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Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

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Listener discretion is advised. I'm your host Mark and sadly I'm solo this week.

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Courtney and I already recorded this episode but the audio quality just wasn't up to our

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standards because we're both perfectionists. So with her being on the road for work we came

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to the decision that it needed to be a solo episode because we didn't want you guys to wait

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another week. So this is Mountain State Mysteries.

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The case I have for you today is part two to last week's episode. This is the case of Michelle

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Shelley Michaels. Where we left off in part one we told you all about Shelley and Jimmy's life

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leading up to his murder. On Tuesday morning Shelley arrived to work at 6 30 a.m. shockingly

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early for her shift. She made sure that she was seeing pinching Reggie hours on the bus then she

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checked into the nurse's station which she never did. She called Jimmy's cell phone around 7 30 a.m.

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Reminding him to pack lunch for the kids because Kylie wouldn't like what was on the school lunch

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menu that day. Shelley also made a point to call the home phone to see if anyone would pick up.

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After this she told the clerk at the pediatrics wing that she left her pager in her car

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and that she would be right back. The clerk thought this was really odd because Shelley never wore

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her pager. At 8 11 a.m. she was seen on security camera leaving the parking lot of Ruby Memorial.

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Shelley and Jimmy only lived a mile away from the hospital and his staff started to get concerned

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when he wasn't at the office yet. Like we said in part one he was the first to show up in the

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last to leave. By 8 a.m. his staff were ready to do something. In all honesty they weren't just

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concerned about Jimmy but he had an appointment to set up a sleep apnea machine for a newborn baby

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that was being released from the hospital. They knew it wasn't like Jimmy to miss an appointment.

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When they called they were worried because they knew Jimmy always had his cell phone on him

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and that he would always answer. At this point Bobby Teach was out for a delivery.

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The office manager called him and explained what was going on. She asked if he could stop by his

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house to check on him so he did just that. He drove over to check on Jimmy. Do you ever find

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yourself searching for a true crime podcast focused on West Virginia? Well I have you covered. I'm

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Mark Covey the creator of Mountain State Mysteries where every Friday my co-host Courtney and I

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will tell you about one of West Virginia's coldest unsolved cases. Tune into Mountain State Mysteries

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on your favorite podcast platform.

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Two utility workers who were on Kalarney Drive noticed smoke coming out of Jimmy Michael's

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home. They called 9-1-1 around 10 27 a.m. Around 10 27 a.m. the windows to the upstairs

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bedroom blew out. Smoke and flames started to flood out the windows. When Bobby arrived to

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check on Jimmy the police and fire departments were on the scene. Bobby saw that Jimmy's car was

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still in the garage. He started to scream that Jimmy was in the house. He ended up being so upset

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that they put him in a patrol car. Around 10 35 a.m. Bobby tried to call Shelly even though

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Shelly went back to get her pager he couldn't reach her. So Bobby called his wife Kelly to see

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if she could get a hold of Shelly. Finally Kelly got a hold of Shelly. She had to call the hospital

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to even get a hold of her. Kelly told her that her house was on fire and that she needed to

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leave work to get home. So Shelly calmly told that to the clerk of the pediatric wing that she needed

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to leave and what all was happening. Instead of leaving right then and there she went to her office

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and called Jimmy's cell phone and left another voicemail. This time she said that the house was

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on fire. When the clerk saw her leave she said she wasn't in a rush to leave. At the Michaels home

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firefighters had finally made their way back to the bedroom. They realized that there was a body.

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So they knew they had to put out the fire to protect the body which was already severely burned.

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So they called detectives to the scene. Detective Paul Masinot and fire lieutenant Ken

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Tennant walked into the bedroom. When firefighters told the detective that there was a body on the

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bed he had trouble even seeing it. Jimmy's body was burned past recognition but when the smoke

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cleared out of the room he finally saw Jimmy's teeth. They also saw that there was a trail

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from the bedroom to the bed. Basically you just didn't know that there was a fire if you were

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anywhere else in the house. By now Shelly had shown up and it said that she was acting crazy

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hysterical even. Rob Angus her ex-husband heard about the fire and dropped everything he was

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doing and rushed over to the scene. He was there comforting her while detectives told her that

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her husband was killed. However they did notice one thing about her. She had no tears. I mean

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I know everyone handles shock differently but this made detectives and even seasoned firefighters

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think that something was just off. She was taken to a neighbor's house and she laid on the couch

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under a blanket. She would stay there and family and friends came to see her and check on her.

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Detective Mesonaut questioned Shelly's ex-husband and her new lover Rob and Bobby Teetz who both

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knew Jimmy well. Both of the men were upset with what happened. They both told Detective Mesonaut

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that Jimmy did not drink. He didn't do drugs and that he would never commit suicide. He went on

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to question other people that knew Jimmy and they all said the same thing. That Jimmy was a strong

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religious man, a hard worker. There was no reason to believe that he would ever do this to himself.

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However one reason Detective Mesonaut kept pushing was due to the way Jimmy's body was

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positioned on the bed. It's like he was just asleep. His body wasn't found in the position of

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someone who would try to escape a fire or even one that had been burned. What was left of Jimmy

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shown that he was asleep on his back and that he never moved. To Detective Mesonaut this seemed

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impossible but Jimmy was a trained respiratory therapist and he worked in medical supplies.

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So maybe Jimmy injected himself and somehow started the fire but the arson investigators

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did not believe this is what happened. By 12 30 p.m. Jimmy's parents got to the scene. The police

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were able to stop Ruth but they couldn't stop Denny. He had to see what happened to his son but

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he ended up getting into a fight with a police officer and he didn't make it into the house.

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So they decided to go see how Shelly was. They both noticed that she was just laying there,

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that she wasn't crying or upset. Everyone noticed the lack of emotion coming from Shelly.

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To everyone it was honestly unsettling. While Detective Mesonaut was questioning Jimmy's ex-wife

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Stephanie she was extremely emotional. She described her relationship with her ex as good

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but she did say there had been some problems and she did not lie about the CPS investigation

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after Jimmy whipped Drew. She insisted that Jimmy was a great father. While Detective Mesonaut went

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to talk to Shelly she snapped at him for talking to everyone but her first. He honestly found her

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to be calm and trying to control the scene. Shelly's own mother described her as very detached.

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The entire time Ruth was there she was watching her daughter-in-law like a hawk. Ruth said

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quote she just sat there she didn't cry she just sat there end quote. When Carrie Whitaker one of

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Jimmy's oldest friends walked in Shelly's first words to her was I love your outfit did you get

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it at b-molce? Another friend asked Shelly if she could get her anything and she replied with a new

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husband. Investigators found out that it would be hard to move Jimmy's body from the bed without

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causing it more damage. It's like he was melted into the box spring. One leg was burned to the

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point that it was completely gone with other body parts. A hole was in Jimmy's chest that was caused

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from extreme temperatures basically causing a blowout to happen. So investigators did notice

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one thing about Jimmy's body. His muscles never contracted like they would if you were conscious

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while being burned alive. While they were taking his body to the ambulance his father Danny begged

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them to stop so he could look at his son. They told Danny that he would be unrecognizable but

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Danny knew when they took him to the morgue he would never see Jimmy again. Jimmy's mother Ruth

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said the hardest part for her was that she never saw Jimmy after the fire and that it just didn't

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feel real to her. When they got Jimmy's body to the morgue for his autopsy most of his skin had

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burned away however there were still a few patches on his back and not all of his organs were burned.

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They knew Jimmy was dead before the fire there was no snot in his throat his sinus cavities

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or his lungs. No carbon monoxide was found either which they knew would have been there if he was

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breathing when the fire started. So they tested the blood and tissue from his heart and they sent

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it all for toxicology testing. They also got his dental records so they could officially identify him.

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While everyone was going to the neighbor's house to check on Shaley, Dan, Stephanie's husband went

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to be with her to help her with all of the kids. This is when he noticed Shaley and Bobby Teetz

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laying under a blanket together. He also saw Shaley and Kelly going over Jimmy's insurance

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which to me is just insane knowing what just happened and knowing everyone is there. Back

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at Shaley and Jimmy's house they found out the fire burned so hot that it would take a lot of

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testing so they brought in a canine dog that was trained to sniff for accelerants. The fire

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burned so hot that the headboard basically became engulfed and burned through the flooring which was

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honestly the only way you could tell there was a fire downstairs. There were six places that the

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dog alerted to accelerants. They were all in the bedroom. It was all around the bed where Jimmy's

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body was found. They saw that the bed was really the only thing that sustained the fire so they knew

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for sure that the bed had been doused in accelerant. So after talking to the detective, Reggie was a

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friend who went to the next level. He called a friend at the hospital and asked him what kind of

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drugs they should look for. It was actually one of Jimmy's friends, Dr. Mike Farrabee. He suggested

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several drugs and which one would work the fastest but he did mention one in particular,

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a paralytic drug called freconium which is given to patients before they are intubated for a

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respirator and I actually had Courtney google this to tell us what the drug was about. This is what

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she found out. According to drugs.com, freconium is used to relax the muscles. It works by blocking

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the signals between your nerves and your muscles. It's given before general anesthesia and preparing

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you for surgery. It helps keep your body still during surgery. It also relaxes your throat so that

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a breathing tube can be inserted easily. Dr. Mike Farrabee also said that the drug was easily accessed

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at the hospital because it was not a narcotic. Especially in the pediatric intensive care unit

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where Shelly worked at Ruby Memorial. Dr. Farrabee said that it just sits out to where anyone can

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grab it. So he put together a list of drugs to give to Detective Mesonaut. While Detective Mesonaut

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was talking with Jeremy Miller, Jimmy's friend from church, he told Detective Mesonaut about the

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anonymous box Jimmy received in the mail that had Shelly sweater in it. He told him it accused her

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of cheating. After this interview, Detective Mesonaut knew he had to go interview Bobby Teetz.

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During the interview, Bobby went over the relationship between the couples and talked about

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how all four of them were really good friends. He talked about the embroidery business. Him

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and Shelly were going to start, but he never talked about the affair they were having. He did say that

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he wished the fire was an accident and that he hoped Jimmy died peacefully. He said quote,

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It bothers me every day just thinking about it. I would be happier to know that he didn't suffer.

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I would be able to sleep a lot better. End quote. I'm not sure if Bobby knew that him or Shelly

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could be suspects in Jimmy's death, but he had an alibi so the police weren't looking at him too

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hard. But one thing they did want to find out was his affair with Shelly. Detective Mesonaut

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wanted proof about the Chicago trip Shelly and Bobby took. So after his interview with Bobby,

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he called the hotel to confirm there had been only one room booked and he arranged to have

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surveillance cameras checked immediately. So now Detective Mesonaut sat down with Bob Angus,

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who also told him to test for drugs. Ironically, Bob also had a connection at Ruby Memorial. His

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sister Shannon Ruby, who was one of Shelly's nursing supervisors, she told Rob to tell the

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investigators that they needed to look for one drug for Cognum. The fact that two different men,

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who had no idea the others said this, both told the investigator to look for one specific drug,

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basically told the investigators that they really needed to look for it. Reggie Bonnell decided to

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have his own conversation with Shelly. He played along, acting sympathetic, gently questioning her

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on what she really thought happened to Jimmy. She told him that she was afraid that she left

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an iron on in the bedroom and that she felt really guilty about it. Reggie told her that an iron would

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not have caused that type of fire, but Shelly being Shelly insisted on that the fire was caused by

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that. So what Reggie did after his talk with Shelly, he immediately called Detective Mesonaut and

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told him everything. After the fire, Shelly was staying with Jimmy's parents in Cumberland,

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Maryland. A friend called her and offered to collect Shelly's mail and bring it to her.

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Shelly casually said to just look for an envelope from Morgantown Bank & Trust. It would have been

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a bank card from the Memorial Fund. That was the only mail she wanted to see. That Saturday,

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Jimmy's obituary appeared in the newspaper, the same day of the visitation and funeral. The family

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arrived first. Shelly insisted on seeing Jimmy's body. Shelly insisted on seeing Jimmy's body.

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However, the funeral director refused. He said that she should not see him in this condition.

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Jimmy's father actually told Shelly that he saw him and that she did not want to see him.

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Shelly was outraged and started to cause the scene. She said she didn't care the state of his body.

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She wanted to see it. Carrie Whitaker was at the visitation. She not only watched Shelly herself,

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but many of the people her and Jimmy grew up with, walked up to her and asked her what in the world

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was wrong with Shelly. Carrie later gave her own opinion to detectives, saying Shelly just seemed

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cold. Drew, Jimmy's son, was inconsolable at his father's visitation. He sat on top of the closed

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casket, talking to his father. Stephanie went to try to talk to her son. Shelly threw another fit,

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and said she wanted to be alone with her husband, and that everyone needed to get out. Shelly would

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even complain after the funeral about Drew. After the visitation, Shelly would ask Jimmy's parents

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if Bobby and Kelly Teets could spend the night at their home. She was spending the night again,

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and just wanted as much comfort as possible. They agreed to let them stay, and of course,

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Jimmy's family had their own suspicions about Shelly. For now, they just wanted to keep peace

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with Shelly. After everyone went to bed, Denny was still up. He couldn't sleep, so he decided to

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leave the house for a bit. When Danny came back, he didn't want to use the front door in case he

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would wake anyone up. So he used the basement door, and that's when he called Shelly and Bobby hugging,

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and Bobby was kissing Shelly on the cheek. When Shelly saw him, she pushed Bobby away.

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She would end up pretending that Denny didn't see them together. At the funeral the next day,

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Drew was sobbing hysterically. Stephanie was crying as well, and when she looked over at Shelly,

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she saw that there was no emotion whatsoever. The funeral was very heartbreaking, and no one could

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believe that Shelly was showing no emotion. They said that she just seemed so damn cold.

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The next Monday, Ruby Memorial granted Shelly a six-month leave of absence. While she did next

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was head straight to the insurance agent. First thing that morning, Shelly was there to get the

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instructions on how to fill out the paperwork to file a claim so she could collect the life

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insurance policy. She had to go to Jimmy's office because he owned 55% of the company,

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and she needed his partners to buy him out. Monday afternoon, Shelly would hesitantly agree to a

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memorial service in Morgantown. She tried to fight going and tried to get out of it, but Jimmy's

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family insisted that his local friends and co-workers wanted to say goodbye. She finally agreed,

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but she made them move it to the following day, making it hard to publicize so everyone would

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know. Shelly being Shelly was adamant that they just need to get it over with. The morning of

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the memorial service, Shelly met with the pastor, Reverend Goodwin, and of course she brought Bobby

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Teets with her. The two were holding cans in the office the entire time, as Reverend Goodwin went

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over the plans for the evening. Reverend Goodwin just saw that Bobby could have been family,

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but kept growing more and more uncomfortable with how close the two were. He said,

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I honestly felt like they behaved more like lovers than friends. He also talked about how

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Shelly had no emotion about the entire situation. He said that she had no interest in giving input

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on the planning and told the Reverend to just take care of it, which like anyone else found,

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to be very odd. Jimmy's parents arrived early that evening for the memorial service. They were

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meeting with Detective Mesonaut. Denny basically told him that he thought Shelly killed Jimmy. He

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even said that he thought she drugged his son. Denny definitely did not know the tips that everyone

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was giving Detective Mesonaut. It was just Denny's intuition. Detective Mesonaut came to the service

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so he could observe her behavior. He said that he saw Shelly was not just detached, but she was

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overly irritated during the entire service. The next day Detective Mesonaut had interviews set up

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with both Shelly and Bobby. He set them up back to back with Bobby going in first. Shelly would

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just be sitting in the waiting room wondering what Bobby was saying. Now police had the videos from

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this Chicago hotel, as well as the footage of Shelly leaving the hospital the day of the murder.

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It wasn't long into Bobby's interview until he broke. He immediately confessed to the affair he

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was having with Shelly. He said that he was not in love with Shelly and wanted to stay with his

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wife. He said that him and Shelly had sex numerous times and he also talked about the trip to Chicago.

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He wanted the affair to stay a secret, but detectives told him it couldn't. Bobby would be

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required to testify at the trial and that it would just be smart to break the news to Kelly now.

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When Shelly got into the room, they immediately told her Bobby's confessions. She denied the

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affair and started to detail their trip to Chicago, saying that the one room was just to save some

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money, saying it was a sweet and that Bobby slept on the couch. Detective Mesonaut accused her of

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lying and Shelly would not admit to anything. So he brought up the fire. He told her that Jimmy's

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death and the fire were both suspicious and she showed no emotion at all. Then he said the fire

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was caused by Arson and she replied, quote, you're joking, end quote. He told her about the blood and

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tissue samples that had been sent off. He told her, quote, we pretty much have an idea from the

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autopsy on how he died. In quote, she said, okay, can you tell me? Detective Mesonaut was playing

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hardball with Shelly, basically acting like Shelly's friend. During the entire interview,

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Shelly was even calling Detective Mesonaut by his first name, which was Paul. He begged and begged

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her to come clean, just to unburden herself to help herself by telling the truth. She finally

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said that she understood how her and Bobby's relationship could be misunderstood, that she

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insisted that they were just friends and nothing more. Detective Mesonaut started to ask about the

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day of the fire. He asked Shelly to walk him through everything that happened. She told him the same

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story as before. When she arrived to work, making her rounds, the trip to the car for the pager,

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none of her story changed. Detective Mesonaut started to ask about the fire, then said, quote,

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I have a feeling you know, Jimmy didn't suffer. End quote. Shelly said she had no idea what he was

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talking about. This went on for about two hours, and Shelly did not break down and confess.

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After the interview, Shelly called Bobby and she asked him what he said. Bobby lied to her and said

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that he hadn't told police anything. But after their conversation, he never really spoke to her

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again. He went home and confessed everything to his wife, Kelly. He was now fully willing to

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cooperate and wanted to save his marriage. Kelly was actually shocked about his confession. After

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this, Bobby wanted to take a polygraph exam. He knew that he was a suspect and he really wanted

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to clear his name. He passed. Next, it was Shelly's turn to take a polygraph. Sergeant Merrill,

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a polygraph examiner with more than 20 years of experience. He watched Shelly's interview with

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Detective Mesonaut through two-way glass. He watched her try to control and manipulate the interview.

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When Sergeant Merrill got into the room, he used the same method, just pretending to be her friend.

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He even called her honey, saying he understood she was upset. This was just the interview before

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she was hooked up to the polygraph machine. Detective Merrill wanted to get Shelly shaken up

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before he started the exam. The first time he called her off guard is when he told her that

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there was camera footage of her leaving the hospital. She actually appeared shocked, but

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quickly regrouped. Then she told him that she remembered that she had decided to move her

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Ford Expedition into the parking garage because it was raining. So Sergeant Merrill pointed out

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that her car was gone for about 17 minutes. Then it showed her walking back inside, just not from

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the parking garage. She was like, yeah, I drove around the garage for a while, unable to find a

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spot before returning to the parking lot. He then asked her if she by chance went to her house. She

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of course said no. She was certain that she didn't. He asked if anyone had seen her at the house.

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That day, and she said no. Shelly said she did not leave the hospital. Then he tried to catch

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her off guard when he asked her why Bobby Teet said they had been having an affair. She denied

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the affair by saying she had no idea why he would say something like that. After the first set of

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questions, he explained how the polygraph worked. He told her that the two tubes go around her

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thioortic and abdominal area to monitor her breathing and a cardio cuff on her arm to watch

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her blood pressure. Then he showed her a set of numbers on a piece of paper and told her to circle

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one and then to put it in her pocket. He told her he wanted her to lie about that number to tell

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him a completely different number. As he would read them off, she was to say no to each one. After

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she was done, he told her that she picked number five. Now Shelly was scared. She honestly didn't

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want anything to do with the polygraph at this point. He picked her number. He knew the number

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she lied about. So she asked to stop the test. So while he was unhooking her, she confessed to the

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affair. Shelly said, quote, listen, I'm not taking your polygraph, but I'll be honest with you.

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I did have the affair, end quote. I think Shelly just thought she would walk into the room,

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make the interview go the way she wanted and pass it with flying colors.

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When Sergeant Murrell picked up on the very first lie, it honestly had nothing to even do with Jimmy.

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She was shaken and bolted. She left the room and went back to the room with Detective Mesonaut.

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A few minutes later, Sergeant Murrell joined the two. The tone of the room switched and became

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accusatory. The detectives told her that they had an eyewitness that saw her in the driveway at 8

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20am the morning of the fire. Shelly didn't even flinch. She kept saying that she never left the

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hospital grounds. The thing is, Shelly knew detectives weren't lying. So the neighbor Shelly was told

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about was actually a respiratory therapist at Ruby Memorial. Shauna Loob had been coming home from

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working the night shift. Ironically, he was also a volunteer firefighter. It was raining when he

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got home and he lived down the street from Shelly. When he got out of his car, he smelled smoke,

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but it wasn't like normal chimney smoke. He knew that it was the smell of a house fire,

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so he walked around his house and he knew it wasn't his. He stood in the driveway and looked

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around at the neighborhood. He couldn't see anything. The reason he couldn't see anything

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is because the house wasn't on fire. It was just the bed Jimmy was in. So he decided to go inside

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and shower. Then he came back out and decided to drive to the firehouse. He could still smell

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the smoke. He just had no idea where it was coming from. Around 8 20am, he passed Shelly at the

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stop sign at the top of the hill on the road. He knew her as a neighbor and a co-worker. So he

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waved and Shelly ignored him. He honestly wasn't surprised by this. In the hospital, she was known

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for her moods, though he didn't think anything of it. And he continued to drive to the fire station.

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He confirmed that nothing was called in about the fire on his street. Then he fell asleep in his

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bunk. He was woke up around lunch by another firefighter who told him about the fire on

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Kalarney Drive, just a couple houses down from his. So he called his friend Reggie Hours,

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who told him that Jimmy hadn't made it to work. Sean told him that it was weird because he smelled

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smoke earlier and that he saw Shelly. But there wasn't anything on fire at the time. Reggie didn't

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say anything else and hung up. A few minutes later, Detective Mesonaut called Sean. Do you ever find

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yourself searching for a true crime podcast focused on West Virginia? Well, I have you covered. I'm

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Mark Covey, the creator of Mountain State Mysteries, where every Friday my co-host Courtney and I will

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tell you about one of West Virginia's coldest unsolved cases. Tune into Mountain State Mysteries

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on your favorite podcast platform. Reggie actually called Detective Mesonaut with another tip.

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Shelly definitely wouldn't have known that the tip was Sean. So all she did was stare back at the cops,

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showing no emotion whatsoever. Sergeant Murrell said, Holly Gott was a cold stare while Detective

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Mesonaut tried explaining how he would word it to the prosecutor. That there was a fire and Shelly

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had 17 minutes that were not accounted for and that they knew she was lying because they had

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a witness who saw her. But Shelly being Shelly just stuck to her story and she didn't budge.

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Sergeant Murrell asked Shelly how long her drive was to work. She said 10 minutes. He said, really?

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Then she changed the time saying it was probably more like five minutes. Detective Mesonaut spoke up

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and told Shelly that he tested the drive himself. He had made it from the hospital to Shelly's home

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in four minutes. He said he waited in the driveway maybe three or four minutes. Plenty of time to

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run in the house, douse the bed in accelerants, strike a match, then leave and went back to the

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hospital and he actually beat the 17 minute time frame. Detective Mesonaut and Sergeant Murrell

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spent the next few minutes playing good cop and bad cop with Shelly. Detective Mesonaut was playing

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the good cop which made sense because Shelly was still calling him Paul. Sergeant Murrell told her

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that she should trust Detective Mesonaut because he was the only one on her side and that there

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was no way they could explain those 17 minutes to a jury without her cooperation. After almost two

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and a half hours of interrogation, Shelly did admit that she did leave the hospital grounds that day

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but she claimed that she just had to pick something up for her son and take it to his school. So I think

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she realized quickly how bad this live was because both detectives asked her why she went to the

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house for her. She quickly said that she never went in the house, that she actually decided,

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that she didn't need it so they asked her why she needed it. She ended up finally saying that it was

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the paperwork that she needed to fax to the importer financing. Then they asked her why she

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didn't go inside the house and get it. She said that all of a sudden she realized that she had it

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with her so she turned back around and went to work. The most important thing of this is the fact

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that they got Shelly to admit that she did leave work and went to the house that morning. Right at

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the time her co-worker and witness started to smell smoke. The detectives had her now. They kept

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asking her why she lied. They kept asking her why she lied and she said that she didn't want her

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boss to find out that she left the hospital and that she was scared she was going to get in trouble

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again. Sergeant Murrell asked her if she wasn't more scared of getting arrested. Then he informed

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her that they knew the fire was no accident and that they knew Jimmy was dead before it even started.

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They knew that she was lying, that she was the number one suspect and then he left the room.

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After six hours Shelly left the station. She was trying to play it cool like she was innocent

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with Detective Mezzanot who continued to play good cop with her. She insisted that she only

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left out the affair with Bobby out of embarrassment. She also said she left out going to the house that

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morning because she felt guilty for not going inside. She said if she had only gone inside

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she could have saved her husband. Later Detective Mezzanot and Sergeant Murrell both agree that

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Shelly was one of the most arrogant, cold, and calculated people to have ever interviewed in

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20 years. Shelly went to her parents' house that evening and told her mother that the police were

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just trying to scare her. Her mother Kathy Goots was actually scared. She said we need to get you

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an attorney and she got on the phone. The next morning Detective Mezzanot got a call from a

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prominent defense attorney from Clarksburg named Tom Dreyer. Tom told Detective Mezzanot that he

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was now representing Shelly and she would no longer be answering his questions. Bobby Teach would go

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in for a post polygraph interview. Even though he did pass there were still some red flags. The

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investigators believed him when he said he felt guilty because of the affair and he feared Shelly

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killed Jimmy so her and Bobby could be together after his death. Around Christmas time Bobby took

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another polygraph exam. This with the information on his movements that morning helped police clear

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him as a suspect. Shelly was of course going on with her life as if she wasn't the main suspect

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in the murder of her own husband. She would go by the house and pick some things up. On December 13th

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she met with the insurance company again who told her that the payout was not intimate because

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the fire was considered suspicious. So Shelly agreed to be questioned on tape. Now she mentioned the

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iron theory. She told investigators that she ironed a shirt for that morning and sometime before

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she had noticed that the iron was an automatic switch off if none of the features were working.

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She thought that she possibly just left it on and it fell over. This isn't the first time Shelly

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tried to use this theory. She told it to Reggie Owars and he thought it was crazy but that was

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her story for now. She said the only phone call she could think of was to Carrie Whitaker,

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Jimmy's closest friend. So Detective Mesonaut wanted a phone interview. Carrie said that she

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spoke to Jimmy once a week on the phone and they would never miss a call. She provided Detective

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Mesonaut with as much information as she could. She even told him about Shelly trying to force him

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to have another child. She also gave him the clinical analysis of Shelly's behavior at Jimmy's funeral.

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After this Tom Dreyer, Shelly's attorney gave interviews to TV shows and the author John Glatt,

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who wrote the book Plain with Fire. In all honesty, his book was one of the many resources we use for

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this episode. You can either buy it or listen to it on Audible like I did. Tom Dreyer said

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when he first met Shelly at his office, he left the room for a moment and he left his coke on the

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table. When he came back into his office, he'd be damned before he picked up that can of coke

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again after it set their unattended with Shelly. He told John Glatt, quote,

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the first thing that catches your attention are her Charles Manson eyes. She's the only woman I've

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met in my life with absolutely black hole eyes. Look right into her eyes and tell me it doesn't

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send a shiver down your spine. In quote, on December 23rd, the Dominion post ran the story

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about officials being back on the scene, which prompt the claim that Shelly had no right to

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be in her own house. That Christmas, Jimmy parents had to keep up the front and see her.

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Drew, Jimmy's son actually refused to even be around her. Ruth and Steve, Jimmy's brother,

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went to dinner with Shelly. Shelly was mad that Drew and Denny wasn't there. Steve said that she

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was bubbly like you never thought she lost her husband less than a month ago. On January 9th,

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Shelly turned in a 34 page handwritten summary of everything she lost in the fire to the insurance

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company. Here are a few things that she claimed. $40 for her framed wedding vows, $72 for a basket

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of nail polish. She listed the number of socks Jimmy kept in their drawer. The second week of

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February 2006, Jimmy's talk screen came back and he tested positive for the drug Braconium,

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related to the drug Braconium. That was the drug that everyone told them to look for. The blood

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from Jimmy's heart contained a high level of the paralytic drug, so they sent off the liver

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tissue for further testing just to be sure. On March 4th, the second toxology report came back

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and Jimmy's death certificate was changed by the chief medical examiner. Jimmy's cause of death

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was now listed as homicide by unintentionally lethal dose of Braconium by another person.

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And of course, I had Courtney Google this drug too and this is what she told me. According to

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Drugs.com, Braconium is given prior to general anesthesia while preparing you for surgery.

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Braconium helps to relax your muscles and keep your body still during surgery. Braconium also

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relaxes the throat, allowing a breathing tube to be placed for those who need a mechanical ventilator.

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A few days after the death certificate was changed, Denny Michael actually got a copy of it in his

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mailbox. They sent it to him by mistake. The police were actually relieved that Denny got it

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instead of Shelly. Denny said they better go arrest her or he was going to go down there

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and find out why. Finally, the criminal complaint was written up for Michelle Shelly Michaels.

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The same afternoon, a magistrate signed an arrest warrant and Shelly was picked up. Shelly went before

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the Morgantown Magistrate Court and was granted a $100,000 bond for the arson charge. Shelly would

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be transferred to jail before she could even be considered for bond on the murder charge.

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That charge was up to the Circuit Court Judge. The next morning, the headline for the Dominion

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Post was wife charged with murder. Shelly Michael also accused of arson in fatal suncrash fire.

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The following morning, Shelly was granted a $350,000 bond by the Circuit Court Judge. Six days

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after her arrest, Shelly's parents posted the full $450,000 bond. And Shelly walked out of jail.

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She was supposed to stay confined to her home and be electronically monitored. However, it wasn't long

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until the citizens of Morgantown started to see Shelly. She found every single way possible to

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get around her restrictions. She was allowed to go to the doctor, work, and the grocery store.

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But that was it. Shelly was also seen around the mall and even talked to the officer who

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checked her monitor about moving the monitor to her thigh. Just so it wouldn't show when she wore

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a dress. No one would hire Shelly after this. Shelly had to take a job in Clarksburg. She

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continually got caught where she shouldn't be and she was finally put in front of the judge.

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The judge said that she violated regulations. It wasn't serious enough to revoke her bond.

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The hit show 48 hours set up camp in town, getting interviews with anyone they could. Soon after the

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affair with Bobby Teetz hit the headlines. Now Shelly was hated by the public. The citizens of

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Morgantown started to call the sightings of Shelly the Shelly sightings because of how often they

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happened. Do you ever find yourself searching for a true crime podcast focused on West Virginia?

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Well, I have you covered. I'm Mark Covey, the creator of Mountain State Mysteries, where every

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Friday my co-host Courtney and I will tell you about one of West Virginia's coldest unsolved cases.

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Tune into Mountain State Mysteries on your favorite podcast platform.

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Tom Dreyer, her attorney, said that she tried to control every single aspect of her defense.

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Writing up her own briefs, character analysis of Jimmy's friends and family. She even wrote the

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closing statement that she wanted Tom to use. The only thing that Tom and Shelly agreed on

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was that she would have to testify. Tom said, quote, it's a right she has, but 12 people in the

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jury don't give a shit. Their immediate reaction is son of a bitch. This person's got something to

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hide. End quote. Shelly would spend weeks rehearsing at Q&A sessions with Tom and his associates. They

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won a very important motion of getting the trial moved to Charleston, West Virginia due to the

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publicity. The Morgantown investigators had called the state police, FBI, and the AFT to figure out

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how the fire was started. The AFT would compile seven different models for their trial, all of

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which saw the same exact thing. The problem no one could understand was how the fire could smolder

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for hours after Shelly was seen at 8.20 a.m. Before the workers saw the smoke at 10.30 a.m. and called

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it in. The AFT models found out that the fire needed oxygen. Shelly did make a mistake. She had

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closed the bedroom door with the door and the windows being closed. There wasn't much oxygen

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to feed the flames, but when the headboard finally fell through the bottom of the floor,

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that left enough oxygen in for the room to become engulfed and finally blow out the windows.

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Police and firefighters had been to the scene and quickly put it out. The AFT were able to prove

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that the bed Jimmy was on could have smoldered for over two hours until it got enough oxygen to

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engulf into a full on fire. The last Shelly sighting was in June of 2007. Shelly was seen

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getting her nails done. The state put on a strong case. The evidence was circumstantial.

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The sighting of Shelly at 8.20 that morning from the hospital cameras, the drug used to kill Jimmy

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was at her disposal. Her affair with Bobby Teet. All of this made her look bad, but it didn't

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prove that she killed her husband. There really wasn't any physical evidence to tire to the crime

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scene. Despite the syringe being found, which had no fingerprints on it, knowing Shelly being a nurse,

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she wore gloves while she injected Jimmy. One thing that they did find at the crime scene

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was the syringe cap under the bed, which is actually normal. I know you're probably like,

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Mark, how is that normal? Well, from our research, nurses usually never recap a syringe,

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so it was just normal for Shelly to leave it on the floor under the bed, which I'm sure she never

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thought of again thinking that the house would just burn down. In all honesty, prosecution wasn't

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100% sure if they had her or not. During our research, we actually found the journal from the

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jury and we were shocked. Not everyone was fully convinced that Shelly killed Jimmy. One juror

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wrote about how slowly her story unraveled and they could not believe the lack of emotion coming

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from Shelly, especially when photos were shown. They said that they could hear Jimmy's family sobbing

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in the courtroom and that they just saw Shelly sitting there with no emotion on her face.

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They said that she was busy writing notes to her attorney, but she took the stand. The jury said,

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at that point, they really tried to convince them that the huge amount of evidence they had on

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her was wrong and that she couldn't have done it. However, no amount of pre-trial training with Tom

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Dreyer could stop the real Shelly from showing up on the stand. She doubled down on three ridiculous

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scenarios of the crime itself, even saying that Jimmy committed suicide. When Shelly stepped down

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from the stand, they were horrified but no longer conflicted. Michelle, Shelly Michael, was convicted

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of first-degree murder and arson. In the jury journal, it did say they did stay out for a few

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days because initially they were split, but going back over all of the testimony there was no doubt

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that Shelly killed Jimmy. At her sentencing, Shelly was allowed to make her statement and she went on

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about self-pity and told the jury that a life sentence for her was also one for her children.

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Jimmy's family was also able to make a statement. They were powerful, but what was said to be the

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most devastating statement was a letter from Jimmy's daughter, Jacey. Shelly Goetz has a cold

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blooded heart and an evil mind. I hope you give her the maximum by law." The judge agreed with this

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and also sentenced her to 20 years for arson to be served consecutively, meaning that she might get

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paroled after 15 years for the murder. She would still have to serve 20 years for the arson though.

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After the sentencing, Shelly stood up to get a final word, quote,

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I mean no disrespect. I am not cold. I am not calculated. And I did not kill my husband,

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end quote. The judge replied, you're guilty and innocence is not the issue. It has already been

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decided. There was a website called Justice for Shelly. We tried to access it through a system

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and sadly we couldn't. However, there is still a Facebook page ran by Kiley. There are some

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emotional posts on there, but there's not much on it. In 2023, Shelly made headlines again. She

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had been serving her life sentence at the Lincoln Correctional Center, Mongagalia County Circuit Court

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in front of more than two dozen people being represented by Tom Brzezinski. He argued that

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Shelly's then attorney Tom Dreyer insufficiently, constitutionally defended her and provided an

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effective counsel. Shelly's defense had until March to file all of the necessary paperwork

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in attempt to get her a new trial. From there, the state of West Virginia will have until August

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of this year to answer if it is found out that he did not constitutionally represent Shelly.

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She will receive another trial and Tom Dreyer will be called to testify.

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If this happens, we will be the first to update you on the case of Michelle Shelly Michaels.

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This is a part of the podcast where Courtney and I usually share our final thoughts.

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And typically if it's a solo episode, I don't do it. But I wanted to tell you guys that Courtney

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actually sent me this case during season one and that this case has been one of the longest ones

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we covered. In the middle of writing the script for part one, I send a text to Courtney and was like,

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yo, this needs to be a two-parter. I do believe that Shelly is guilty and I believe that she was

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used to getting everything that she wanted. I believe that she is still doing that in prison

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today. If she does go back to trial in August, I will be glued to my phone and everything else

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just so we can update you guys on this case. We will be back next week with a brand new episode.

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If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, take a second to follow,

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rate, and download us on your favorite podcast platform. It helps others find good West Virginia

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00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:30,320
true crime podcasts. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, all at Mountain

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State Mysteries. Do you have a case you want us to cover? Send us an email at Mountain State

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Mysteries304 at gmail.com. For the show notes, check out our website, MountainStateMysteriesPodcast.com.

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Thank you.

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you