Painkillers, wife's health at heart of Utah doctor's murder trial

A Utah doctor charged in his wife's death wanted her to have extra pain medication after she had a facelift, her plastic surgeon has testified. The painkillers and the health of Michelle MacNeill's heart are key issues in the murder trial of her husband, Dr. Martin MacNeill, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday. In the first day of the trial, plastic surgeon Dr. Scott Thompson testified MacNeill pressed him to prescribe higher-than-customary levels of pain medication for his wife. "Martin indicated to me that he was very concerned about his wife," Thompson testified. "That she didn't handle pain well, and was anxious." Dr. Von Welch, who examined Michelle MacNeill several weeks before her surgery said he found no evidence of heart disease. Eight days after her 2007 plastic surgery, Michelle MacNeill was found dead in her bathtub, dressed in a track suit. The Utah medical examiner ruled she died of natural causes resulting from chronic hypertension and myocarditis. Investigators charge Martin MacNeill acted erratically around the time of his wife's death and that he called the medical examiner's officer several times and gave misleading information. Several other experts have reviewed Michelle MacNeill's autopsy. A University of Utah pharmacology professor said she died from a potentially lethal dose of medication. A Florida medical examiner said she drowned and there was no evidence of heart problems. Prosecutors said in opening statements MacNeill wanted his wife to have the surgery so he could kill her with drugs during her recovery, ABC News reported. They charged he had been having an affair with another woman for 18 months before Michelle MacNeill's death.