Preamble:
On the evening of April 11, 2007, a terrible scream suddenly came from a villa in Utah, followed by a man's anxious alarm cry - "Help, my wife is drowning in the bathtub!" However, just over a year later, Martin McNeil, the man who claimed to be a good doctor, was charged with first-degree murder after he lied that his wife "drowned" just to cover up the fact that he had deliberately murdered.
The darkness of human nature revealed by this seemingly ordinary story still haunts people's hearts to this day. A lively and cheerful woman died mysteriously in a "dream", and a man who was a doctor who was supposed to save lives murdered his wife, eroding people's trust in the "angel in white".
Today, many years later, when people look back on this shocking story, they still shudder at the greed and indifference of the human nature exposed in it. The illusion of a happy marriage is shattered, and it turns out that everything is nothing but vanity, and the love of a golden boy and a girl is ruined overnight, and the reason is actually the inflated vanity of a man.
Martin McNeill's life seems to be a world of lies, and his last lie, which made this mystery difficult to unravel, finally came to light eight years later.
A high-spirited young man took the place of his younger brother
The story begins fifty years ago. Martin was born into an ordinary middle-class family in New Jersey, USA, to a conservative father with a traditional ideology and a typical housewife mother. Perhaps it was the weight of his parents' expectations, or perhaps Martin's own personality, this seemingly ordinary boy had a strong desire to succeed from an early age.
At the age of 17, Martin chose to change the course of his life by modifying his age to disguise himself as his own brother Patrick and enlist in the U.S. Navy. However, Martin did not make a big difference. Timid and psychologically fragile, he retired after just one year of service, citing "schizophrenia".
After being discharged from the army, in order to defraud the government of veterans' benefits and allowances, Martin even shamelessly kidnapped his own brother and threatened him to keep this secret for many years. In this way, Martin received thousands of dollars a month in military allowance for more than 30 years. In the official records of the government, his age and identity are always this fictional lie.
Became a doctor by falsifying academic qualifications, but was repeatedly complained
After a failed military career, Martin didn't give up on his quest for success. With his brilliant mind and strong ability to act, he has found a new breakthrough - a career as a doctor with a high income and an equal social status. As long as he is qualified as a doctor, he will be able to gain fame and fortune.
In order to realize the "dream" in his heart, Martin once again used fraudulent means: he stole the transcripts of other classmates, successfully entered the medical school Xi, passed through layers of screening, and finally the moment he obtained the doctor's license, Martin was so excited that he burst into tears.
At this point, however, Martin's hypocritical shell began to peel off. His poor medical skills and poor work ethic have been repeatedly complained of by patients. Patients have accused him of causing permanent injuries by making mistakes in simple surgeries, and young women have accused Martin of taking advantage of his position to molest them.
Martin, however, seems unimpressed by what he has done. He has never received any substantive punishment from the hospital or the health department for these complaints, and he can still work as an attending physician in the hospital, and even become the director of a large medical group with his excellent social skills and flattering skills.
Perhaps, it was Martin's "successful" fraud experience that gave him a sense of euphoria and superiority that was omnipotent and the world was at his fingertips. This delusion led him to flout rules and laws, which eventually led him to cause irreparable tragedies.
A blonde beauty queen who devotes her life to him
In 1977, when Martin was 25 years old, he met Michelle, a beautiful 20-year-old girl, at a church organization in his hometown. With long blond hair, turquoise eyes, dignified manners, and a tall and slender figure, Michelle's every move exudes a heart-warming charm.
When Michelle heard that Michelle had won a beauty contest at the age of 19 and became the queen of beauty in his hometown of Concord, Martin was immediately drawn to her and plucked up the courage to woo her. To his surprise, in the face of Martin's active pursuit, Michelle did not resist in the slightest, and soon the two collided with a spark of love.
However, Michelle's family is not optimistic about Martin, a poor boy with no background and family background. Despite this, Michelle chose to follow Martin without hesitation. Perhaps, it was Martin's hard-working, enterprising and self-motivated personality that deeply touched the heart of this little girl.
In 1977, Martin and Michelle eloped and got married despite their family's objections. While Martin was in medical school, Michelle gave up what she could have had to live a wonderful life to quietly support her husband and her new family. Martin finally reached the peak of his life, while Michelle took on the responsibility of husband and child at home, with few complaints and confusion.
A sanctimonious doctor, he finally revealed his wolf nature
Michelle supported this small family with all her love and perseverance, and Martin also rose step by step with his wife's silent dedication. In the eyes of the outside world, they are the perfect model of life. However, with the success of Martin's career, his inner greed and vanity gradually reared his head, and he longed to further show his "achievements" through his outward clothing, grooming, and demeanor.
At the age of 50, Martin suddenly became obsessed with fitness and taking care of his appearance, showing off all day long and doing push-ups and other movements passionately. He even began to frequent tanning salons, exposing himself to the sun until his skin was "as black as a black man". Martin often interrupted in the middle of a conversation with the children and started doing push-ups on the living room floor on his own.
Seeing all this, Michelle couldn't help but feel confused and suspicious - she sensed that something unspeakable was going through her husband's life. Michelle worries about whether Martin has a new love outside the home and if he is tired of himself......
In April 2007, Martin suddenly tried to persuade Michelle to have plastic surgery, claiming that Michelle's appearance was not as good as it was back then. Michelle looked at herself in the mirror, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes were indeed a little more than before. After all, she accepted Martin's advice and chose to have breast augmentation surgery.
A murder that has no last resort leads to an 8-year mystery that has been difficult to solve
When Michelle returned home from surgery, Martin brutally drugged her and threatened to vomit again, despite her pain. Alexis, the eldest daughter, who was still in medical school at the time, noticed that something was wrong and immediately took over the care of her mother.
Just a few days later, Michelle cried to Alexis, "If I die, it must be your father!"
On April 11, 2007, Martin took his youngest daughter home from school and asked her to see Michelle. When the youngest daughter, Ida, runs into the bathroom only to see her mother lying lifeless in the bathtub, her screams wake up the entire neighborhood. Immediately afterward, Martin pretended to call the police, claiming that his wife had inexplicably drowned in her sleep.
I thought Michelle just died suddenly, but I didn't expect the truth to come out 8 years later - Martin took the opportunity to overdose on sedative drugs after Michelle had plastic surgery. On April 11, after Martin drugged Michelle again, the callous man carried her directly into the bathroom, causing her to "drown" in the bathtub before pretending to call the police.
Indeed, Martin was once anxious and furious because of Michelle's questioning. However, a sophisticated murderer is not concerned with emotions, but with consequences. Martin's calm brain quickly and sensibly judged that if Michelle was still alive, she would sooner or later go to divorce proceedings. At that time, not only will the business he built single-handedly be divided in half, but even the custody of his most beloved children will be deprived. For Martin, Michelle is alive and a huge threat to him.
A funeral unravels the mystery and leads to a hidden black curtain
In order to cover up the crime, Martin hastily buried Michelle. He didn't even inform his loved ones, and he was alone in cleaning, transporting, and burying Michelle as if he were disposing of a discarded item.
To the surprise of Michelle's daughters, Martin soon met a woman named Willis on social networking sites. A few days later, Martin actually took Willis into his home and told the children that Willis was the new "babysitter".
When the eldest daughter, Summers, questioned why the woman was at her house, Martin was noncommittal and let the woman named Willis sleep in the bedroom and bed before Michelle died.
Later, Willis had to admit that Martin used various lies on the Internet to trick her into a good impression, and transferred tens of thousands of dollars to her, which eventually led to the meeting of the two. It turned out that Martin had an extramarital affair outside for a long time, and he also used his identity as a step girl gypsy to clear his lover's huge debts. Michelle's fears were finally confirmed that she was indeed a victim of this sanctimonious doctor.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of his daughters, Martin's fraud and multiple frauds finally surfaced. In 2009, Martin was sentenced to four years in prison for other crimes. In November 2013, the court finally found Martin guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison. After 8 years, the world built by lies finally collapsed, and Martin was forced to pay a terrible price.
Behind this sensational story is Martin's inflated vanity and greedy desires. Perhaps since the day he was 17 years old when he pretended to be his younger brother in order to change his fate and defrauded him of benefits, he had already embarked on the road of no return to crime. And Michelle is just a victim of his stepping stone on the road to success.
Michelle has a deep love for Martin, but eventually dies in the "dream" carefully designed by this cold man. This seemingly heaven-made love was ruined by a criminal murder plot. However, justice came late, and Martin did not escape responsibility.
We lament the loss of this beautiful life, and we lament the price Martin has paid. This tragedy makes us re-examine the light and darkness of human nature, and makes us cherish the preciousness of life even more. Perhaps, as Kafka said, "Is there such a thing as truth?" or, in the end, everyone has his own truth?, we will eventually pay for our choices, and truth will never run out. And Martin will end up spending the rest of his life in prison, paying a terrible price for his deception.