An old adage warns that looks can be deceiving. Another adage cautions that happiness is rarely eternal. Jeremy and Michelle Witherell smiled for the camera when they wed in August 1992. The marriage was short-lived . . . and so was the bride. Only three-and-a-half months after tying the knot, Michelle was dead and her family believed Jeremy had killed her.
The decision rendered by the twelve people chosen to decide Jeremy’s culpability has caused Michelle’s family to doubt another adage: There is justice for all.
Michelle and Jeremy Witherell
Jeremy Witherell and Michelle Mellema both grew up in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado. After marrying in August 1992, the newlyweds moved to Monroeville, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, after Jeremy accepted a position with the Pittsburgh City Paper, a weekly publication founded by his brother, Brad.
The couple lived in Monroeville’s LaVale’s Apartment Complex. Neighbors reported several instances of loud arguments between the couple, many of which they believed turned violent. Jeremy acknowledges arguments between him and Michelle but says none ever escalated into physical beating.
Short Wedded Bliss
At 12:30 a.m. on December 20, 1992, a frantic Jeremy called 911 saying Michelle had fallen from the balcony of the couple’s third-story apartment, approximately forty feet from the asphalt ground.
The LaVale Apartment Complex
The Witherell’s Apartment Is Circled
When police arrived, Michelle was unconscious and barely alive. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
While his wife was in surgery, Jeremy was questioned by police. He told them Michelle had become intoxicated after they had had dinner and drinks at Monroeville’s Parkway Tavern that evening. On their way home, they argued about a remark Jeremy had made regarding a woman wearing a Hooter’s T-shirt.
Upon arriving home, the argument continued until an irate Michelle went to the outside apartment balcony, Jeremy presumed, to get away from him. Mary Herr, who lived in the apartment directly below, could hear the couple arguing, as could several other residents of adjacent apartments.
While Michelle was on the balcony, Jeremy contended he proceeded to play solitaire in the living room. After a few minutes, he heard a noise from the balcony. He said he then went outside, looked over the balcony railing, and discovered Michelle lying on the sidewalk below their apartment. He believed she had fallen due to her inebriation. Oddly, one of her shoes was discovered twenty-six feet from her body, but the other one was never found.
Michelle Witherell lapsed into a coma and succumbed to her injuries fourteen hours later.
Newlywed Dead
Michelle’s parents, Evert and Cathy Mellema, said Jeremy told them two different versions of what transpired that evening and that neither story was what he had told investigators.
Upon arriving at the hospital after chartering a plane from Denver to suburban Pittsburgh, the Mellema’s said Jeremy conveyed to them that Michelle had fallen while standing on the ledge of the balcony hanging Christmas lights. Michelle’s parents say the new day brought a new story as Jeremy told them when he went outside, he saw Michelle’s hands clinging to the balcony’s side and that she fell before he could reach her.
The Mellemas were also perplexed by Michelle’s injuries. Although her skull was fractured and her jaw broken, her teeth and nose were unscathed. They could not understand how she received certain injuries to her head when other areas were undamaged.
In addition, although Michelle’s wrists were broken, her palms were unscathed. To the Mellemas, it seemed likely that if Michelle had fractured her wrists trying to break her fall, her palms would also have been scratched.
Michelle’s parents were also bothered by Jeremy’s taking the time to close the balcony door and double lock their apartment before coming to Michelle’s aid. That did not seem an action of a frantic husband.
Evert and Cathy Mellema
Michelle’s Parents
Jeremy insists he only gave one version of what happened that evening: he heard a sound and found Michelle lying on the pavement.
One of the few points on which Jeremy and the Mellemas agree is that Michelle had no history of mental illness and would not have committed suicide. Michelle’s parents also do not believe her death was an accident.
The sturdy balcony was forty-eight inches high, chest height for the five-foot-eight-inch tall Michelle. The Mellamas believe it would have been impossible for her, even in an inebriated state, to have lost her balance and accidentally fallen.
Evert and Cathy Mellama and several of the Witherell’s friends say Michelle told them she was planning on leaving Jeremy. Her parents believe she informed him of her intentions after they returned to their apartment during the late evening of December 19.
Multiple acquaintances of Jeremey say he had a short temper. Mr. and Mrs. Mellema believe he became irate and began beating their daughter. Michelle, they believe, fled the apartment, but was chased down by Jeremey. He then continued to be beat her to the point of unconsciousness, dragged her body to beneath their apartment, and hastily concocted the story of her accidentally falling before summoning help.
Accident or Murder?
Michelle’s parents were convinced their son-in-law had murdered their daughter. The Allegheny County Coroner, however, ruled the cause of her death as “undetermined.” Undeterred, the Mellemas sent Michelle’s medical records to three different forensic pathologists. All three disagreed with the coroner’s ruling, believing she had been murdered.
Esteemed pathologist Cyril Wecht noted that Michelle had extensive direct impact injuries to only the left side of her brain. He believes if she had fallen from three stories, comprising forty feet, she should have had injuries on both sides of her brain. Dr. Wecht also noted that her other injuries, specifically that her pelvis and internal organs were undamaged, was inconsistent with a fall. Also, her body was found nine feet from the building, which he felt was impossible if she had fallen accidentally. Dr. Wecht concluded Michelle had died from an assault, not a fall.
In January 1998, following his election as Allegheny County Coroner, Dr. Wecht changed his predecessor’s ruling of the death of Michelle Witherell from undetermined to homicide.
Death Ruled a Homicide
Even though Jeremey Witherell passed two polygraph tests relating to Michelle’s death, he was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter on December 20, 1999, ironically seven years to the day after Michelle’s death. At the time of his arrest, Jeremy’s second wife, Lynn, was eight months pregnant with their first child.
At Jeremy’s trial, several of the couple’s friends testified he emotionally abused Michelle by berating her in public. Many also had seen bruises on her leading them to believe he had also physically abused her, but none had actually seen him do so.
Geoffrey Patterson, one of Jeremy’s closest friends, testified he took Jeremy to dinner on the one year anniversary of Michelle’s death. While dining, Geoffrey said Jeremy virtually confessed to killing her, stating he was sorry, and that “it” should not have happened.
Jeremy And His New Wife, Lynn
Dr. Wecht and several other coroners testified for the prosecution that Michelle’s death was a homicide, the result of having been struck on the head and face with a blunt object. He determined Michelle had been beaten and struck so violently with an object that she suffered a depressed fracture of her skull. Dr. Wecht concluded Michelle was positioned under the balcony rather than having fallen from it.
The noted pathologist further testified the injury to the side of Michelle’s head did not show the type of damage that would result from a fall of more than thirty feet. He contended that had she fallen, her brain would have been injured on the side opposite the skull injury. In the absence of such a concussion, the indication is that the skull fracture resulted from a blow to the head with a blunt instrument.
Dr. Cyril Wecht
However, several other renowned forensic pathologists, including Dr. Werner Spitz from Michigan, disagreed with Dr. Wecht’s findings and testified for the defense. Dr. Spitz, testified Michelle’s injuries were the result of an accidental fall, “probably related to alcohol consumption, but not an assault.” An autopsy confirmed Jeremy’s claims that Michelle was drunk, showing she had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.195%, nearly double the limit at which a driver could be considered legally drunk. Dr. Spitz argued that all of Michelle’s head injuries resulted from a “ripple effect” when she landed on the left side of her head, causing a fracture.
Dr. Spitz said an injury to Michelle’s left eye socket and the presence of red dots nearby indicated she landed on grass on the left side of her head which he believed had struck the ground first, causing the fracture and bruises to the top left side of her brain. He said she suffered secondary head injuries caused by the dissipation of energy from the initial impact.
Dr. Spitz disputed Dr. Wecht’s contention that head injuries from falls always cause corresponding injuries on the other side of the brain.
Dr. Werner Spitz
In January 2001, Jeremy Witherell was acquitted of all charges relating to Michelle’s death. Although several jurors said they believed something sinister may have occurred, the conflicting testimony about the cause of her injuries was enough to cast reasonable doubt.
Jeremy returned to working for the Pittsburgh City Paper following his acquittal. His LinkedIn profile says he is currently the paper’s Senior Executive Account Manager, but a 2022 article in the U. S. Sun reports editors told them his employment with the paper ended in 2017.
Jeremy Returned to Pittsburgh
Police have closed their investigation into the death of Michelle Witherell, declaring it an accident.
From Wed to Dead
No Justice For Michelle?
Jeremy’s Witherell’s explanation for his wife’s death has never wavered: Michelle fell.
What do you think?
Did The Groom Kill The Bride?
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5716104/michelle-dawne-witherell
Sources:
- Deseret News
- Denver Post
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- S. Sun
- Unsolved Mysteries
She would have had a contrecoup injury to the right side of her brain from a fall of that height. Also the height of the balcony as already stated, was too high for an accidental fall. If she accidentally fell, the natural instinct would be to put her arms up. She did have broken wrists, but there should have been some kind of injury to her hands and shoulders from the impact. Also, what happened to the other shoe? They should have either both fallen off and be found, the one being on her foot, or still on the balcony. Most likely it was where or near to where she was attacked. If they had been able to find the other shoe, it would have or should have clarified how and where she was injured.