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when a beautiful young woman in ohio met a handsome young doctor it was love at first sight
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during candlelight dinners the two spoke of marriage with a ceremony on a distant
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beach at sunset but those plans were delayed when the prospective bride fell ill
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when medical science couldn't find the cause of the problem forensic science and a hidden camera did
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[Music] [Music] [Music] at 33 years old michelle baker was ready to settle down get married and start a
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family her dreams were soon realized when a girlfriend introduced her to a soft-spoken new doctor in town dr
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maynard munsing ii i was the happiest woman in the world at that point i mean he was he was every
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woman's dream he was very successful very good looking michelle worked as a firefighter and a
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paramedic and the two shared an interest in emergency medicine munsing was also 33 years old both were
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divorced and there was an immediate attraction within a month dr munson moved into
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michelle's small home in huber heights ohio the couple spent weekends caring for
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maynard's two children from a previous marriage and soon michelle had some happy news of
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her own she was going to have a baby he said we're getting married in key west barefoot on the beach at sunset
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i was blown away so the two flew off to florida but on their first night there maynard
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changed his mind asking michelle if they could postpone the wedding so his family
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could attend i felt devastated i also felt like if that is the way that he wanted things to be then i had
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to respect his wishes later that night the couple went to the hard rock cafe but after they left the restaurant
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michelle had severe cramps and some light bleeding fortunately with a fiance who was a
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doctor maynard reassured her he told her there was nothing to worry about he just had me lay down he said that it
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was fine the next day it stopped after returning home from vacation michelle saw her physician dr john shy
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just to make sure everything was okay i'm trying to allay her concern because
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i don't think it's a big issue michelle i think was primarily concerned because
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of her age and this being her first pregnancy she was frightened her concerns were that she had a history of
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endometriosis and she thought that might be a problem but i reassured her that the chance of a problem was remote
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maynard purchased this 320 thousand dollar brick house for the couple to raise their new child
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it was all very much a whirlwind as far as everything went the baby the the romance the
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the just the unbelievable situation all the way around but michelle's pregnancy was a difficult
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one with increasing cramps and occasionally bleeding when neither michelle's doctor or her
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fiance could determine the cause of her illness she did a little research of her
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own and made her diagnosis it was a condition so rare medical experts could hardly believe it
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[Music] although michelle baker and dr maynard munsing were expecting a child and had
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plans to marry maynard revealed some news which threatened those plans he admitted he still had lingering
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feelings for a former girlfriend tammy irwin despite their stormy past you've
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told all these people such horrible things about her and what kind of person she is and i said and and you still have
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feelings for her over the fourth of july weekend in 2000 michelle planned to stay home while
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maynard left for a fishing trip with a friend about an hour's drive away we spent the morning together had a
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a good morning really good morning and he packed some clothes and he left that was prisoner of love here on all
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request hour q92 let's go to the request lines from humor heights hello what can
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i play for you yeah i was wondering if you could play but later that night while listening to a local radio station
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michelle heard a familiar voice calling in to request the song the caller sounded very much like maynard and i was
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i just stopped right there i just stopped dead in my tracks and i listened and the dj asked him he said well who is
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this and he said maynard do you want to dedicate this to anyone now suspecting she had been lied to
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michelle asked a neighbor to drive her to the home of maynard's former girlfriend tammy irwin
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[Music] michelle's fears were confirmed when she saw him outside with tammy fishing trip huh what it looks like it's
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exactly what it looks like a confrontation ensued she never knew that maynard was living
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with me he had told her that he was living with a friend of his and all the while he was with me
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michelle immediately threw maynard out of her home i was devastated i just couldn't believe
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that someone could be that deceiving and and appear to be something that they're
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obviously not [Music] but a few days later maynard called inviting michelle to a picnic so the two
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could talk he apologized for his lapse in judgment and asked michelle if they could get
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back together he turned to me and he said that he was very sorry about all of this
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seemed very sincere in what he was saying but the picnic was interrupted when michelle got very sick
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i was so ill there at the park that i couldn't even leave i would leave the restroom and then
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five minutes later i have to be right back in the restroom not only was by vomiting and by diarrhea
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but i also about 40 minutes into this started bleeding and bleeding pretty bad michelle immediately went to her doctor
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he could find nothing seriously wrong an ultrasound of the fetus was normal and once again
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michelle assumed her symptoms were stress related with their relationship back on track
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the couple once again spoke of marriage he was affectionate and you know he rubbed my back watched tv with me and it
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seemed very normal but it happened again michelle started cramping bleeding and vomiting
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i thought that this was due to anxiety and stress and probably just internal pressure that
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developed when she saw her boyfriend but it was michelle's twin sister melinda who noticed an interesting
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coincidence she had said that don't you find it odd that every time you're with him
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after he leaves you're sick and i was just horrified by what she was implying
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michelle recalled that maynard was the one who brought the drinks from the bar to their table in
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florida shortly before she fell ill the first time and he also prepared her drink at the
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picnic before the second bleeding incident but what was he doing to her drinks to find out
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she set a trap and was clever enough to videotape it michelle baker was becoming increasingly
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suspicious of her fiance's behavior maynard told michelle he was taking his children to florida for a short vacation
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michelle suspected he was lying to find out michelle drove to the home of maynard's
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ex-girlfriend and there saw maynard's car [Music] through an open window michelle overheard maynard and tammy
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irwin discussing michelle's pregnancy tammy asked maynard what he intended to
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do about the baby and maynard's response to her was she need not worry about that that as
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far as he knew that it could have already been taken care of my heart dropped and it was at that point that
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did i realize that something might be going on [Music] michelle immediately told police about
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her suspicion that maynard was trying to abort their child well after listening the story i thought
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it was quite fantastic it's not the typical uh case that comes across my desk
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i was certainly skeptical at first and thought you know i can't imagine that someone would even do this it's
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beyond my dreams something i haven't run into in 25 years of experience police wanted michelle to take a lie
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detector test but department rules prohibit the test to be done on pregnant women
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we told her basically that because of his professional position that we were going to need all types of physical
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evidence that would show that he's responsible for this but without proof there was little police could do
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so michelle conducted her own investigation inside a silk plant michelle and her
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girlfriend hid a small video camera in her kitchen with a clear view of the kitchen countertop area
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i was scared i was afraid that he would see it she then invited maynard to dinner
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as soon as he arrived michelle said she was going outside to put the steaks on the grill and asked maynard to prepare
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her a drink the video tape clearly revealed maynard pouring an unknown substance into michelle soft
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drink when he handed michelle the drink she excused herself to go to the bathroom where she had hidden a plastic
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container as i poured that drink into that container there was a white sludge in the bottom of my cup an enormous
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amount i mean not not just a little bit but a very large amount and then i rinsed my cup out i poured my
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new coke into that glass hid the other stuff i walked back out and sat down at the
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table and ate dinner with him i was sickened but i knew that this was the only way
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that i could prove this this was the only way that i could keep him away from my baby
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getting through dinner was difficult michelle wanted to get the drink to the police station quickly and throughout
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dinner her telephone rang incessantly it was tammy erwin asking to speak with maynard
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when maynard finally left the telephone rang once more it was maynard with some upsetting news
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he said to me do you want to know why tammy's so upset and i said yeah why don't you tell me
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why tammy's so upset he said because she's my wife he'd married her that week
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the police immediately sent michelle's soft drink to the forensics lab my first reaction is you've got to be
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kidding me we have no idea what we're looking for here it's not a typical
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forensic case so where are we going to even start there's literally hundreds of drugs that
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this could be on a hunch police called a local pharmacist asking for a list of medications that can cause
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harm to a fetus if taken by a pregnant woman the most commonly prescribed drug fitting that description was a stomach
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ulcer drug cytotec the contents of michelle's soft drink were placed in the gas chromatograph
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mass spectrometer the chromatograph separates the various elements the mass spectrometer analyzes
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them by comparing the known cytotec that we received from the pharmaceutical company
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we compared that to the substance that was found in the coca-cola and found a match therefore
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the coca-cola contained cytotec it's also a drug that is used in a very limited capacity to induce labor the
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actual effects of that particular drug are to actually start contractions but police had a problem
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there was no proof it was cytotec that maynard was putting into the soft drink a clever defense attorney could claim
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that michelle laced her own drink with the drug in order to frame him so police set a trap of their own
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[Music] even though michelle baker had caught her fiance on videotape placing something in her drink
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authorities were concerned about whether this evidence would stand up in court we didn't believe just having a tape by
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the complainant and a sample by the complainant would have as much validity as a tape by ourselves
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obtained by ourselves and the sample obtained by ourselves so a few days later police set up their own surveillance
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camera in michelle's kitchen they placed it in a figurine of a firefighter saving a child
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the camera focused on michelle's kitchen counter once again michelle invited maynard over
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for dinner myself and detective sergeant may were waiting in the garage and viewing
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what was going on in the kitchen like clockwork almost identical to the previous tape
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once michelle baker exited the residence to put stakes on the grill dr munson removed a vial from his pocket
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placed it in her drink the two detectives rushed into the kitchen and arrested him
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at that time i pointed up to the camera and said right up there you're on camera
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and that's when he viewed a camera to look at it i said i told you that you didn't have
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to have anything to do with this baby and instead you tried to to kill the baby and kill me
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i mean this guy had it all you know in a matter of six minutes he uh you know destroyed his career
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and of course michelle's life dr munson cryptically explained why he had done it
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he basically poisoned drink in an attempt to remove the problem in question as to whether or not the
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problem was meant the baby he advised yes lab tests confirmed that this drink was
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spiked with site attack 2. a search of munsing's car trunk revealed even more side attack
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dr maynard munsing was charged with the attempted murder of the baby i think that's just despicable
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i'm ashamed to say that he's a physician i think that he misused his authority and his ability to obtain a
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substance and then he poisoned his ex fiance despite ingesting side attacks several
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times earlier michelle's fetus appeared normal i was at the doctor's office every week
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had high resolution ultrasounds every month they were very very cautious as to what they were looking
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for meanwhile monsing was released on bond to await trial i need my family my family meets me
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especially my children i need to see them to hold them and to love them they they should be
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the truth will come out soon shortly before the trial 28 weeks into her pregnancy
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michelle gave birth to a stillborn baby girl whom she named michaela she was already gone
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it was a bad day but my parents got there they they were there when she was delivered
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um my whole family was there um my friends and um they all held her and we passed her
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around and we all told her how much that we loved her since the coroner found no trace of side
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attack in the placenta he ruled the cause of the baby's death as undetermined
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he did make oral statements as well as written statements admitting to what he was trying to do in this case
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and that he was trying to get rid of the baby that it was something he his wife didn't
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want him to have to deal with michelle firmly believes that maynard was responsible
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i know in in my heart what he did my justice is knowing that he is eventually going to
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be judged for that because of the strain a trial would have placed on michelle and her family
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prosecutors made a deal with dr munson and his wife tammy with michelle's approval
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munsing's wife tammy pleaded guilty to the charge of filling the prescription
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for the side attack she was put on probation dr munsen pleaded guilty to contaminating a substance for human
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consumption and attempted felonious assault he was sentenced to five years in prison
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he was also stripped of his medical license and will never be permitted to practice medicine in the united states
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again i have a lot of anger and a lot of hurt and a lot of questions and you know and
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it doesn't matter how much counseling i go to they can't answer any of those
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questions you know and it's uh it's it's difficult michelle keeps michaela's ashes in a
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beautiful acrylic statue surrounded by angels [Music] fortunately it was michelle's suspicions good police
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work and new forensic technology that identified the drug quickly it could have been a very very long
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procedure in identifying this drug because we literally had no idea where to start or what we were looking
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for it could have taken us several months to determine what we had [Music] a delay of several months
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may have prevented police from capturing the crime a second time on videotape [Music]
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[Music] [Music] you