Forensic Files - Season 7, Episode 18 - A Bitter Pill to Swallow - Full Episode | Forensic Files

when a beautiful young woman in ohio met a handsome young doctor it was love at first sight
during candlelight dinners the two spoke of marriage with a ceremony on a distant
beach at sunset but those plans were delayed when the prospective bride fell ill
when medical science couldn't find the cause of the problem forensic science and a hidden camera did
[Music] [Music] [Music] at 33 years old michelle baker was ready to settle down get married and start a
family her dreams were soon realized when a girlfriend introduced her to a soft-spoken new doctor in town dr
maynard munsing ii i was the happiest woman in the world at that point i mean he was he was every
woman's dream he was very successful very good looking michelle worked as a firefighter and a
paramedic and the two shared an interest in emergency medicine munsing was also 33 years old both were
divorced and there was an immediate attraction within a month dr munson moved into
michelle's small home in huber heights ohio the couple spent weekends caring for
maynard's two children from a previous marriage and soon michelle had some happy news of
her own she was going to have a baby he said we're getting married in key west barefoot on the beach at sunset
i was blown away so the two flew off to florida but on their first night there maynard
changed his mind asking michelle if they could postpone the wedding so his family
could attend i felt devastated i also felt like if that is the way that he wanted things to be then i had
to respect his wishes later that night the couple went to the hard rock cafe but after they left the restaurant
michelle had severe cramps and some light bleeding fortunately with a fiance who was a
doctor maynard reassured her he told her there was nothing to worry about he just had me lay down he said that it
was fine the next day it stopped after returning home from vacation michelle saw her physician dr john shy
just to make sure everything was okay i'm trying to allay her concern because i don't think it's a big issue michelle
i think was primarily concerned because of her age and this being her first pregnancy she was frightened her
concerns were that she had a history of endometriosis and she thought that might
be a problem but i reassured her that the chance of a problem was remote maynard purchased this 320 thousand
dollar brick house for the couple to raise their new child it was all very much a whirlwind as far
as everything went the baby the the romance the the just the unbelievable situation all the way around
but michelle's pregnancy was a difficult one with increasing cramps and occasionally
bleeding when neither michelle's doctor or her fiance could determine the cause of her
illness she did a little research of her own and made her diagnosis it was a condition so rare medical
experts could hardly believe it [Music] although michelle baker and dr maynard munsing were expecting a child and had
plans to marry maynard revealed some news which threatened those plans he admitted he still had lingering
feelings for a former girlfriend tammy irwin despite their stormy past you've told all these people such horrible
things about her and what kind of person she is and i said and and you still have
feelings for her over the fourth of july weekend in 2000 michelle planned to stay home while
maynard left for a fishing trip with a friend about an hour's drive away we spent the morning together had a
a good morning really good morning and he packed some clothes and he left that was prisoner of love here on all
request hour q92 let's go to the request lines from humor heights hello what can
i play for you yeah i was wondering if you could play but later that night while listening to a local radio station
michelle heard a familiar voice calling in to request the song the caller sounded very much like maynard and i was
i just stopped right there i just stopped dead in my tracks and i listened and the dj asked him he said well who is
this and he said maynard do you want to dedicate this to anyone now suspecting she had been lied to
michelle asked a neighbor to drive her to the home of maynard's former girlfriend tammy irwin
[Music] michelle's fears were confirmed when she saw him outside with tammy fishing trip huh what it looks like it's
exactly what it looks like a confrontation ensued she never knew that maynard was living
with me he had told her that he was living with a friend of his and all the while he was with me
michelle immediately threw maynard out of her home i was devastated i just couldn't believe
that someone could be that deceiving and and appear to be something that they're
obviously not [Music] but a few days later maynard called inviting michelle to a picnic so the two
could talk he apologized for his lapse in judgment and asked michelle if they could get
back together he turned to me and he said that he was very sorry about all of this
seemed very sincere in what he was saying but the picnic was interrupted when michelle got very sick
i was so ill there at the park that i couldn't even leave i would leave the restroom and then
five minutes later i have to be right back in the restroom not only was by vomiting and by diarrhea
but i also about 40 minutes into this started bleeding and bleeding pretty bad michelle immediately went to her doctor
he could find nothing seriously wrong an ultrasound of the fetus was normal and once again
michelle assumed her symptoms were stress related with their relationship back on track
the couple once again spoke of marriage he was affectionate and you know he rubbed my back watched tv with me and it
seemed very normal but it happened again michelle started cramping bleeding and vomiting
i thought that this was due to anxiety and stress and probably just internal pressure that
developed when she saw her boyfriend but it was michelle's twin sister melinda who noticed an interesting
coincidence she had said that don't you find it odd that every time you're with him
after he leaves you're sick and i was just horrified by what she was implying michelle recalled
that maynard was the one who brought the drinks from the bar to their table in florida shortly before she fell ill the
first time and he also prepared her drink at the picnic before the second bleeding
incident but what was he doing to her drinks to find out she set a trap and was clever enough to videotape it
michelle baker was becoming increasingly suspicious of her fiance's behavior maynard told michelle he was taking his
children to florida for a short vacation michelle suspected he was lying to find out
michelle drove to the home of maynard's ex-girlfriend and there saw maynard's car
[Music] through an open window michelle overheard maynard and tammy irwin discussing michelle's pregnancy
tammy asked maynard what he intended to do about the baby and maynard's response to
her was she need not worry about that that as far as he knew that it could have already been taken care of
my heart dropped and it was at that point that did i realize that something might be going on
[Music] michelle immediately told police about her suspicion that maynard was trying to
abort their child well after listening the story i thought it was quite fantastic it's not
the typical uh case that comes across my desk i was certainly skeptical at first
and thought you know i can't imagine that someone would even do this it's beyond my dreams something i haven't run
into in 25 years of experience police wanted michelle to take a lie detector test but department rules
prohibit the test to be done on pregnant women we told her basically that because of
his professional position that we were going to need all types of physical evidence
that would show that he's responsible for this but without proof there was little police could do
so michelle conducted her own investigation inside a silk plant michelle and her
girlfriend hid a small video camera in her kitchen with a clear view of the kitchen countertop area
i was scared i was afraid that he would see it she then invited maynard to dinner
as soon as he arrived michelle said she was going outside to put the steaks on the grill and asked maynard to prepare
her a drink the video tape clearly revealed maynard pouring an unknown substance into michelle soft
drink when he handed michelle the drink she excused herself to go to the bathroom where she had hidden a plastic
container as i poured that drink into that container there was a white sludge in the bottom of my cup an enormous
amount i mean not not just a little bit but a very large amount and then i rinsed my cup out i poured my
new coke into that glass hid the other stuff i walked back out and sat down at the
table and ate dinner with him i was sickened but i knew that this was the only way
that i could prove this this was the only way that i could keep him away from my baby
getting through dinner was difficult michelle wanted to get the drink to the police station quickly and throughout
dinner her telephone rang incessantly it was tammy erwin asking to speak with maynard
when maynard finally left the telephone rang once more it was maynard with some upsetting news
he said to me do you want to know why tammy's so upset and i said yeah why don't you tell me
why tammy's so upset he said because she's my wife he'd married her that week the police immediately sent michelle's
soft drink to the forensics lab my first reaction is you've got to be kidding me we have no idea what we're
looking for here it's not a typical forensic case so where are we going to even start
there's literally hundreds of drugs that this could be on a hunch police called a local pharmacist asking
for a list of medications that can cause harm to a fetus if taken by a pregnant woman
the most commonly prescribed drug fitting that description was a stomach ulcer drug
cytotec the contents of michelle's soft drink were placed in the gas chromatograph
mass spectrometer the chromatograph separates the various elements the mass spectrometer analyzes
them by comparing the known cytotec that we received from the pharmaceutical company
we compared that to the substance that was found in the coca-cola and found a match therefore
the coca-cola contained cytotec it's also a drug that is used in a very limited capacity to induce labor the
actual effects of that particular drug are to actually start contractions but police had a problem
there was no proof it was cytotec that maynard was putting into the soft drink a clever defense attorney could claim
that michelle laced her own drink with the drug in order to frame him so police set a trap of their own
[Music] even though michelle baker had caught her fiance on videotape placing something in her drink
authorities were concerned about whether this evidence would stand up in court we didn't believe just having a tape by
the complainant and a sample by the complainant would have as much validity as a tape by ourselves
obtained by ourselves and the sample obtained by ourselves so a few days later police set up their own surveillance
camera in michelle's kitchen they placed it in a figurine of a firefighter saving a child
the camera focused on michelle's kitchen counter once again michelle invited maynard over
for dinner myself and detective sergeant may were waiting in the garage and viewing
what was going on in the kitchen like clockwork almost identical to the previous tape
once michelle baker exited the residence to put stakes on the grill dr munson removed a vial from his pocket
placed it in her drink the two detectives rushed into the kitchen and arrested him
at that time i pointed up to the camera and said right up there you're on camera
and that's when he viewed a camera to look at it i said i told you that you didn't have
to have anything to do with this baby and instead you tried to to kill the baby and kill me
i mean this guy had it all you know in a matter of six minutes he uh you know destroyed his career
and of course michelle's life dr munson cryptically explained why he had done it
he basically poisoned drink in an attempt to remove the problem in question as to whether or not the
problem was meant the baby he advised yes lab tests confirmed that this drink was
spiked with site attack 2. a search of munsing's car trunk revealed even more side attack
dr maynard munsing was charged with the attempted murder of the baby i think that's just despicable
i'm ashamed to say that he's a physician i think that he misused his authority and his ability to obtain a
substance and then he poisoned his ex fiance despite ingesting side attacks several
times earlier michelle's fetus appeared normal i was at the doctor's office every week
had high resolution ultrasounds every month they were very very cautious as to what they were looking
for meanwhile monsing was released on bond to await trial i need my family my family meets me
especially my children i need to see them to hold them and to love them they they should be
the truth will come out soon shortly before the trial 28 weeks into her pregnancy
michelle gave birth to a stillborn baby girl whom she named michaela she was already gone
it was a bad day but my parents got there they they were there when she was delivered
um my whole family was there um my friends and um they all held her and we passed her
around and we all told her how much that we loved her since the coroner found no trace of side
attack in the placenta he ruled the cause of the baby's death as undetermined he did make oral statements as well as
written statements admitting to what he was trying to do in this case and that he was trying to get rid of the
baby that it was something he his wife didn't want him to have to deal with michelle firmly believes
that maynard was responsible i know in in my heart what he did my justice is knowing that he is eventually
going to be judged for that because of the strain a trial would have placed on michelle and her family
prosecutors made a deal with dr munson and his wife tammy with michelle's approval
munsing's wife tammy pleaded guilty to the charge of filling the prescription for the side attack she was put on
probation dr munsen pleaded guilty to contaminating a substance for human consumption and attempted felonious
assault he was sentenced to five years in prison he was also stripped of his medical
license and will never be permitted to practice medicine in the united states again
i have a lot of anger and a lot of hurt and a lot of questions and you know and it doesn't matter how much counseling i
go to they can't answer any of those questions you know and it's uh it's it's difficult
michelle keeps michaela's ashes in a beautiful acrylic statue surrounded by angels
[Music] fortunately it was michelle's suspicions good police work and new forensic technology that
identified the drug quickly it could have been a very very long procedure in identifying this drug
because we literally had no idea where to start or what we were looking for it could have taken us several
months to determine what we had [Music] a delay of several months may have prevented police from capturing
the crime a second time on videotape [Music] [Music] [Music] you

The story of firefighter Michelle Baker is related. After meeting Dr. Maynard Muntzing, she became pregnant by him. After this news, she was ill whenever they were together. The coincidences led her to suspect that he was doing her harm.

Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

Brief Summary

Michelle Baker's pregnancy is jeopardized by her fiancé Dr. Munsing, who poisons her drink in a shocking betrayal.

Key points

Love at First Sight. Michelle meets Dr. Maynard, and they quickly fall in love.
A Shocking Revelation. Michelle discovers Maynard's lingering feelings for his ex-girlfriend, threatening their relationship.
Caught on Camera. Michelle sets a trap to record Maynard poisoning her drink, revealing his deceit.
A Heartbreaking Loss. Michelle gives birth to a stillborn baby girl, Michaela, amidst the turmoil.
Justice Served. Maynard pleads guilty to contaminating a substance, receiving a prison sentence.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was the happiest woman in the world at that point.

Michelle reflects on her initial happiness with Maynard.

1:24WatchDec 10, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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