Up next,
the way this fire b*rned
has even experts
wondering what happened.
Fire did not behave
in a manner that
appeared to be typical.
A body is found,
but something
about it
confounds investigators.
The position
of his body, to me,
seemed a little unusual
from what I'd experienced
in other fatalities.
It raised questions of
It raised questions of
was he already deceased
from some reason?
Was there some kind
of a medical situation?
If it's m*rder, how
was the victim k*lled?
And if this is m*rder,
can detectives prove it?
Every fall
in Morgantown, West Virginia,
home of
West Virginia University,
football reigns supreme.
On Monday, November 28, 2005,
the city was still reveling
in a recent victory over
the University of Pittsburgh
in the so-called
"Backyard Brawl,"
one of the oldest rivalries
in college sports.
But celebrations
by local firefighters
But celebrations
by local firefighters
didn't last long.
That morning,
they were called to a fire
in a suburban neighborhood.
We heard on the radio that
there was a structure fire
on Killarney Drive
which was in the north, uh,
section of the city
in the city of Morgantown.
Firefighters
were met at the scene
by a man named Bobby Teets.
He identified himself
as a friend of a family
that owned the home.
Bobby Teets was at the scene.
I remember him saying,
"If his car is in the garage,
he's there."
And of course, I had no idea
what he was talking about.
And of course, I had no idea
what he was talking about.
At that point, we didn't know
that there was potentially
somebody, you know,
a victim in the house.
The person he was referring to
was Jimmy Michael,
the homeowner.
Jimmy's wife Michelle,
a local nurse practitioner
who worked at a hospital
a few miles away,
arrived at the fire
shortly after Bobby Teets.
Firefighting efforts
were still being made.
She was actually there
while it was on fire.
The Michaels'
children were at school,
The Michaels'
children were at school,
but as everyone feared,
once the fire was out,
a body was found
inside the house.
It was a body
that was very badly b*rned,
very little left
of internal organs
and that sort of thing.
At the scene, it was impossible
to make a
definitive identification.
Meanwhile, fire investigators
immediately noticed
odd things about this fire.
Walking through
the first floor, you know,
a lot of areas,
you'd have never known
a fire had occurred
in the house.
A fire had occurred
in the house.
And that struck me
as kinda unusual.
Um, I knew that, you know,
we're gonna be dealing with
something kinda strange here.
This particular fire,
at least in its final stages,
b*rned very hot,
achieving what
arson investigators
call "flashover,"
demonstrated in
this training video.
Flashover is when
a fire in a room
becomes a room on fire,
when everything that isn't
already burning in the room
when everything that isn't
already burning in the room
ignites, essentially,
simultaneously.
A fire that reaches flashover
generally creates
a lot of damage.
But that's not
what happened here.
Fire personnel noticed
that it was really
one room of the house
that was on fire.
That room was the master bedroom
where the body was found.
It looked as if the victim
made no effort
to escape the fire.
What they were
struck with was that
What they were
struck with was that
it looked like
he'd just gone to sleep
and he hadn't made
any effort in a fire
to try and escape or anything.
He was in a sleeping position.
Dental records confirmed
the victim was
the father of two and
step-father of two more.
Since the position of his body
indicated he may have d*ed
before the fire started,
the possibility of m*rder
loomed large.
In this case,
it was enough to say,
"We have a huge red flag."
"We have a huge red flag."
We had several red flags.
Jimmy Michael
and his wife Shelly
had each been married
before they found each other,
divorced their
respective spouses
and joined
their families together.
She had two children
from a prior marriage.
Um, Jimmy Michael had been
married before,
had two children
from a prior marriage.
They had a very normal life,
just a normal, everyday,
middle-class family here,
here in Morgantown.
While Jimmy's body
was sent to be autopsied,
fire investigators
set about determining
what started the fire
what started the fire
that may or may not
have caused his death.
There were no positive, um,
laboratory results
for an accelerant,
a liquid accelerant
or anything like that.
There were no
electrical artifacts
inside the structure
that showed that the fire
was an electrical fire.
The fire had b*rned
a hole in the bedroom floor
which opened up
to the living room below.
A clothes iron
found in the bedroom
was initially turned to
as a possible fire starter.
As a possible fire starter.
The iron had to be considered
as a potential ignition source
because it was found
in a position
that indicated it would've been
in contact with
combustible materials.
But even though
the iron had been turned on,
it was not
what started the fire.
The modern iron's
a pretty safe device.
The base plate that heats up
will only get to
about 400 degrees.
Paper ignites at 451 degrees.
So, you know,
it won't even ignite paper.
it won't even ignite paper.
Since Jimmy
obviously made no attempt
to escape the fire,
was it possible
he'd taken his own life
and wanted to hide his su1c1de
by torching the house
with a clothes iron?
Or was he k*lled by
someone who then set the fire?
With his body so damaged,
his autopsy provided limited
but vital information.
The very interesting
thing about the autopsy
was that Mr. Michael's, uh,
was that Mr. Michael's, uh,
lungs and air passages
were free from soot
and any evidence
of having inhaled smoke.
And so it was
apparent from that
to the medical examiner
that the fire had not been
the cause of his death.
This answered
the question of why
Jimmy hadn't tried
to escape the fire.
But the question of
how he d*ed was still open
and investigators worried
he'd sustained so much damage
it would never be answered.
But just enough remained
for a toxicology test.
But just enough remained
for a toxicology test.
The deep, deep
muscle tissue samples
is what we sent to the lab.
As is normal
in any potential m*rder,
investigators first looked at
Jimmy's wife Michelle,
known as Shelly.
The 33-year-old
was an attractive, successful
and well-respected
nurse practitioner.
The couple had been married
for five years.
Shelly Michael went to the
University of West Virginia
Shelly Michael went to the
University of West Virginia
in Morgantown, in fact,
to study nursing.
She got on
the cheerleading team.
Shelly was Jimmy's
perfect woman.
Some of his friends told me that
his dream girl
was a cheerleader.
By all accounts,
it was a happy marriage
and Shelly had an alibi
for the time of the fire.
She was seen at work
at the local hospital.
So now detectives
turned to Bobby Teets who,
in what might or might not
have been a coincidence,
was at the fire scene
even before firefighters.
Was at the fire scene
even before firefighters.
He was a longtime friend
of both Shelly
and Jimmy Michael.
In fact, Bobby worked
for Jimmy's business,
providing respiratory
equipment to local hospitals.
They were family friends,
they were kinda best friends.
They did everything together.
They were constantly
at each other's houses.
But as detectives
continued talking
to Bobby Teets,
they found there was a lot more
to his friendship
with the Michael family
than originally thought.
Well, before the fire,
Well, before the fire,
I don't think anyone
would've described it
as anything
other than a friendship
and a business relationship.
It wasn't until after the fire
and the death of Jimmy
that things began to unravel.
As detectives
looked to see if Bobby Teets,
Jimmy Michael's longtime
friend and employee,
had any reason to harm him,
they got an
unexpected phone call
about Teets
and Jimmy's wife Shelly.
Soon detectives,
acting on this tip,
came upon this image
sh*t with a security camera
at a Chicago hotel.
In it, they saw Shelly Michael
and Bobby Teets
checking into the same room.
It became apparent through, uh,
It became apparent through, uh,
information that was gathered
by investigators
that they had something more
than a business relationship.
He first denied that he had
any kind of a personal
or romantic relationship
with Michelle.
When confronted with this image,
Bobby Teets could no longer
deny the affair.
But Bobby Teets adamantly denied
having anything to do with
Jimmy Michael's death.
Having anything to do with
Jimmy Michael's death.
And he had what might
or might not be
a plausible explanation
for why he got to the fire
even before firefighters.
Jimmy delivered
respiratory equipment
and Bobby Teets worked for him
and he became alarmed, you know,
that Jimmy hadn't turned up.
So when he heard about a fire,
he went there and said,
"Well, if Jimmy's car
is in the garage,
then he's probably
in the house."
Bobby's affair
with Michelle Michael
was a clear motive
for him and for her.
Was a clear motive
for him and for her.
Now detectives asked Michelle
the same series of questions
they'd asked Bobby Teets.
Then Michelle,
just like Bobby Teets,
was confronted
with the evidence.
She did, uh, admit to the affair
She did, uh, admit to the affair
after probably 50 or 60 times
on tape saying,
"No, no, no, I never did that.
I've never done this.
I've never done that."
The question now
was establishing
where Michelle Michael was
on the morning of the fire.
She said, "It was a typical
Monday morning."
After getting to work,
Michelle said she never
left the hospital,
but security video, once again,
contradicted her story.
There are cameras, really,
in every inch
outside that building
and inside that building
and in the parking lots.
Officers the began to confirm
her comings and goings,
um, on that date.
This showed Michelle leaving
the hospital at 8:11 a.m.
and returning at 8:28,
and returning at 8:28,
a total of 17 minutes.
And her house
was only five minutes
from the hospital.
And then her story changed.
It was an ever-changing story
that she represented
to law enforcement.
And now that it became known
that Michelle
was a possible suspect,
detectives got another tip
from a volunteer fireman
about the morning of the fire.
This is when you kinda
get that good luck, sometimes,
as a police officer.
He was going to
the volunteer fire station
and he just happened
to take a shortcut
and he just happened
to take a shortcut
that put him directly in front
of Shelly Michael's house.
And he said, "I saw
Shelly and her big SUV
back out of the driveway,
um, and then speed off."
This sighting took place
during the 17-minute window
in which Shelly had left
her job at the hospital.
But this only proved
that Shelly was lying
about her whereabouts
on the morning Jimmy d*ed.
It didn't look good,
It didn't look good,
but didn't prove conclusively
that she lit the fire.
To get that proof,
arson investigators
set their own fires,
a series of what are called
"test burns,"
in an attempt to find out
what really happened.
The best way to find out
was to do full-scale testing,
furnish it with
comparable furnishings
and comparable carpet,
comparable construction,
and burn it to see what happens.
And burn it to see what happens.
Investigators analyzing the fire
that almost consumed
Jimmy Michael's body
had certain facts
that were not in dispute.
They knew Jimmy's wife Michelle
lied about where she was
on the morning of the fire,
a fact confirmed by a witness
who saw her at her house
around 8:30.
This was also confirmed
by surveillance video
at the hospital
where Michelle worked.
She was gone for 17 minutes.
17 minutes
was more than enough time
17 minutes
was more than enough time
to drive to her residence,
go into the residence,
either set or make sure
the fire was burning.
Fire investigators theorized
that the fire started
during the time Shelly
left the hospital
between 8:11 and 8:28 a.m.
And they knew when
the fire reached flashover
because, by that time,
about 10:30,
they were at the scene.
But even veteran
arson investigators
had to admit
But even veteran
arson investigators
had to admit
that two hours
was an awfully long time
for an arson fire to burn.
This fire started
around 8:15, 8:30,
but nobody found it
until 10:27 a.m.
Does this make any sense?
The thing is,
fires do make sense.
They burn in
predictable patterns.
With a timeline in hand
and knowing all the materials
in the master bedroom
and its measurements,
analysts decided
to recreate the fire.
Analysts decided
to recreate the fire.
So, we did rebuild,
uh, the bedroom.
It makes us better witnesses
in terms of understanding,
uh, the science of
what might have happened.
So we had, uh,
a pretty good understanding
of the materials
that were in the space.
A critical factor
in this fire recreation
was replicating the HVAC system,
the heating and cooling system
in the Michael house.
The HVAC would affect
how much oxygen
got in the room.
Also key was the fact that
the door to the bedroom
Also key was the fact that
the door to the bedroom
was closed during the fire.
The fact that
the door was closed
closed the fire off
from available air
in the rest of the house
and provided a severely
ventilation-limited condition
for the fire to evolve.
Analysts focused mainly
on three of their test burns.
In the first, the HVAC
system was not on.
Predictably, this cut
the oxygen levels
and the fire b*rned out
fairly quickly.
And the fire b*rned out
fairly quickly.
In the second test burn,
the HVAC system was on full.
This made for plenty of oxygen
and this fire created
a hole in the floor
in well under two hours.
In the third test, the
HVAC system was cycling,
meaning it was on a*t*matic
and turned itself off and on.
This is where the Michaels'
HVAC was set
on the morning of the fire.
In this test,
because the oxygen levels
were fluctuating,
the fire would almost go out
and then come back to life.
And then come back to life.
It took over two hours
for this fire to burn
through the floor,
which is exactly what
happened in the actual fire.
The main variable here
was changing the HVAC
or the flow of air
into the compartment
which is so important
to combustion.
We had cameras
in our structure
in the floor joists,
and at two hours
and 12 minutes after ignition,
we had, uh, flaming debris
fall onto our burn room below.
This proved arson
and Shelly Michael was the
only person seen at the house
before the fire started.
Bobby Teets, her lover
and Jimmy Michael's
business partner,
had a rock-solid alibi
for the very same time period.
He was never charged
in this case.
The final question, how
was Jimmy Michael k*lled,
was answered once the
toxicology results came in.
He had a drug called
rocuronium in his system.
Rocuronium is
what's known as a paralytic
Rocuronium is
what's known as a paralytic
and it basically
paralyzes your body.
Michelle Michael would be able
to get access to the rocuronium.
She was charged
with first-degree m*rder
and first-degree arson.
The evidence left no doubt,
even though Shelly
appeared to be
a typical suburban housewife
and had never committed a crime,
this was cold-blooded,
pre-meditated m*rder.
Her lawyer described her,
looking in her eyes
as like looking in
Charles Manson's eyes.
That woman's scary.
One of the themes
that we used during trial
One of the themes
that we used during trial
was love and money.
You know, those are
two motives, often,
that we have separately
or together in a m*rder trial,
and in this case, we suggested
that it might have been both.
The half-a-million-dollar
insurance policy
was definitely a motivation
for the crime.
And I think that also, maybe,
it would've been the affair
with Bobby Teets,
that might have been motivation.
In 2007, Michelle
Michael was found guilty
Michelle Michael
was found guilty
of first-degree m*rder and arson
and was sentenced
to life in prison.
After her conviction,
she addressed
Jimmy's family in court.
I did not take Jimmy's
life, I swear to you.
I don't know what happened.
I wish I did.
If you want to believe I did it
and it helps you heal,
and it helps you have closure,
then please blame me
'cause I don't want you
in pain any more.
Prosecutors told
jurors a horrifying story.
Prosecutors told
jurors a horrifying story.
They believe Michelle injected
her husband with rocuronium
as he laid sleeping,
paralyzing him almost instantly.
Then she made her first mistake.
She thought the iron
would start the fire.
It didn't.
She went to work
expecting to get a call
that her house was on fire.
When that didn't happen,
she made her next mistake.
She left work,
apparently not realizing
there were surveillance cameras.
Minutes later,
the volunteer fireman
saw her at her house.
Minutes later,
the volunteer fireman
saw her at her house.
Once inside, she made sure
the bedroom was on fire.
And then she committed
her final mistake,
the one that
ultimately preserved
the evidence
that landed her in jail.
She closed the bedroom door.
Nurses are actually trained
that, if you have
a dead patient in the room,
to close the door
so that you don't
upset the other patients.
With the door being closed,
it consumed the available
oxygen in the room
and it became
ventilation-limited.
And it became
ventilation-limited.
Had she not closed
that bedroom door
on the way out,
the house probably would've
b*rned to the ground
and the body would probably
have been too badly damaged
for us to be able to determine
that he would've been
injected with rocuronium.
I guess she thought
she was capable
of committing the perfect crime.
She should've left
the door open in the bedroom.
That might have helped her.