Obsession

Belinda Herndon: He said, "I really need to talk to you."  And, I said, "Well, okay."  And he said, "We think Michelle was murdered."

Belinda Herndon: And, I said, "You what?"  And, he said, "Did Michelle know anyone that worked at a hospital?"  And, I said, "Yes." And, I said, "She knew a young man who lived with her best friend, rented a room." 

That "young man" was Oliver O’Quinn, the shy, awkward guy who lived with her best friend Jessica.  It turns out he was a nurse at nearby Shands Hospital.

Jessica Seipel: It's a person that you trusted.  He was in my house.  If I didn't trust him, I wouldn't have been sleeping in the same house as him. 

It seemed unlikely.  Oliver didn't have a criminal background. He was a divorced father who still spent time with his child, and he made a professional pledge to "do no harm."

But now the question hovered, could Oliver--the guy Michelle felt so sorry for, the guy she befriended--have been involved in her murder?

At that point, nothing was conclusive, but evidence was mounting.

And as Michelle’s friends and family began telling the police everything they knew about him, a complicated portrait began to emerge.

Hoda Kotb: So what did he tell you about himself?

Jessica Seipel: He told me that he was an EMT paramedic and a fire fighter.  He also told me a story about him being a captain in the Air Force.  He said he was a paratrooper, and he had jumped into Afghanistan. He was the very first crew to jump in after 9/11.

Hoda Kotb: It sounds like he's repainted himself as this sort of hero--

Jessica Seipel: And I think that's why we always excused it because he was a small guy so he wanted to paint himself the big picture.

Looking back, Jessica and Michelle’s mom say there were signs that Oliver was becoming increasingly fixated on Michelle.

Hoda Kotb: Did you notice anything that he was paying special attention to her early on?

Jessica Seipel: I would say probably within the first couple of months she just kind of brushed it off.  She wasn't going to not talk to him just because he had a crush on her.

Even play dates with Michelle’s dog, Duke, took on a new meaning.

Belinda Herndon: He would meet her and he actually borrowed somebody else's dog a couple of times to meet her so Duke would have somebody to play with.

Pretty soon, Oliver’s crush was so obvious that Michelle’s friends would joke about it.

Jessica Seipel: That was a birthday party for one of our girlfriends.  And it was at my house. We had a campfire out back that we sat around.

Belinda Herndon: She kept moving her chair, he proceeded to move his.  And, she actually-- she told me that she sat up right next to one of the other girls, she said as close as she could get.  And, he kind of worked his way in there. 

Jessica Seipel: We knew that she kind of didn't enjoy him following her around quite so much.  So we kind of made a game out of it.  And Michelle would get up and move to one chair, and Oliver would get up and move next to her.  And then she'd kind of wink at one of us and get up and move to a few chairs over.  And he'd get up and move to the chair next to her.

They continued to be friends, but there were signs he was getting possessive.

Jessica Seipel: There were times that he and Michelle had, you know, hung out together.  And he would say, "My friend.  I'm going to have coffee with my friend."  And I would say, "Oh, yeah."  You know, "Your new friend?  Who's your new friend?"  It's my friend.  And I would just, "Okay."  And then I would talk to Michelle the next day and say, you know, "What'd you do yesterday?"  "Oh, yeah.  Oliver and I went and had coffee."

So it kind of seemed like he was keeping it a secret. 

Her mother remembered that about three weeks before her death, Michelle began to worry Oliver had gotten a little bit too attached.

Belinda Herndon: She said, "You know, he's calling constantly.  He's dropping by unexpectedly." And, she said, "It just kind of creeps me out."

Det. Michael Douglas: He would follow her around like a little puppy dog.  In fact, I later learned that he called her 43 times in 30 days. 

And finally, Belinda gave Detective Douglas a potential motive:  She believes that in her excitement, Michelle probably told Oliver that things between her and her boyfriend Jason were getting serious, causing him to get jealous.

Belinda Herndon: I think he got mad.  You know, why not me?  I've been going to the dog park with you.  I've been meeting you at Maude's for coffee.  I've been helping you on your college papers.  Why--

Hoda Kotb: Right, why not me?

Belinda Herndon:--not me. 

The only thing left for Det. Mike Douglas to do was talk to the man himself.

Easier said than done.

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