James “Jimmy” Michael
Find-A-Grave: James Andrew “Jimmy” Michael
Death without mercy. We will never forget you Jimmy Michael!
Opening Statements Made in Michael Murder Trial
Jury gets Michael murder-arson case
Michael guilty of murder, arson
Michelle Michael Gets Life for Murder
Journal of a Juror in the Michelle Michael trial
Michelle Michael Murder Appeal is One Step Closer to Being Heard
Books
Playing With Fire: The True Story of a Nurse, Her Husband, and a Marriage Turned Fatal
Movies/Documentaries
48 Hours Mystery: Death Without Mercy
Snapped: Michelle Michael
Deadly Affairs: Sudden Death
Deadly Women: Married to Murder
My Dirty Little Secret: Death by Cheerleader
Murderous Affairs: Smoke and Mirrors
OFFENDER INFORMATION
DOC Number 45996-1
Name MICHELLE MICHAEL
Sex F
Birth Date 1/21/1972
Height 5′ 1″
Weight 100
Race White
Location Lakin Correctional Center
Status Active Inmate
HelpNext Parole Hearing
HelpMaximum Parole Discharge Date
HelpProjected Release Date
Court Order List
Sentencing County Order Date Order Number Offense(s)
Monongalia 9/19/2007 06-F-151 First Degree Arson (1 count)
First Degree Murder (1 count)
Filed under: crime, murder, murder in the 21st Century | Tagged: 2005, Arson, drug overdose, homicide, James Michael, Michelle Michael, spousal murder, West Virginia |
Bonnie's Blog of Crime 
I’m looking for people connected to the Michelle Michael case. I’m a true-crime author and have been considering the case for my next true-crime book.
Thanks,
M. William Phelps
mwilliamphelps@comcast.net / 860-870-7247
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I’m a huge fan of yours…I never leave the ID channel, so I’ve grown pretty familiar with your work and your style…I love your remark on the Pat Olsen case…”This isn’t a horsecide, it’s a homicide.” Hilarious! Anyway, keep up the good work!
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Totally agree.
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Are you really going to write a book about this?
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There is already a book about this, by John Glatt which was published in 2007. I just finished reading it…It was very interesting, and heartbreaking at the same time…
I am interested in what the story is now, current day, did Shelly file another appeal? Does she still maintain her innocence?
What about the children, have they grown into well-adjusted adults, or has this affected their development as normal adults? This is something the courts should consider in any appeals/parole hearings for Shelly Michael…
Perhaps you should base your book on the current state of affairs, if Shelly Michael yet shows remorse etc…, not the past as this has already been covered in the novel by John Glatt..
Just a suggestion…
Regards.
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I just finished the book minutes ago, and now I am interested in the current state of affairs as well. I see Kelli posted a year ago, are you and Bobby still well?
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Based on whay I saw I am stunned they convicted her. Liar…yes Cheater…. definaitly…Greedy…. maybe Murderer…. not so sure.
I am leaning towards the suicide theory…. If this guy was so in love with her to give up is family and such then maybe he found out she was cheating and killed himself setting it up to look like an accident…. Think about it…. He sets up an insurance policy knowing how she is. Her so called motive makes no sence…. They were not finacially challenged from what I saw and it looks too neat and tighty. There are other possibilties meaning reasonable dought…. She just does not strike me as the type as is all. They should have looked at that, the ex-wife, any business partner or even the guy she was cheating with…. They all had access to the drug used….. just too many way this could have gone down to convict 1 person because she had poor judgement and/or taste…. I don’t buy the outcome. This is just my opinion, I do not know the people in this case but it simply looks wrong.
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Suicide? Nah, don’t think so.
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Your pretty stupid, learn to spell also. Doubt, not dought…
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Well, it’s you’re not your JOSEPH TERRY so why be so rude?
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@Joseph Terry… careful who you call stupid. It’s ‘you’re’ NOT ‘your’.
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then why not say he set his wife up. He drank the drug, so no needle would be found and set himself on fire…. only one prob with this theory and the accident one. The wife would have seen this. This woman killed her hubby. I hope she dies in prison
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I’m sorry but suicide is not an option here. Her husband was a Respiratory Therapist. The drug that killed him before the fire is a drug that is used only in hospital settings and while using artificial respiration because without that you will suffocate. Most people who commit suicide want it over quickly. They don’t want to suffer. This man suffocated for 7 minutes or so until death. He would not have chosen to inject himself and then lay there fully conscious until his heart and lungs gave out. As if buried alive. Also, most suicides don’t end up with the victim setting themselves on fire to cover it up. No, this was murder. She lied about too many things in the time period surrounding this incident for her to not be guilty. She had means, the drugs she had access to at the hospital. She had motive, the affair and the insurance, she had opportunity, she was spotted at her house BEFORE the fire and lied to the police about it. She is guilty, guilty, guilty
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holy crap some people have some common sense!
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Roy, Idiots like you should never ever be allowed on jury service, JEEZ !!
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Couldn’t agree more!
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So why did she lie about leaving the hospital grounds, when they could prove it on CCTV?
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I was incarcerated with Shelley. I don’t believe she done it, not because she said so, just cause she lied and had an affair doesn’t mean she’s a murderer. They should have looked at the ex wife, I believe i read she wasn’t far from where they lived and had an alibi of staying home with a four month old but had access to the same things as Shelley and the 16 minute drive she was gone 17 minutes and with?Shelley out of the way the kids stood to get money….. hmm sounds really suspicious on the ex’s part or so i think.
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“Tighty”??????
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She however was caught telling lies about leaving the hospital in the AM, and a neighbor saw her truck at the house around then.
There were 17 unaccounted minutes and her truck was spotted near her home. That was about 2 hours before the fire.
The ATF proved in one of six experiments that a fire could linger on and then erupt in 2 hrs 12 mins.
Why would she go there in the AM and rush back?
A criminal mind is not like an average mind, they think differently. So conventional logic cannot apply – like commonsense, decency, so on…. They have a different type of brutishness even when they are smart and alluring on the surface.
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I believe she is guilty — one point is I find suspicious is that in one interogation she talked about their daily habits and routines — she would wake up first and go to work (don’t recall if she said who took kids to school or daycare) and he would awake around 7 to start his day — if this is true — he never would have been at home — how did he die if he supposedly committed suicide — injected the dug into himself? Then the vial woud have been found and — how odd that the fire just happened to start in the bedroom — I suppose I will read the book–maybe there are more explainations than I know.
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Yes you are right. A phial would have been found, even after the fire (I think). Plus, I don’t think you would kill yourself with a paralysing drug where you would suffocate and it would be horrible. Sorry, but I think you would take tablets and go to sleep if you were gonna kill yourself with drugs (I know some people stab themselves and throw themselves of buildings), but I don’t think anyone would self-administer a paralysing drug. Even though he suspected an affair, there is no history of him having any depression. I didn’t read the book but I just don’t think he would administer this drug himself.
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Shelly is innocent. 1 neighbor claims to have spotted Shelly’s truck in the driveway the time in question. I ask anyone have you ever been by your neighbor’s house and looked at the time as you were doing it? or even thought you saw a car in the driveway just cause you are used to seeing it there? 1 neighbor is all that claims to have seen her truck. In those 17 minutes the poster b4 was so gracious enough to quote 10 of them were travel time to and from the hospital if in fact she did go home and did not just go move her car like she said and listened to the radio or did something personal. You are going to tell me that a 100lb woman can subdue a 200+ man long enough to inject them w/ a needle and set a house on fire that does not start for 2hrs all withing 7 minutes. The ATF can say all they care to say the typical person w/o any knowledge on how to start a fire cannot precisely start a fire to burst into flame 2 hours later. If that was the case it would be the number 1 cause of insurance fraud instead of water. Cause they could start the fire take all their valuables out and leave. Bottom line an expert someone w/ knowledge on how to start a fire yes they can smolder a fire for 2 hrs before it bursts into flame. If it is so easy get a 45 gallon drum go outside and try it. Let me know if you succeed. Shelly has every right to profess her innocence cause she is innocent. She had nothing to gain she is a beautiful woman and as people know she has no problem getting a man. If her marriage was not what she wanted any more she could of divorced him. She would not of killed him. The ex-wife also had access to the drug that was found in his system as well as himself. Bottom line to that is too though. There is a strict inventory kept on potentially deadly drugs as well as those casual drugs. Has the hospital yet to provide inventory showing a bottle missing during Shelly’s shift? I have spoken to Shelly and have an aunt who is the head RN for a major hospital and I asked her and they both told me they are heavily regulated. My aunt saw the story and said there is no way she is guilty. She would not of been allowed to unlock the cabinet where the drug was stored walk past all the hospital administration as well as a guard and left hospital grounds while she still had the drug. There are cameras that would of caught her retrieving the drug all they have is footage of 17 minutes that are unaccounted for. Lets say she went home for argument sake she walked silently through an old house that probably made creeks and other sounds that would of alerted Jimmy as he was sleeping knowing she would of left for work. But this 100 lb. woman made it up to the second floor w/o making a sound and injected him and set a fire to start 2 hrs after she left all in a span of 7 minutes. Or maybe they believe she flew through the window like Wonder Woman or guided through on a vine like Jane that is about as crazy as what they are saying now.
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I agree they gave herno chance. She was sentenced to life because how she made the jurors feel not because there was hard hitting evidence
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I agree. I never heard any evidence of the meds being missing from ruby.michelles ex husband told about the drug for revenge and James’ ex wife has more to benefit from the life insurance by placing the blame on michelle because she has james’ children. I initially thought she was guilty but now that I’ve heard about the appeal I don’t think so and I would like to know if the drug was missing from ruby because I worked in a hospital for many years and I know that every dose is accounted for and I didn’t hear any information on the drug being taken from Ruby.
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With all due respect, she may or may not be innocent, but Rocuronium is not a controlled substance like Morphine where each and every dose is accounted for. It is READILY available in ICU settings as are other paralytic agents such as Succinochline and Vencuronium, Even in units where computerized dispensing machines are used like a Pyxis system are used, it’s a simple matter to lay your hands on this stuff. I speak from 30 years experience in hospital pharmacy.
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Thank you for pointing that out. That was one of the points I forgot to mention in my remarks below. I don’t know why people are under the false impression that such drugs are so meticulously logged and accounted for, it’s preposterous. I have zero experience in a hospital pharmacy and I know that. I mean, don’t people know that corrupt people exist in every profession? Including the health care industry? I’m not sure what the percentage is, but I’m quite certain there are some drug abusing employees running around in hospitals. Not that rocuronium is controlled, but my point is if they can get their hands on narcotics, there’s no doubt they can get their hands on rocuronium. I don’t believe she is guilty…I KNOW she is guilty.
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Did anyone notice that it took several times for the ATF to get the fire to burn the way they wanted it to- so they could point the finger at shelly. Does anyone know that Shelly was also off work for 6wks. prior due to leg surg. She had not be at work the week before or weeks before- so in order for her to have gotten the drug she would have had to have gotten it weeks before. As far as checking if any of the drug was missing- yes Shellys lawyer asked for the inventory sheet- all drugs for the day of the murder, the day before and the day after were accounted for. Does anyone not question why Robbie called this in???
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Another idiot, that type of drug works immediately, all you have to do is inject in someone while sleeping and even if they awake, it is too late, the drug is already working you moron
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Yes I agree. You wouldn’t have to struggle. I know nothing about drugs, but know that when my partner is asleep and snoring to high heaven, he wouldn’t have a clue! Sorry I am not trying to make fun of the situation, but this is not the type of murder you would have to overcome someone stronger than you. I just don’t see why this guy would inject himself with it. He seems like a decent guy and this to me wouldn’t make sense. There is no reason anyone else would inject him with it.
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Thank God that you were not on the jury, because a murderer would have been allowed to go free. Use your head the evidence in this case is overwhelming, she killed her husband without remorse or shame…
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Just a minute, the fire started two hours after she was supposed to be there? I don’t know as much about this case as you. I am not so sure about the injection, because if he was asleep, it would be easy enough to inject someone quickly. So are you saying it was suicide? This is the only way he wouldn’t have moved from the bed as no one else had any motive to inject him. You can’t say she didn’t make a sound, he may have still been asleep.
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actually if you read the story she injected him with the drug BEFORE she went to work! In that 17 minutes is when she left work to start the fire!!! She came home to start the fire because her initial attempt with the clothes iron, before work, DID NOT work!!!! After two hours at work with no call from fire dept. ” your house is on fire” she knew her initial attempt was a fail and she must re try! Since she had a dead hubby at home!!!!
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Hey Jsy…ever think she might have injected him in the middle of the night while he was asleep? And your theory of Shelly not being able to get past security with the drug….wouldn’t your theory prove true with your other list of suspects? Maybe you should think a little harder.
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I was actually in the court room on the day the testimony was given as to how the rocuronium could have been taken from the hospital by Michelle Michael without detection. The testimony was that the drug was not locked up or inventoried because it was used so frequently. Shelly worked in the PICU, and the drug was often used to subdue agitated children to prevent them from further harming themselves or becoming more sick. Of course, those children were on assisted breathing devices, unlike Jimmy, so they were not harmed by the drug. The testimony was that the drug was stored in a cabinet that was often unlocked because the nurses needed to be able to access it quickly and easily, without going through some long process of finding someone to open the cabinet. The testimony was also that only a small amount of the vial would be used, so it was not uncommon for nurses to carry the rest of the vial around in their pockets all day. The witness testified that there was no real protocol for “wasting” it (getting rid of the leftover drug), so she herself had sometimes found it in her pocket when she got home at the end of a long shift. So, no, it is NOT hard to believe that Shelly stuck the rocuronium in her pocket and carried it home to kill her husband.
And there is no reason to believe that this petite woman had to hold down her husband at all (as another poster suggests). If she injected him with a fine gauge needle while he slept, he never would have felt a thing. Having witnessed part of the trial and having reviewed the entire record and all the evidence with my own eyes, I have no doubt whatsoever that Michelle Michael killed her husband. I don’t know why she did it, but why does anyone kill a spouse? As far as I can tell, she is just a self-absorbed, self-serving, heartless b—-.
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There is one fact that seemed to be overlooked. In one of Shelley’s interviews she spoke about how Jimmie had this routine and got up for work after her and was usually gone or got up I forget at 7:00 in the morning. If this were true then he would not have been home when the fire broke out, or he would have been awake and hanging around the house if he wasn’t working that day, and would have responded to the smell of smoke. So he had to have been injected with this or some other drug that would have rendered him incapable of responding… And the only person with access to him prior to the fire was Shelley……..I wonder if anyone asked her if she saw Jimmie when she returned to the house, what was he doing? And how would anyone have known Jimmie was there … Most people would believe him at work if, it was someone else other than Shelley, we’re trying to kill him, and wouldn’t attempt to kill him. It would take a rather elaborate plan to kill Jimmie and a very precise knowledge of his routines and habits to get in there, inject him, set the fire and get out….and it was proven that Shelley had this precise timing when she planned this murder.
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You got it all the way right👍🏽
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So those saying she did not commit this murder answer the simple question how did he not have smoke in his lungs when they did the coroners report. Did he kill himself and then decide to set the house alight after he died? 🙂
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Halarious but absolutely accurate……..I guess he could have gone to the hospital raided the prescription cabinet came home started the fire laid down in bed and injected himself. But then started thinking to myself what did he do with the syringe? This drug from what I understand essentially causes paralysis how could he have disposed of the syringe if he’s not able to move. Conspiracy theorist can be rediculous. She’s quilty and where she belongs. Criminals lie in this case over a 100 times. They only tell the truth if there’s some benefit to them – ask Ted Bundy who lied for 20 some years and then to delay his date with death began telling investigators one by one who he killed, how he killed them, and where they could find their remains. I wouldn’t want this piece of you know what living beside me or dating my sons.
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It’s flabbergasting how otherwise reasonable people seem to be completely incapable of applying simple discernment to their method of thinking out a clear-cut decision. Why should Michelle Michael, a self-absorbed narcissist who, at her own admission, lied to investigators over 100 times should… be trusted with answering with the truth in the most important question asked of her? Sorry, but she deserves to rot in prison. Suicide? Good grief… if one desires to end their life they do somethingto end it all quickly… like turning a gun to their head. Jimmy Michael was a Respiratory Therapist… he clearly knew the affects of rocuronium. Why would anyone choose to paralyze their body while rendering themselves completely helpless while undergoing the most agonizing of deaths? And, why would the murderous bitch of a so-called “grieving widow” be shacking with her lover on the eve of her deceased husband’s funeral? Circumstantial? Sure. But, whatever happened to good old-fashioned would common sense?
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I agree with you totally and her trying to blame the ex wife is just a cop out the ex wife had a solid alibi and she moved on with her life she seemed happy in her new life as Shelley just came across fake hope she rots in jail
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Good alibi ??? The Baby who can’t talk other than go gaga??
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I thought Jimmy was a doctor? Well I watched a show on this that says he was a doctor and decided to start his own practice. Is that not true? He would definitely not chose roc to take his own life, as I’m a respiratory therapist & could only imagine what a agonizing death that would be.
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Jimmy was not a doctor. He put those plans on hold.
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She is GUILTY GUILTY……………….
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I knew the world was full of ignorant people but this right here takes the cake. I’ve never seen a case with more overwhelming evidence of guilt. The suicide theory is not only ludicrous, but entirely impossible. No one would choose this method to kill themselves, nor could they. It took this man 10 minutes to die. He laid there paralyzed, completely aware and suffocating. Not only that, but he was already dead when the fire was set. So, he injected himself with a torturous, paralyzing agent and then set himself on fire? ABSURD. She had all kinds of opportunity to take this drug off the hospital grounds as it was used so frequently and rarely locked up anyway. Then we have the argument of how she overpowered him? Are you kidding me? It wouldn’t matter if she was 50 lbs. and he 400. She injected him while he was asleep. The only people who would say this woman is innocent either know her personally and are easily manipulated despite the heap of evidence against her or, they have no intelligence or sense. So, which is it? This worthless slug deserves to suffer the same fate. She’s a liar and a murderer.
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Amen sister
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I’ve seen cases with more evidence, but Shelly killed her husband. I have no doubt about that.
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In regard to those who think she is innocent, agreed- where is their logic and common sense??
And, btw, most murder and other criminal cases are “circumstantial.” Its not a huge mitigating factor to the way juries find defendants in regard to their charges. Simply because most crimes aren’t perpetrated on video/audio camera with a slew of unbiased winesses present.
Also, along with common sense, where are people getting all these imaginary assumptions- such as rocuronium being so highly controlled, and, a ‘camera would be able to show someone taking it’? What fantasy land was that made up in? Ive worked as a nurse in hospitals for 25 years, and we have never had ‘cameras in the med rooms’, thats absurd.
Also, its possible- and actually quite easy- for people to collect substances that are even highly controlled, as there is almost always leftover substance in a vial after a dose is administered, etc.
So please use common sense people, and think for yourselves. Its perfectly allowable to do that.
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And lora, ” Does anyone know that Shelly was also off work for 6wks. prior due to leg surg. She had not be at work the week before or weeks before- so in order for her to have gotten the drug she would have had to have gotten it weeks before”.
So, maybe she got it weeks before. What’s the issue with that? She was planning a murder, not going out to buy ingredients to make a cake that afternoon.
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Thank you for being an intelligent, logical individual. There seems to be a shortage of those on this particular thread.
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Because unless you work in a medical setting, not everyone would know of the controls, or lack of them. Thanks for informing us, but unless you work in that setting, most people presume there are really strict rules for drugs.
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I was incarcerated with Shelly. She is filing another appeal.
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How can I contact her?
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some of you people here are just plain idiots. For one, when you spell doubt as dought, then I am sure the hell glad it’s not you on the jurror box. I bet all of you who say this woman is innocent will also say that Casey was innocent and did not kill her baby. And the newer case of Jodi Arias. Do you nimwits says she’s innocent as well? Liars, cheaters, thieves, and murderers go hand in hand. Some people are all of them. Usually those who commit murder will do all the above. Damn, some of you have enough brains as a box of rocks. Glad as hell your opinions do not count
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I am not sure if I buy into the atf’s explanation for the fire- I do know she lied about everything and was her own worst enemy. I also know she has been granted the right to present new evidence to decide if she should be allowed a new trial. I still feel that someone else was involved- maybe Robbie- the Ex. husband. Not sure. I am sure the truth will come out eventually.
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laura, I think you just have a hatred of men, you need counselling
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Why Gordon. . . .
The ATF tried over 5-6 times to re-create how it could have happenned and failed. Then got on hit which might have worked. So, the question, what did they keep changing and manipulate to make it work? Who controlled this?
And, if you are doing work in any school, university, or a scientist. . . . What the hell does anyone or any agency think of something that worked like 1 out of 6 or 7 times??
That is Proof???
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This human defect is obviously guilty and given the callousness of Jimmy’s murder, she should not only die, but slowly and very painfully.
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euhm she killed her hubby why should she die
let her fucking suffer in jail
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I’d love to wipe that smile off her face…
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Hopefully, one of her cell mates has . . . . . repeatedly!!!!!!
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She killed him, and thats the bottom line.
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