Michelle Michael, the Morgantown woman who was convicted in July 2007 of first-degree arson and the murder of her husband, James “Jimmy” Michael, appeared in Monongalia County Circuit Court on Monday to request a retrial. And she came armed with a new attorney.
More than 15 years after being tried and put behind bars, Michael and her new lawyer, Tim Rosinsky, of Rosinsky Law Offices in Huntington, assert Tom Dyer provided ineffective counsel when he represented her during her original trial.
In November 2005, Jimmy Michael was found dead after a fire tore through the couple’s Killarney Drive residence. Michelle was arrested in March 2006 for starting that fire and killing her husband.
In July 2007, a jury found Michael guilty of both the murder and setting the fire. Toxicology reports presented at trial showed a lethal dose of rocuronium — a paralyzing muscle relaxer sometimes used during surgeries — was present in Jimmy’s system at the time of the blaze.
Michael was employed as a nurse at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital and would have had access to rocuronium.
Later that year, on Sept. 12, 2007, Judge Robert Stone sentenced Michael to the maximum 20 years in prison for the first-degree arson charge and, at the recommendation of the jury, life with mercy for the first-degree murder charge. “With mercy” meant she would be eligible for parole. The sentences would run consecutively, making Michael eligible for parole in 2027.
On Sept. 13, 2007, The Dominion Post quoted Judge Stone’s comments to Michael and the court before he delivered her sentence.
“I just settled on one word — cold,” Stone said. “Our community is just appalled and outraged by these crimes. It’s not like anything I’ve seen in my 22 years as a judge. I don’t think I’ve seen anything as bizarre, as hard to understand. Nothing could justify what happened here, absolutely nothing.”
Michael, who is now 51, maintained her innocence throughout the trial and sentencing.
“I, in no way, absolutely did not kill my husband,” she told the court. “I did not inject him with any drug. I did not set fire to my own home. I did not destroy my whole family and our lives. I loved my family tremendously. I loved my husband tremendously.”
At the time of sentencing, The Dominion Post reported Dyer did motion for a new trial after finding out the anonymous caller — who told police to check Jimmy’s remains for rocuronium — was Michelle’s ex-husband Rob Angus. Judge Stone denied the motion.
The Dominion Post reached out to Rosinsky to discuss the claims of ineffective counsel, but has yet to hear back.
Michael and Rosinsky have until March to file any necessary paperwork to be considered for a new trial. The state will then have until August 2024 to answer the request. If it’s found that Dyer did not constitutionally represent Michael, she will receive another trial, and Dyer will be called to testify.
The case garnered national attention and was featured on several true crime and investigation shows, including an episode of CBS’s “48 Hours Mystery” titled “Death Without Mercy,” and Oxygen network’s “Snapped.”
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