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Wife takes plea deal in Seabee murder trial

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.

Cass County prosecutor Teresa Hensley said the case unraveled, in part, because Poklis, who purportedly had determined the amounts, frequency and duration of Hollis’ poisoning, told her office he “would not be available” for the trial.

“I am very disappointed that at the 11th hour, he chose not to participate,” Hensley said.

Poklis told The Kansas City Star from his office at Virginia Commonwealth University that he had no time for the case.

Hensley said she could have subpoenaed Poklis, forcing him to appear, but she also couldn’t find a nurse who was a key witness, and some phone records had gone missing.

“We were dealing with everything there is to deal with in a case that’s 15 years old,” Hensley said, adding that even cases brought to trial within a year of charges being filed can lead to acquittal.

She said the decision to offer Michelle Hollis a plea agreement came late.

“She knew we were going to get Poklis here, and we were preparing for trial right up to the last minute,” Hensley said. “And we got a conviction in this case, and she will go to prison.”

Hensley praised Poklis’ work after the murder charge in 2006, as well as that of Belton police Sgt. Lance Crull, who had brought Poklis into the case after keeping track of advancements in toxicology research.

Belton Police Chief James Person declined to comment on the plea agreement.

John Hollis’ sister, Kathy Heintz, said in a statement prepared by Hensley’s office that: “My family is grateful that Michelle admits to her guilt and will serve some time.”