By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Tonight NBC’s Dateline will air a feature on the seven-year effort to find justice for Michelle Mockbee.
Mockbee was killed at the Thermo Fisher Scientific plant in Boone County where she worked, in the early-morning hours of May 29, 2012.
David Dooley, a contractor who performed janitorial services at Thermo Fisher Scientific, was convicted of murder in the killing in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison.
It seemed that would be the final chapter in one of the most brutal killings in Boone County history and bring justice for Mockbee’s family, but the story was far from over.
Judge James R. Schrand, who presided over the trial, ruled that evidence that might have aided in Dooley’s defense was withheld from his attorneys and ordered a new trial in May, 2017.
Following a series of delays, that trial finally began on February 20 of this year.
The prosecution team, led by Kentucky Assistant Attorney General Jon Heck, admitted from the beginning that the case was based on circumstantial evidence.
The team presented hundreds of pieces of evidence in an attempt to prove Dooley was the only person who could have committed the crime.
Dooley’s new defense team, attorneys Deanna Dennison and Jeff Lawson presented alternate theories of the crime. They suggested others, including Mockbee’s husband, Dan Mockbee, and some of her coworkers had motive, and/or opportunity to commit the brutal killing.
On March 12, the case went to the jury and in less than seven hours, spanning two days, a verdict was reached. David Dooley was once again found guilty.
He was sentenced to a total of 43 years in prison.
In the Dateline feature entitled “Return to the Early Shift,” Josh Mankiewicz speaks with members of Mockbee’s family members about the long and agonizing path to justice for them.
Jennifer Schneider, Mockbee’s sister, spoke to the NKy Tribune this week about the toll the ordeal has taken on the family.
She said one of the hardest things to cope with was the belief among many in the community that Dooley was innocent.
“Our hope is always, when we agree to do these interviews, that it’s portrayed to show the facts and hopefully the naysayers out there after viewing it will realize the guy really is guilty,” Schneider said. “There are so many people who doubt that and it’s really frustrating. Twenty-four different people and two juries, that should say something.”
Other members of Michelle Mockbee’s family, including her Mother Pat Whalen, her sister Cindy Parker, brother Chris Whalen, Dan Mockbee and the two daughters he had with Michelle, Madelyn and Carli, were also in or near the courtroom throughout the trial.
Schneider said the family breathed a collective sigh of relief when the verdict was read.
“They had a good defense team, but when you look at what happened, they were pointing a finger at Dan,” Schneider said.
Dan Mockbee collected several insurance policies following his wife’s death and admitted under oath he spent quite a bit that he could not readily account for.
“Dan is horrible with money,” Schneider said. “He’s just not good at it and he knows he’s not good at it. They tried to show reasonable doubt and thank God the jury saw right through that and that Dooley is guilty.”
The jurors were not the only ones who dismissed Dan Mockbee as a suspect.
Often when someone is killed in such brutal fashion, suspicion immediately turns to the spouse, but investigators eliminated Mockbee as a suspect and Michelle’s family never considered him one.
“Michelle was the love of his life and this has taken a tremendous toll on him,” Schneider said. “He has more good days now, where we see more glimpses of the old Dan where he was just a happy-go-lucky guy. But he can still tell you on any given day how many years, months, weeks and days it’s been, because he has that in his head.”
Dennison delivered an impassioned plea to jurors in her closing argument in defense of Dooley, but Heck had the last word and many believe his close removed any reasonable doubt jurors may have had.
Schneider also believe’s the case Heck’s team presented, culminating with that closing statement, carried the day.
“He touched on every single point,” Schneider said. “I was thinking in the back of my mind, well, he’s going to fail to say something and it’s going to create questions in the jury’s mind, but no, he touched on every single topic and put to rest any doubt. I was really impressed with his closing.”
Dooley has already gotten an extra bite at the apple, but Mockbee’s family is optimistic that this verdict will stand.
“I’m not concerned about an appeal, there is nothing in our mind that would overturn (the verdict),” Schneider said. “To my knowledge anything the defense wanted the judge granted. We think it’s going to stick and we don’t see any reason it would be overturned.”
The seven-year ordeal to seek justice for Mockbee has been almost overwhelming for the family. Perhaps one of the hardest things to deal with is that many believe media attention shifted from Mockbee to the now-convicted killer.
“We’re still missing Michelle just like the day it happened,” Schneider said. “It’s very frustrating that the focus turned to the man that was accused and not the victim.”
Mockbee was killed returning to work at the end of a Memorial Day Holiday weekend. For years the family dreaded the holiday because it was a grim reminder of the events that followed.
Schneider said a recent conversation with her sister Cindy has helped change that.
“Of course, we dreaded thinking about the horrible, horrible memories of that day,” Schneider said. “Cindy brought up a good point, that Memorial Day was her last holiday with us and we should kind of embrace that and celebrate her life. So she kind of made me look at it differently.”
Schneider will gather with family members to watch tonight’s airing, which she has not seen.
“Dan doesn’t like to watch these, it’s too painful for him, but he might feel differently this time because they interview Carli and Madelyn,” Schneider said.
What Schneider hopes will come through in tonight’s show is just how special her sister was.
“She was just the kindest soul you could ever imagine,” Schneider said. “She went out of her way to make people feel comfortable, to befriend people.”
Schneider recalls a story about a mother who was new to the district where Michelle’s daughters went to school that was feeling out of place.
“Michelle went out of her way to befriend this woman, to be kind, that’s just the way she was,” Schneider said. “She had such a big impact, this woman did a video about how Michelle affected her life. It was so heartwarming to watch that.”
While losing such an integral person in so many lives can splinter some families, Schneider says it has, in many ways done just the opposite.
“We’re a strong family, we’ve gotten even closer because of this,” Schneider said. “I think that Michelle would really be happy with the way we’ve all come together and are supporting each other throughout all of this.”
“Return to the Early Shift” is scheduled to air tonight at 10 p.m. EST on local NBC affiliates.
For the NKyTribune’s complete coverage of the trial and the events that preceded it, click here.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com