13x28 - Needle in a Haystack

[bunniefuu]

Up next, an
unexplained death had medical

experts baffled.

At the end of the autopsy, I
didn't find anything slightly

wrong whatsoever.

Each new clue
raises more questions...

The trail's getting warmer
and warmer.

Until a
microscopic clue reveals the

ultimate betrayal.

No one would ever expect
someone would do this sort of

thing to another human being.

Fall means football

at the university of Florida.

It's also time for thousands of

students to get back to their
studies.


entering her senior year.

After graduation, she hoped to
do volunteer work.

She wanted to go join the
peace corps.

She had a very long list of
dreams and hopes to accomplish.

To pay her way
through school, Michelle worked

as a personal trainer.

Between classes and her job,
Michelle kept to a predictable

schedule.

But one day shortly before

Thanksgiving, she didn't attend
any of her classes or show up

for work.

This was so unlike her... not
to return her calls or not to

show up... and I guess their
sixth sense was that something

is very, very wrong.

Michelle's fiancé,
Jason Doyle, immediately drove

the 400 miles from his home in
Miami to Michelle's home in

gainesville to see what was
wrong.

He finds Michelle's house is
locked up.

All the doors are locked.

All the windows are locked.

The outside lights are still on,
as they would have been left on

from the night before.

Her dog was inside, and the
TV was on.

Through a crack in the blinds,
Jason could actually see what

later turned out to be
Michelle's foot.

When police
arrived, they found Michelle's

body in her bedroom, facedown.

It was clear she'd been dead for
some time.

She was in this somewhat
awkward position with her left

arm folded up underneath her
body.

At first glance,
there was no trauma to the

body... no bruises, no wounds,
no blood.

We had no indication of what
would have caused her death.

The medical
examiner thought the position of

Michelle's body, facedown, was
unusual.

If somebody is sick and in
the process of dying, most folks

tend to end up either on their
side or on their back.

There were no
foreign fingerprints in the

apartment, no signs of forced
entry, and no valuables were

missing.

Her vcr, her television set,
her radio, jewelry... it was all

intact.

And there was no
indication this was a su1c1de.

If it's gonna be a su1c1de,
there's gonna be pill bottles

laying around and frequently a
note.

There was none of that on this
case.

There was a
half-full bottle of beer next to

Michelle's body.

Only Michelle's fingerprints
were on the bottle.

There was no indication that
she had got drunk off the one

beer that was lying on the bed.

There was other beer in the
refrigerator.

There was just nothing to
indicate that she had passed out

drunk.

We wanted to see if, perhaps,
something had been inside of the

beer bottle... perhaps foul
play, a substance placed in the

beer bottle... that may have
contributed to her death.

But no foreign
substances were found inside the

bottle.

It was baffling.

"Wow.

How could this healthy,


died?

And is it even possible that she
would have simply died of

natural causes?"

In most cases, the
medical examiner doesn't have

much difficulty determining the
cause and manner of an

individual's death.

But Michelle herndon's case was
different.

At the end of the autopsy, I
really had no idea.

I didn't find anything...

Anything slightly wrong
whatsoever.

To find somebody that's
deceased without any indication

of what caused them to die,
especially somebody that's that

young, was highly unusual.

The medical
examiner estimated that Michelle

died about 24 hours before her
body was found.

So investigators interviewed
everyone who was with Michelle

during that time frame.

They also checked the alibis of
those closest to Michelle,

including her fiancé.

Jason... squeaky clean.

Jason had an alibi of being at
work and was quickly removed as

a potential suspect.

Then the medical
examiner took a closer look at

something on Michelle's left
arm... a tiny mark, smaller than

most needle marks.

We needed to find the
explanation for that puncture

wound, and there could be a very
legitimate explanation for it.

But Michelle's
personal physician said she

didn't have any blood drawn
before her death or receive any

injections.

So the medical examiner told
investigators to widen their

search at the crime scene,
looking for possible evidence of

drug use or an overdose.

In a case like this where we
have no clues, every clue is

significant.

Investigators
noticed that the trash cans

inside Michelle's apartment were
empty.

On a hunch, they looked outside
the apartment to see where the

trash was kept for disposal.

We went over to where the
trash bins for that particular

little community are stored, and
on the ground, in a small

plastic bag, I could see... what
was visible was a bottle, a

pharmaceutical bottle.

And I called the investigator
over and said, "we got to look

at this."

The bag contained
two vials of a drug labeled

"propofol," some syringes, and a
pediatric butterfly I.V.

And it obviously had come
from Michelle's house 'cause

contained within the bag was
some mail that had been

addressed to her.

To use a pediatric butterfly
I.V... Is tiny.

It would leave a tiny, little
pinprick that would be very hard

to discover.

The items were
dusted for fingerprints, but

none were found.

Investigators needed to know
what propofol was used for.

Propofol is, in a nutshell,
the world's most powerful

anti-breathing drug.

In the medical setting, it's
used by anesthesiologists to

essentially put people to sleep.

Propofol, a
prescription sedative, is an

intravenous medication
administered by medical

professionals.

The kind of anesthetic that
when it's administered, the

anesthesiologist says, "count
backward from 100," and you get

to about 99...

Very powerful stuff.

Too much propofol
can cause death within seconds.

Investigators asked that
Michelle's toxicology test be

screened specifically for
propofol.

It's highly unusual.

We wouldn't typically see
propofol in our drug screen.

So we've never detected it in
other cases.

As expected, tests
were positive for propofol.

I can't say with specificity
how much drug she got.

But one thing was
clear... the dose was lethal.

The amount of drug that was
administered was sufficient to

cause someone to fall
unconscious and to stop

breathing.

To the medical
examiner, it all started to make

sense.

Whoever it was used a
pediatric-size needle to make

the tiny puncture wound in
Michelle's left arm, since there

was virtually no hemorrhaging.

All of those things were
highly suggestive of somebody

who has a lot of skill in this.

The medical
examiner believed that this was

the work of a medical
professional, most likely

someone who worked in a hospital
and probably someone Michelle

knew.

Whoever had injected
Michelle herndon was someone

that, for whatever the reasons
were, she had trusted enough to

offer that person her left arm.

She would not have been able
to administer the dose and then

clean up and take the medical
waste the 60 feet from her body

where it was located.

But who was this person?

To find out, detective
Marc woodmansee came up with an

idea that changed the course of
the investigation.

He told analysts to test the
syringe caps found in Michelle's

trash.

I can remember seeing medical
staff hold needle caps in their

mouth while they were giving an
injection, and I thought that

there was a potential there for
saliva DNA.

I thought that was rather
brilliant, in fact.

DNA analysts
swabbed the needle caps and

found biological material.

On the needle cap or cover,
there was an unknown male DNA

profile.

And scientists also
found DNA inside the syringe...

I was able to determine that
Ms. herndon's DNA was present in

one of them.

Proof it had
been used on Michelle.

The substance that was found
in the catheter was a mixture of

Michelle's blood and propofol.

Michelle's death
was now classified as a

homicide, and the m*rder w*apon
was propofol.

I've never seen a
propofol-related death, ever.

But who wanted Michelle dead?

Michelle herndon's
death had been ruled a homicide.

The cause of death... an
overdose of the prescription

drug propofol.

Propofol is a short-acting
intravenous sedative used in

general anesthesia.

But it's also used to treat
other medical conditions.

Propofol has been suggested
as a medication to treat

migraines.

It's not a clear indication or
a definitive indication to treat

migraines, but it has been
reported to be helpful to treat

migraines.

Detectives learned
that Michelle herndon had been a

lifelong migraine sufferer.

From what I understand, they
were bad.

I've never had one, but
people who suffer from these

things tell me they're just
absolutely horrible and would go

to the ends of the earth to get
some relief from the pain.

Was it possible
that Michelle had sought pain

medication from someone other
than her doctor?

They just wanted to know if
Michelle knew anybody in the

medical field...

The only person I knew was
Oliver.

"Oliver" was


intensive-care nurse at
shands hospital on the campus of

the university of Florida.

A background check revealed
Michelle and Oliver were casual

friends.

I'd describe him as "quirky."

And "odd" is definitely a good
adjective.

There was just something about
him, something that he felt like

he had to go the extra mile to
prove himself, where most people

would just be themselves.

The way he acted about Michelle,
I kind of knew from when he

first met her that he had had a
crush on her.

I think she made comments to
both her friends and her mother

that he was weird and that she
felt sorry for him.

Then police
discovered some troubling

information.

A review of Michelle's phone
records showed that o'Quinn's

interest in Michelle bordered on
harassment.

He had called
Michelle herndon 43 times in

less than a month.

And he had called
Michelle herndon every single

day for nine straight days
preceding her m*rder.

He never calls her again.

He knows there's no one there to
answer.

O'Quinn's job in
the intensive-care unit would

have given him access to
pediatric butterfly I.V.S like

the ones found in Michelle's
trash.

Investigators wanted to see if
they could link o'Quinn to the

two bottles of propofol.

The important thing to me at
this point is to track these

dr*gs.

Where did they come from?

How can I put them in an
individual's hand?

The vials of propofol have a

national drug control number and
a lot number.

Those specific bottles of
propofol were shipped by

mckesson distributors out of
lakeland, Florida.

From there, they
were shipped to the

shands hospital at the
university of Florida.

They were shipped during the
time period of when

Oliver o'Quinn was employed
there.

Specifically, they
were placed in an automated

dispensing machine in the
hospital I.C.U.

I traced it to a machine that
operates kind of like a soda

machine.

You punch in the patient number,
and it drops a bottle of a

pharmaceutical in your hand.

To get the propofol
from the dispensing machine, a

hospital employee had to enter
his employee number.

And whose code was entered to
get these two vials?

Registered nurse Oliver o'Quinn.

So, I actually had that
propofol all the way from the

manufacturer in Massachusetts to
Oliver o'Quinn's hand in the

surgical-intensive-care unit at
the hospital.

All investigators
needed now was a sample of

o'Quinn's DNA to compare to the
DNA on the needle caps found in

Michelle's trash.

When police went to question
him, they learned he had fled

the country and was in Ireland,
where he had applied for a

nursing license.

He doesn't ever intend on
coming back to the U.S.

It's very difficult to extradite
someone back from Ireland.

I spoke with the lady who was
in charge of just extradition

from the Republic of Ireland,
and I told her, "look, I've got

a warrant in my hand.

I want to arrest this man."

And she said to me, to the
effect, you know, "slow down,

Columbo.

It's gonna be... it's a very
long process."

But what was
o'Quinn's motive to k*ll

Michelle?

And would investigators find a
way to get him back to the

United States?

Investigators had
two problems in the m*rder of

Michelle herndon.

First, they couldn't understand
why their prime suspect,

Oliver o'Quinn, would k*ll her.

And second, o'Quinn had fled the
United States to Ireland in

order to avoid prosecution.

To smoke him out, investigators
contacted the Irish times

newspaper.

And e-mailed them a picture
of Michelle, a picture of

Oliver, and a synopsis of the
homicide investigation, and

telling them, "he is wanted for
m*rder in the United States,"

and they published it on three
separate occasions.

Facing increasing
pressure, o'Quinn left Ireland

and flew to the west-African
country of Senegal, where he was

immediately turned over to U.S.

Authorities.

Once in custody, investigators
got a court order to obtain

o'Quinn's DNA sample, which was
then compared to the DNA found

on the syringe cap.

It matched.

To me, I would equate that
with getting the suspect's

fingerprint off the trigger of
the m*rder w*apon.

Oliver made a great many

mistakes, thank goodness.

Oliver o'Quinn was
charged with first-degree

m*rder.

The only remaining question was
motive.

I know he tried very hard to
infuse himself into Michelle's

life, and, mostly out of pity
and feeling sorry for him, she

would bring him along to do
things with, to go out to watch

a band, to meet in the morning
and have coffee.

But in custody,
Oliver told a fellow inmate he

grew angry with Michelle because
he overheard her during a

telephone conversation saying
something unflattering about

him.

She made some comments of a
derogatory nature about

Oliver o'Quinn... comments that
she didn't expect for him to

hear, but he did hear.

He heard Michelle
refer to him as "an annoying

little man."

And we believe, because of
that, that sent him into this

mind-set that, "if you're never
going to be mine, then you're

never gonna be anybody's."

And the inmate stated that
Oliver confided to him that she

needed a long sleep.

Prosecutors believe
o'Quinn hatched a plan.

He told Michelle the next time
she had a migraine headache,

he'd be willing to come to her
apartment and give her something

that would get rid of the pain
quickly.

The evidence shows he got the
propofol from work, typing his

employee number into the
medication-control system

designed specifically to prevent
this very abuse.

Then he waited for Michelle to
call.

When she did, Oliver put his
plan into action.

On the night Michelle had the
migraine, Oliver stopped by her

apartment on his way home from
work.

He injected Michelle with a
lethal dose of propofol using a

small pediatric syringe.

But he did something medical
professionals often do... used

his teeth to pull the plastic
cap off the syringe and left

behind the DNA that later
identified him.

Michelle was dead within
seconds.

He positioned her arm underneath
her body so the needle mark

wouldn't be easily noticeable.

He threw the syringes and
propofol bottles into a plastic

bag, which he tossed into the
dumpster behind Michelle's

rented home, not realizing the
obvious... that those serial

numbers could be traced.

I believe that the pain was
such that she entrusted

Oliver o'Quinn to administer the
pain reliever.

And I think that he took
advantage of that trust and

intentionally took her life with
the propofol.

Oliver o'Quinn went
on trial for first-degree

m*rder.

His defense claimed he gave
Michelle the propofol to help

relieve the pain from her
migraine headache but

accidentally gave her too much.

There's no way that the
administration of propofol to

Michelle herndon was an
accidental death.

This was an action consistent
with homicide.

The jury didn't
believe it, either.

O'Quinn was convicted of
first-degree m*rder and

sentenced to life in prison
without parole.

This is the first-reported
case ever involving m*rder by

the use of propofol, so this
entire case was driven by and

solved by forensics.

There is no eyewitness, so
how do you put a person there

without evidence?

I mean, without the evidence, I
don't think it would have

worked.

Everybody did their job, and
they did a great job, and it all

came together.

I've never had a case where
the small things mattered so

much...

Where something as small as a
needle mark or the amount of DNA

left on a needle cap played such
a pivotal role in the resolution

of the case.