Wife takes plea deal in Seabee murder trial

[unhappycamper]

Wife takes plea deal in Seabee murder trial
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 29, 2008 13:24:29 EDT

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — Cass County prosecutors this week were forced to offer a plea agreement to a woman charged with murdering her Navy Seabee husband, partly because one of their key witnesses declined to testify.

Michelle Hollis, 53, pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter in the 1996 poisoning death of 31-year-old John Hollis, a Navy Seabee. She was about to go on trial in Harrisonville on a first-degree murder charge.

With credit for time served and no prior criminal convictions, Michelle Hollis could be free in a few years.

John Hollis’ death went unsolved for more than a decade before toxicologist Alphonse Poklis used new medical technology to help detectives conclude that Michelle Hollis had slipped antifreeze into her husband’s drinks.

Investigators from Belton in 2006 brought Hollis back from California and charged her with first-degree murder.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_seabeepoisoning_052908/