1849
The town's original name was Battle Creek, after an 1849 massacre between Mormon settlers and a small band of Ute Indians.
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FILE 531 / 26 September 2024 / 170 MIN / full
This is in north central Utah, outside Salt Lake City in the mountains; it's in Utah County. about 0:05:43
The town's original name was Battle Creek, after an 1849 massacre between Mormon settlers and a small band of Ute Indians.
about 0:06:06Brigham Young believed the Ute had stolen his horses, though the horses were found before the attack took place.
about 0:06:29It was renamed Pleasant Grove after a grove of cottonwood trees between Battle Creek and Grove Creek, near the present intersection of Locust Avenue and Battle Creek Drive.
about 0:06:53During the Walker Indian War in the 1850s, settlers built a fort with walls two or three feet thick covering the area of 16 city blocks.
about 0:07:06The town's original name was Battle Creek, after an 1849 massacre between Mormon settlers and a small band of Ute Indians.
about 0:06:06Brigham Young believed the Ute had stolen his horses, though the horses were found before the attack took place.
about 0:06:29It was renamed Pleasant Grove after a grove of cottonwood trees between Battle Creek and Grove Creek, near the present intersection of Locust Avenue and Battle Creek Drive.
about 0:06:53During the Walker Indian War in the 1850s, settlers built a fort with walls two or three feet thick covering the area of 16 city blocks.
about 0:07:06The fort is gone, but cornerstones mark it; the southwest monument stood near 300 South 100 West, an area now occupied by a strip mall.
about 0:07:37The town motto is Utah's City of Trees.
about 0:05:4795.7%
Biggest faith: Mormon residents, 93.3%
about 0:10:43Property crime
▼ less than half
Violent crime
▼ about one-third
Four bedroom, two bath home of 2,406 square feet
about 0:13:32Four bedroom, four bath home of 5,235 square feet
about 0:14:08"37,228"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:10:03
"more males than females"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:10:09
"28.3"
Comparison: "very low". Direction: below.
As told in 2024 about 0:10:17
"61%"
Comparison: "usually 50-50". No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:10:33
"95.7%"
Comparison: "50-50 is the normal". Direction: above.
As told in 2024 about 0:10:43
"93.3%"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:10:43
"2.8%"
Comparison: "way low". Direction: below.
As told in 2024 about 0:11:31
"$81,850 a year"
Comparison: "about $12,000 more than the national average". Direction: above.
As told in 2024 about 0:11:40
"117"
Comparison: "100 is regular". Direction: above.
As told in 2024 about 0:11:57
"$507,400"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:12:08
"$1,270"
Comparison: "near the national average". No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:12:49
"$449,900"
Comparison: "least expensive single family home in the area". No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:13:32
"$850,000"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:14:08
"$1,295,000"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:15:07
"less than half"
Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2024 about 0:19:39
"about one-third"
Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2024 about 0:19:46
2.8 / 5 · average of 5
“The community has a tight bond like nothing the reviewer has seen; everyone is kind and willing to help, and there are lots of LDS people.”about 0:07:59
“It used to be an orchard town before most of the trees were pushed over; the only bummer is the bumpy roads and the outdoor pool, and it is one of the safest places in the USA.”about 0:08:23
“Not the reviewer's ideal place to live, but it works for now.”about 0:09:09
“Probably the reviewer's least favourite place they have ever lived.”about 0:09:14
“Extremely religious and exclusive if you are not a Mormon; cold, with trash air.”about 0:09:26
“The reviewer cannot think of anywhere in Pleasant Grove to go and says you have to leave town for that.”about 0:09:47
His parents fought violently, often when drunk, and divorced when he was small. Albert moved to Long Beach, California, leaving Lillian with six children in a tiny Camden apartment where she turned to prostitution to support them.
He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and became fascinated by psychology. In 1973, at 17, he joined the military after lying about his age. Two years later he was discharged at 19 as a latent schizophrenic who heard voices urging him to kill, and he began drawing veterans and Social Security benefits. In 1977, after watching a 60 Minutes report on cheque forgers, he stole an identity, opened a bank account and spent $35,000 at 14 stores over the Labor Day weekend.
In late 1977 he met Michelle Somers at a Mormon singles event in California. Michelle was born in 1957, grew up in Concord, California, was a straight-A student, a violinist and Miss Concord 1976, and was a devout Mormon. On Halloween 1977 he told her he felt something had happened to his father; the next day he found his father dead in Long Beach.
After his release they lived in West Hollywood and had four children: Rachel in 1979, Vanessa in 1981, Alexis in 1982 and Damien in 1985. He was licensed as an osteopathic physician in Utah in 1987. The family settled in Salem, Utah, in 1993. He worked at hospitals and clinics, including the BYU Health Center, where he had an affair with a 42-year-old patient in 1996. In 1998 he resigned from the health centre amid complaints of unprofessional conduct, misdiagnosis and rape.
In August 2000, after Michelle caught him looking at pornography, he threatened her and himself with a knife; their son Damien tackled him and he spent a night on a psychiatric hold in Provo. That year he was appointed medical director of the American Fork Training School. He had affairs with patients, women from church and vulnerable single mothers. In 2003 the couple adopted Noel, Giselle and L from a Ukrainian orphanage; Noel was sent to a treatment facility in Michigan and the adoption was dissolved, and in 2004 they adopted Sabrina.
He told her that at eight, in 1964, he had put pills into a beer and given it to his mother, who stopped breathing and was revived; that he had drowned his brother Rufus in the bath in 1986; and that he had killed patients with potassium injections and morphine. He claimed to have written the anonymous 1988 Journal of the American Medical Association article 'It's Over Debbie'. In November 2005 he began an affair with Gypsy Willis.
In March 2007 Michelle told their daughter Alexis she thought he was having an affair and identified Gypsy from his phone records. The surgery took place on 3 April 2007. He directed the surgeon to prescribe oxycodone, liquid Lortab, Phenergan suppositories and Valium, and after the operation he controlled her medication. Alexis kept a log of every pill. On 10 April Michelle was able to walk and care for herself. He then attended an award ceremony at work, where he insisted on being photographed, and picked up six-year-old Ada at 11.30. At home Ada found Michelle lying in the bath in her clothes. A neighbour helped him lift Michelle out; paramedics and police worked on her, and she was pronounced dead at hospital.
The first medical examiner ruled the death natural, from myocarditis and chronic hypertension, and noted a cocktail of Ambien, oxycodone and Phenergan in her blood. Alexis told police her mother had warned her that if anything happened to her, Alexis should make sure it was not her father.
Gypsy Willis attended the funeral and moved into the house as nanny nine days later. In July Giselle was sent to Ukraine, and her birth date was later found to have been changed by 20 years so that Gypsy could use her identity. The case was reopened.
The medical examiner changed the manner of death to undetermined and the cause to heart disease combined with drug toxicity.
April 11, 2007 / the McNeil home, Pleasant Grove, Utah
As told in the episode, on 26 September 2024.
Accused
April 3, 1986 / their mother's apartment, Camden, New Jersey
As told in the episode, on 26 September 2024.
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
about 1:58:48crime scene
about 2:00:49church
about 2:13:58business
about 1:13:06business
about 1:10:34school
about 1:10:44business
about 1:33:47school
about 1:06:58school
about 1:07:03home
about 0:59:30home
about 0:35:36home
about 1:12:09home
about 1:05:00hospital
about 1:18:56hospital
about 1:10:27landmark
about 0:06:53landmark
about 0:07:37landmark
about 0:17:48church
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