By Natalie Neysa Alund, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Mar. 15–A preliminary hearing for murder suspect Michelle L. Michael is set for 3 p.m. March 20 in Monongalia County Magistrate Court in front of Magistrate Jennifer Wilson, said a court assistant. Michael’s bond on the first-degree murder charge was set at $350,000 in Mon County Circuit Court on Tuesday, said Peri DeChristopher, assistant prosecuting attorney. Michael was in custody at the North Central Regional Jail on Tuesday evening. “If she is able to post, she can be on home confinement,” DeChristopher said. Michael, 34, was charged with firstdegree murder and first-degree arson in the death of her husband, James Andrew Michael, in Magistrate Court on Friday. Bond was set at $100,000 in Magistrate Court for that charge. Access to deadly drug Although the drug that killed James Andrew Michaels is kept locked up, hospital medical professionals have access to it, said WVU Hospitals Spokesman Bill Case. Police said James Michael, 33, was killed with a “nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking drug” — a drug that causes temporary paralysis, according to the National Institutes of Health. “It is used when people who are taking care of a patient need to insert a breathing tube,” Case said Tuesday. “Because that has to happen in a hurry often, the drug is kept in all of the intensive care units and in all of the operating rooms.” The drug is stored in a locked cabinet or a locked medical storage room, Case said. Physicians and other providers who administer the drug can get it at any time. That includes nurse practitioners. Michelle Michael, also known as Shelly, is a University Health Associates nurse practitioner assigned to work in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Ruby Memorial Hospital, Case said. Police said Michael was found dead Nov. 29, 2005, after an arson fire at his home at 545 Killarney Drive. Based on the autopsy performed by the state medical examiner’s office, they say he died from a lethal dose of the drug, not from carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire. Case said Tuesday that Michelle Michael is still employed, but is on leave. He has said he cannot comment on whether any of the drug that killed James Michael was missing around the time of his death. “I can’t answer that because it would get into the specifics of the investigation of the case,” he said. The criminal complaint notes that the drug was present in Michael’s blood and caused his death. Morgantown Police Chief Phil Scott said Tuesday that police are not releasing copies of the autopsy, toxicology report, or police report. “It (the case) has not been adjudicated, and they are part of the investigation still,” Scott said. Morgantown Police Sgt. H.W. Sperringer said MPD is not releasing if James Michael was dead before the fire broke out or how much of the drug was in his blood. He also would not say if police have any other suspects, because the investigation is ongoing and the case is awaiting the preliminary hearing. Sperringer did say that police are waiting lab results from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to learn if an accelerant was used to start the fire, which damaged two upstairs bedrooms of the home. Before Friday, Morgantown Police would not comment on how Michelle Michael came to be a suspect in her husband’s death. But according to the criminal complaint, Michael had access to the drugs, which are not available to the public. It says Michelle Michael went to work during the early morning hours of the fire, left work and returned to her residence before the fire was discovered, then returned to work.
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