for saliva DNA I thought that was
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um rather brilliant in fact DNA analysts
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swabbed the needle caps and found
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biological material on the needle cap or
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cover there was an unknown male DNA
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profile and scientists also found DNA
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inside the
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syringe I was able to determine that
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Miss hen's DNA was present in one of
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them proof it had been used on Michelle
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the substance that was found in the
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catheter was a mixture of Michelle's
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blood and
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propal Michelle's death was now
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classified as a homicide and the murder
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weapon was
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propol I've never seen a propal related
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death um ever but who wanted Michelle
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[Music]
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dead Michelle hen's death had been ruled
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a homicide the cause of death an
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overdose of the prescription drug
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propofol propal is a short acting
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intravenous sedative used in general
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anesthesia but it's also used to treat
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other medical conditions propal has been
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suggested as a medication to treat
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migraines it's not a clear indication or
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definitive indication to treat migraines
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but it has been reported to be helpful
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to treat migraines detectives learned
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that Michelle hearnden had been a
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lifelong migraine sufferer from what I
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understand they were bad I've never had
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one but people who suffer from these
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things tell me they're just absolutely
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horrible they would go to the ends of
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the Earth to get some relief from the
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pain was it possible that Michelle had
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sought pain medication from someone
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other than her doctor they just wanted
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to know if Michelle knew anybody in the
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medical
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field only person I knew was
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Oliver Oliver was 30-year-old Oliver Oak
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Quinn an intensive care nurse at Chan's
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Hospital on the campus of the University
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of
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Florida a background check revealed
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Michelle and Oliver were casual
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friends I describe him as cooky and OD
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is definitely a good adjective there was
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just something about him something that
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he felt like he had to go the extra mile
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to prove himself where most people would
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just be
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themselves the way he acted about
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Michelle I kind of knew from when he
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first met her that he had had a crush on
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her I think she made comments to both
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her friends and her mother that he was
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weird and that she felt sorry for him
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then police discovered some troubling
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information a review of Michelle's
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record showed that o'quinn's interest in
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Michelle bordered on harassment he had
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called Michelle hearnen 43 times in less
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than a month and he had called Michelle
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hearnen every single day for nine
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straight days preceding her murder he
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never calls her again he knows there's
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no one there to answer o'quinn's job in
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the Intensive Care Unit would have given
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him access to Pediatric butterfly IVs
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like the ones found in Michelle's trash
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investigators wanted to see if they
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could link O'Quinn to the two bottles of
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propol the important thing to me at this
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point is to track these drugs where did
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they come from how can I put them in an
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individual's hand the vials of propofol
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have a National Drug control number and
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a lot number those specific bottles of
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propa fall were shipped by messen
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Distributors out of Lakeland Florida
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from there the they were shipped to the
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shans hospital at the University of
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Florida they were shipped during the
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time period of when Oliver o Quinn was
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employed there specifically they were
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placed in an automated dispensing
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machine in the hospital ICU I traced it
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to a machine that operates kind of like
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a soda machine you punch in the patient
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number and it drops a bottle of a
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pharmaceutical in your
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hand to get the propol from the the
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dispensing machine a Hospital employee
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had to enter his employee number and
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whose code was entered to get these two
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vials registered nurse Oliver oquinn so
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I actually had that propile all the way
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from the manufacturer in Massachusetts
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to Oliver o'quinn's hand in the Surgical
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Intensive Care Unit the hospital all
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investigators needed now was a sample of
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a Quinn's DNA to compare to the DNA on
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the needle caps found in Michelle's
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trash when police went to question him
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they learned he had fled the country and
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was in Ireland where he had applied for
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a nursing license he doesn't ever intend
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on coming back to the US it's very
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difficult to extradite someone back from
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Ireland I spoke with a lady who is in
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charge of just extradition from the
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Republic of Ireland and I told her look
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I've got a warrant in my hand I want to
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arrest this man and she said to me and
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to the effect you know slow down Columbo
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we've it's it's going to be it's a very
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long process but what was o' Quinn's
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motive to kill
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Michelle and would investigators find a
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way to get him back to the United
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States investigators had two problems in
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the murder of Michelle
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hen first they couldn't understand why
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their Prime Suspect Oliver O'Quinn would
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kill her and second O'Quinn had fled the
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United States to Ireland in order to
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avoid
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prosecution to smoke him out
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investigators contacted the Irish Times
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newspaper and emailed them a picture of
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Michelle a picture of Oliver and a
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synopsis of the homicide investigation
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telling them he is wanted for murder in
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the United States and they published it
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on three separate
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occasions facing increasing pressure
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O'Quinn left Ireland and flew to the
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West African country of Sagal where he
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was immediately turned over to us
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authorities once in custody
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investigators got a court order to
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obtain o' Quinn's DNA sample which was
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then compared to the DNA found
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on the syringe cap it matched to me I
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would equate that with getting the
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suspect's fingerprint off the trigger of
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the murder
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weapon Oliver made a great many mistakes
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thank goodness Oliver O'Quinn was
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charged with first deegree murder the
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only remaining question was
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motive I know he tried very hard to
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infuse himself into Michelle's life and
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mostly out of pity and feeling sorry for
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him she would bring him along to do
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things with to go out to watch a band to
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meet in the morning and have
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coffee but in custody Oliver told a
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fellow inmate he grew angry with
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Michelle because he overheard her during
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a telephone conversation saying
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something unflattering about him she
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made some comments of a derogatory
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nature about Oliver oquinn comments that
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she didn't expect for him to hear but he
00:17:29
did hear he heard Michelle refer to him
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as an annoying little man and we believe
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because of that that sent him into this
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mindset that if you're never going to be
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mine then you're never going to be
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anybody's and the inmate stated that
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Oliver confided to him that she needed a
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long
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sleep prosecutors believe O'Quinn
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hatched a plan he told Michelle the next
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time she had a migraine headache he'd be
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willing to come to her apartment and
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give her something that would get rid of
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the pain
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quickly the evidence shows he got the
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propol from work typing his employee
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number into the medication control
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system designed specifically to prevent
00:18:21
this very
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abuse then he waited for Melle to
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call when she did Oliver put his plan
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into
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action on the night Michelle had the
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migraine Oliver stopped by her apartment
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on his way home from work he injected
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Michelle with a lethal dose of propol
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using a small pediatric syringe but he
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did something medical professionals
00:18:54
often do used his teeth to pull the
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plastic a cap off the syringe and Left
00:19:02
Behind the DNA that later identified him
00:19:06
Michelle was dead within
00:19:12
seconds he positioned her arm underneath
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her body so the needle Mark wouldn't be
00:19:19
easily
00:19:23
noticeable he threw the syringes and
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propal bottles into a plastic B bag
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which he tossed into the dumpster behind
00:19:32
Michelle's rented home not realizing the
00:19:35
obvious that those serial numbers could
00:19:39
be traced I believe that the pain was
00:19:42
such that she entrusted Oliver O'Quinn
00:19:45
to administer the pain reliever and I
00:19:48
think that he took advantage of that
00:19:50
trust and intentionally took her life
00:19:52
with the prop of all Oliver O'Quinn went
00:19:56
on trial for first-degree murder his
00:19:59
defense claimed he gave Michelle the
00:20:01
propal to help relieve the pain from her
00:20:05
migraine headache but accidentally gave
00:20:08
her too much there's no way that the
00:20:12
administration of propal to Michelle
00:20:14
hearnen was an accidental death this was
00:20:18
an action consistent with homicide the
00:20:21
jury didn't believe it either O'Quinn
00:20:24
was convicted of first-degree murder and
00:20:27
sentenced to life in prison without
00:20:30
parole this is the first reported case
00:20:34
ever involving Murder By the use of
00:20:36
propol so this entire case was driven by
00:20:40
and solved by forensics there is no
00:20:43
eyewitness so how do you put a person
00:20:45
there without
00:20:47
evidence I mean without the evidence I
00:20:50
don't think it would have worked
00:20:52
everybody did their job and they did a
00:20:54
great job and it all came together I've
00:20:57
never had a case
00:20:59
where the Small Things mattered so much
00:21:02
where something as small as a needle
00:21:03
Mark or the amount of DNA left on a
00:21:05
needle cap played such a pivotal role in
00:21:09
the resolution of the case
00:21:12
[Music]
