I tried to watch Gypsy’s testimony today but I kept dozing off. Can someone let me know if anything earth shattering was said? The selfies sent the day after Michele died were kind of disgusting. Are we going to see Ada today? Catch me up on what I missed so far please.
This trial is driving me CRAY,CRAY! I have watched everyday and they are speaking slow, acting slow and really not getting anywhere. When the mistress was on the stand today, the prosecutor asks her about the time MacNeill proposed to her in Wy. She says she couldn’t remember the details because it was “so long ago I really don’t remember”. Yet, when he asks her about the ring – she knows how big it was and how much it cost! I’m angry about this trial. Both parties really don’t seem interested in getting to the heart of the matter which is why he murdered his wife.
MacNeill is staring this witness down, yet he could not look at most of the others.
Question: Do we have any recent photographs of Michelle MacNeill? Everything I’ve seen looks as if she is in her early 30’s or 40’s. I’m confused.
Joyce, Michele was 50 years old when she died in 2007. Due to the publicity around the trial, there are lots of pictures of her on the Internet. In any of them, she was a pretty woman. In all of them, she’s more beautiful than Gypsy. She certainly didn’t look 50.
You’re so right. I’ve seen lots of them, and I don’t see any pictures that make me think, “Get some work, girl!” She was beautiful. This Gypsy person looks like a fishwife compared to Michele. (Sorry, fish.)
Are the state witnesses’ not allowed to say Martin killed Michelle or that they think so? Michelle’s sister was struggling to explain the purpose of her website without expressly saying that she thought Martin killed her sister. I know they can’t refer to Michelle as a victim. Anything else?
I think the prosecution needs more follow through and to highlight some of his actions.
Finally time for Ada on HLN!
they playing Adas tape now..well the HLN wont missa thing, pause, talk, be right back, now. Just like all else is hard to follow without drowsing
I had forgotten the chinese water torture that is watching HLN’s “live” trial.
I know! The other day I recommended that they should leave hln on in Jodi arias’s cell 24/7. That is punishment if ever there were one. They wouldn’t need to worry about death penalty, as she would probably end up doing it herself!
I found it entertaining that Gypsy’s mom tried really hard to dress very conservatively in a “I’m so sorry my daughter’s a trollop” suit.
i hope they use the lady lawyer to cross examine Ada..smiley wont really come across well i think. Sorry TT cant remember their names
they finished the tape and decided no cross..I guess while we watched basketball bs.
Tamara, the part that stood out the most for me while watching gypsy today was that on that fake document they made so they could get her into the military base and they wrote her name as jillian macneill, they also put that she was his wife and they wrote the date of their marriage as the date of the funeral! Disgusting! Another thing I found very interesting was during one of Michelle’s friend’s testimonies, on the day of the funeral she offered to be Nanny for the children and Martin said he already had one… a nurse that he used to work with. I don’t feel that the prosecution is emphasizing this stuff enough. I sure do miss Juan!
I don’t know how I missed gypsy’s mom on the stand. I recorded hln all day and then watched it after so I can ff through all the bs, but I somehow don’t have her. Can anyone tell me, did she say anything interesting?
Can someone tell me what happened to “Sidebar?” I miss it. Thanks so much.
This is it! When we are following a specific trial I name the posts for the trial. But you can treat it just like a “sidebar” I make a sidebar post when there are a few things we want to talk about in between trials. You are free to chat away In any of the trial type post comment section.
the plastic surgeon who did the facelift testified that the meds martin wanted was unusual. Since the Macneills were mormon to wouldnt that be SUPER unusual?
These daughters testifying are heartbreaking. And we have ANOTHER mistress testifying today.
how awful for Sabrina, her mom died the day before her 13th b-day. How could you ever enjoy that day again?
I’ve got a bit of family drama going on so I’ve been on the phone and am behind on this a bit but catching up now. Alexis and the adopted daughter whose name I forget seem to be the only two that turned out well so far. This whole family was destroyed.
We saw Vanessa (Ada’s real mom) today. How hard must it be to have a father who murdered your mother and who has offered to help you kill yourself. So much stuff is not getting to this jury.
I want to know what happened to Giselle. The adopted daughter said she doesn’t know where she is.
Did anyone ever find somewhere to watch this trial live on the internet? I am especially annoyed with hln’s coverage with this trial. At least with other trials when they do their millions of pauses, they pick back up where they left off. With this trial they are doing a complete hack job. You leave off with them taking about one thing and when they hit play again, they are on a completely different topic. I am more than frustrated with this.
Thank you!
smiley is nitpicking and its going to backfire bad. To me it makes Alexis story even MORE believable..and dads grasping for straws
I’m confused. I didn’t listen to all of his testimony, but did I hear what I thought I heard?… That the Chief medical examiner said their was no proof of drowning? Does that mean there was no water in her lungs? If there was no water in her lungs, then wouldn’t the bathtub be more like a prop then anything that had to do with manner of death? I am so confused. Maybe I misunderstood what I heard?
Now I don’t know if you guys already know all of this, and I apologize if it’s already been said somewhere else, but I was also blown away to learn yesterday that he supposedly told that other mistress, Anna Osborne Walthall, during the preliminary hearings that he drowned his brother in a tub years ago, and then last night Nancy Grace had that looked into, and indeed, his brother did die by drowning in a bathtub. This woman also said that he bragged to her that he tried to kill his Mom was he was eight years old by rounding up all the pills he could find in the house while his mom was passed out drunk and then put them in a beer that he assisted her in consuming, and waited for her to stop breathing. The story goes on to say that one of his sister’s came home and called 911, and so the mom was saved. This is the same mistress who testified yesterday that he supposedly told her during pillow talk that he knew how to give someone a heart attack and make it look like natural causes. I wish this jury were allowed to hear about the mother and brother stories.
taking bets now..the pool is up to 2 candy bars 4 sheets of jodi tracing paper and 2 golf pencils. I say no way will martin a-hole macniell is going to take the stand. Especially after his side tried so hard to make the daughters look as bad as possible. I WANT to see him testify but he is too much of a coward to step up and acctually tell the jury his version..Any takers?
Not me. No way in Hell. Except… he ISSSSS a sociopath…
Lori-yes he is!! Earlier you asked about med ex guy. He looked at pictures from original autopsy and read notes and looked at slides and couldnt DEFINITELY say drowning was cause of death..but possible. Not enuf water damage in lungs for conclusive findings. He did get in that the EMTs noted water from her mouth while trying CPR. I think he did ok. Not so biased in answers when he gave his opinions.
Thanks for the clarification Steve. This case is making me ill. I am praying that this jury gets it right. This is a very dangerous man.
the most damage to states case from the med ex i feel was the heart disease he noted..the pundits all cry this is just a circumstantial case with no smoking gun. Each circumstance on its own doesnt have much weight. But when added together each piece builds to a mountain of evidence..i feel. Just wish these attys would have one tenth of JMs passion, this would be a very different trial.
I agree. They would have been way better off not cutting a deal for gypsy and really going in on her. She did them no favors, and I honestly feel like she didn’t hold up her part of the deal. Unless the testimony she gave was what they were expecting, in which case the state made a ridiculously stupid deal.
I do not think Gypsy will age well.
Was totally thinking the same thing when she was on the stand.
if gypsy was testifying the way she should have then the pros would hot have asked to treat as hostile witness.
Right. Part of the agreement was that if she didn’t hold up her end of it, the deal would be off. I guess the judge didn’t agree, so so far, she’s getting away with it. I think they should try to find a reason to call her back to the stand, if for nothing else, to at least try again to have the judge deem her a hostile witness and throw her ass back in jail. That is definitely where she belongs. She is so creepy! Don’t tell me for a second that she didn’t know exactly what was going on the whole time. We already know that his favorite part of “pillow talk” is talking about all the people he got away with killing, or his brilliant plans on how to do it again. It makes me sick, because in my mind’s eye I envision her being over the MOON happy the day/day after he killed Michelle. She’s a monster.
This LAX shooting is kind of freaky. How did guns get through security? Oh it sounds like the gunman walked up to security with an ak47 and opened fire on TSA agents. A policeman shot the gunman. What exactly is the point of shooting a TSA agent?
Maybe the shooter was someone with a grudge due to treatment, or perhaps racial profiling or something like that. Maybe it was a crazy husband who thought TSA was inappropriate with his wife or something. Sounds terrifying. I’ll be watching right along with you!
Although an AK47 sounds a little over the top. I just really realized that you said it was an AK47! I saw the initial reports, but hasn’t heard that detail.
It was an assault rifle and I am pretty sure that is what they said. “A CONCEALED ASSAULT RIFLE” How they hell do you conceal an assault rifle while wandering through the airport?
Back to trial news, surely the judge is going to allow the medical examiner to give testimony about drowning. though with three MEs with Three different stories… it’s already a big clusterfuck.
So yes, it looks like it is coming in. Then we get his jail buddies to testify saying he confessed to the murders in prison!
On Fri, Nov 1, 2013 at 3:09 PM, Tamara Tattles
I was thinking the same thing about how the Hell someone smuggled an assault rifle all that way. Israel is shaking their heads again at the horrible job we do with airport security.
I am so bummed that we have to wait until Tuesday now to start hearing the inmates. Finally something interesting following the dreaded ME’s. Hopefully all of their stories match 100%. That would be extra fabulous if somehow these inmates also don’t have access to each other, but I don’t know what the chances of that are. I always feel so sorry for juries on ME testimony days. I honestly don’t know how they make it through all of that, just having to sit still and not fall asleep without pulling a Clockwork Orange.
That sounds pretty much like every major city US airport I’ve ever been to.
TT remember your trip earlier this year? I can understand WANTING to do something like that but not actually DOING something like that. Med ex #3 brings the drowning not heart to a better understanding. Any clue to what deal was made with the inmates for testimony?
I agree with u steve, abt Dr. Perper. What he said re: evidence of drowning AND how her heart appeared, was likely due to the lengthy recussitative efforts, made so much sense! Loved that he pointed out that he DID take into account the IV fluid administered, when explaining the blood and drug dilution. (I have a science background, so I find the. ME testimony interesting)
I think, bc Perper is retired and has the forensic experience, he has the time to really evaluate a case thoroughly, whereas state ME’s have numerous cases every day, and unfortunately prob can’t dedicate as much time and effort to just one. I think this could account for the discrepencies.
About the recussitation efforts, I think the cardiologist touched on that.. to me explains why MM offered the ER doc $10,000 to continue, even when she was obv dead! MM also told the neighbors, before autopsy was done (?), that she died from heart related issues. DING! DING! DING!
To clarify, I wasn’t saying perper’s evidence of drowning was damage from cpr. Havn’t been proof-reading! My bad! haha
I liked the part about Marky Mark telling the neighbors the cause of death before the autopsy. I had no idea he was a neighbor. Or maybe it was Mickey Mouse?
was watching CNN today talk about Kendrick Johnson, the kid found in the wrestling mat. They showed blood stains on the gym wall some as long as 17 inches. Somebody said this is a gym and the stains are old. Wouldnt leaving blood stains on a wall where kids get sweaty and obviously contact that spot be a really bad thing? Like a biohazard?
Yup! Fun fact: Hep C can survive in dried blood for up to 4 days (u can become infected if u have contact with said dried blood).
Also, wtf happens in a school gym where having blood on the walls like that is considered normal?!
Yes. The talking heads were talking about that same thing a couple of weeks ago. When I saw a picture of that poor boys head and face (on Jane VM), I couldn’t believe it! This is such an obvious cover up to what happened to him. It disgusts me that a school (and whoever else was involved) would do this.
They are sure withholding A LOT of information on that Kendrick case.
On Sat, Nov 2, 2013 at 1:11 PM, Tamara Tattles
Now that story (Kendrick) just freaked me out! HOW does something like that happen in a school gym??? I mean it’s bad enough that he “died” there in the gym, and his body was rolled up in the carpet(???) But how in the world were some of his internal organs extracted? I also heard that his finger nails were cut back or cut off. Now that really makes it sound like someone is trying to cover up something. I bet the kids know. Kids always know.
which organs were missing and how were they extracted? I can see sweeping a beating under the rug by investigators but organ removal would require a lot more blood loss than what the pics showed. Or were the organs not replaced after autopsy? Wouldnt organs need to taken while still alive or very fresh dead?
Good questions Steve, I’d like to know the answers too. I’d heard on the news that his brain was removed. Don’t understand that one.
the brain and organs are taken out, inspected, weighed, and sectioned for slides during most autopsys. Didnt they put them back in? I hadnt heard about missing parts. Has anybody heard what the last arias hearing resulted in? Cant find ANY info.
that wasnt from the initial crime, that was after 1st autopsy and exhumation wasnt it?
Yes Steve. That’s my understanding. The story is so bizarre. I can’t imagine what that poor family is going through. As if the murder and cover up of their son’s death isn’t bad enough, to know that someone stole his organs and stuffed him with newspapers! I can’t think of many things more awful than that. I remember watching a story on one of those shows on TVID about the guy who was stealing organs and selling them on the black market. He would replace the organs with all kinds of crazy stuff. It’s hard to believe that people are capable of such things.
If you are stealing organs for the black market they have to be harvested and put on ice and transported very quickly. Not saying that did not happen, it’s a crazy case. It is looking like the organs went missing at the Lowdes County Medical Examiners office.
(CBS) – On January 11, 2013, 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead inside a rolled-up wrestling mat in his Valdosta, Ga. high school gym. Authorities called his death a freak accident, saying he fell head-first into an upright mat and became trapped. The case was closed, but Johnson’s family insists he was killed. A federal prosecutor has announced he is reopening the case.
But the mystery of how Johnson died is only one part of this bizarre story.
When a judge agreed to exhume Johnson’s body over the summer, a private pathologist not only determined he died of blunt force trauma to his neck, but also that his organs were missing and his body had been stuffed with newspaper. How and why did this happen? Who is responsible? And could the strange state of the body affect further investigation of Johnson’s death? It turns out, the answers to these questions are far from clear.
Despite some media reports that only two entities had custody of Kendrick’s body after his death, CBS News’ Crimesider has confirmed at least four entities – the Valdosta-Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), a third-party transport company, and the Harrington Funeral Home – handled the teen’s body.
On Jan. 11, the day the body was found, Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson contacted Steve Owens from Owens Transport Company to conduct the removal and transport of Johnson’s body to the Valdosta-Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory, according to recently unsealed files pertaining to the investigation. The body would be stored in a cooler there until the GBI was ready to receive it to conduct the autopsy.
Three days later, on Jan. 14, Johnson’s body was released again to Steve Owens for transport to the GBI in Macon, Ga., for the autopsy.
Sherry Lang, a spokesperson for the GBI, told Crimesider that after the autopsy was conducted, during which the organs were removed, the organs were returned to the body.
“When the body left the GBI, it had the organs with it,” Lang said.
The GBI released the body to Owens Transport, which then transported the body directly to the funeral home, according to William Carter, the Lowndes County Deputy Coroner.
Crimesider reached out to Steve Owens, of Owens Transport, and left several messages which were not returned.
Crimesider also reached out to the Harrington Funeral Home, which directed all questions regarding the case to their attorney, Roy Copeland. In a statement in response to “several inquiries” about the case, Copeland wrote that when the funeral home received the body, the organs had been removed.
The statement cites a quote from Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson who says: “In this case, the Viscera, which is the internal organs, were not sent back with the body for disposition. It was confirmed by Mr. Bryan, (a death investigator with the crime lab), who was present at the autopsy, that the viscera were disposed of due to decomposition of the same.'”
When contacted by Crimesider on Friday, Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson first claimed he has no idea what happened to Johnson’s organs.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Watson said. “What difference does it make? What does it matter to the case?”
When pressed, Watson confirmed that he stands by his statement to the funeral home that Rodney Bryan, a death investigator with the GBI, told him via telephone that the viscera were disposed of during the autopsy due to decomposition.
Crimesider reached Rodney Bryan via telephone Monday and attempted to question him about the alleged disposal of Johnson’s organs, but he hung up on us.
Dr. Gregory Schmunk, the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners and chief medical examiner for Polk County in Des Moines, Iowa, told Crimesider he “very much doubts” the organs were disposed of during the autopsy.
“It’s very unusual for the medical examiner to have done that,” Schmunk said. “I have spoken with people involved [in the case] and I really don’t think this happened at the medical examiner’s office.”
Sherry Lang, spokesperson for the GBI, told Crimesider on Monday that Watson’s “accounting of the conversation with Mr. Bryan is inaccurate and incorrect.” She said Bryan was talking about “vitrious,” fluid of the eye, and not “viscera,” internal organs.
The written statement from Roy Copeland, on behalf of the funeral home, went on to justify the business’s use of newspaper to stuff the body, saying it is in conformity with burial protocol.
Despite Copeland’s assertion, Sharon Gee, Vice-President of the American Society of Embalmers says, stuffing a body with newspaper is “not common practice at all.” Gee said she has never heard of newspaper being used for that purpose.
SOURCE CBS http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57610656-504083/kendrick-johnson-update-conflicting-accounts-of-what-happened-to-ga-teens-organs-after-gym-mat-death/
On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 7:03 PM, Tamara Tattles
Right, I wasn’t saying that that’s what happened in this case, just it reminded me of that disgusting story. This case is so twisted. Again, these poor parents… not able to get a straight answer on anything! It would be bad enough for any loved one, but so much worse that it’s their young child. A living nightmare.
Are we still watching MacNeill. Today’s testimony is a couple jailhouse snitches. Nancy Grace is discussed on the stand. Apparently the dude on the stand now was sitting around with Martin watching Nancy Grace talk about his 911 call. This guys says that when he asked Martin if he killed his wife he said “The bitch drowned.” He also said there is not proof that he killed anyone.
Hi Tamara. I’m actually watching it right now. I recorded it today. So far I’m on the first snitch, and the defense is up. As of right now it doesn’t look like this guy is doing the prosecution much good. I sure hope it’s going to be worth watching, because I have the whole day to get through, plus I still have to watch RHOM, RHOBH and VR, and then, of course, there’s a whole bunch of shows coming on tonight. Oy! I need more DVR space! Anyway, I’m glad to hear that Gypsy is coming back. I hope the prosecution goes a little harder on her this time. On a completely separate note, it’s been driving me crazy who the female defense atty reminds me of, and today I figured it out… Lily Rabe from American Horror Story.
i tried to watch but but was moving so slow i had to do other stuff. I did see that Gypsy is coming back to testify some more tomorrow maybe.