SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A doctor who was convicted of murder after his wife was found drugged and dead in the bathtub of their Utah home will be sentenced Friday in the case that became a true-crime, cable TV obsession.
Martin MacNeill returns to court in Provo after prosecutors said he gave his wife, Michele MacNeill, drugs following cosmetic surgery then left her to drown in 2007 so he could begin a new life with his mistress.
The 58-year-old MacNeill could face 15 years to life on the murder charge and another one to 15 years on an obstruction of justice conviction.
The case against the doctor and lawyer with a family of eight shocked the Mormon community of Pleasant Grove, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City. A Provo judge previously denied a request for a new trial.
Two of Martin MacNeill’s daughters, Alexis Somers and Rachel MacNeill, were expected to speak before the sentencing, capping a yearslong pursuit of justice for their mother.