Criminology - Renee Pagel

Episode Date: October 6, 2024

In 2006, 41-year-old Renee Pagel was nursing instructor in Michigan. She had three children and was estranged from her husband Michael as the two were going through a divorce. On August 5th of that year, Renee didn't show up to an outing with friends. Her father went to her house to check on her and found her dead. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss Renee Pagel. At the time she was killed, Renee was recuperating from donating a kidney to the father of one of her students. This was the type of selfless person that Renee was. Who would want her dead? Her estranged husband Michael was an obvious suspect but police were also looking at a man who rented an apartment on Renee's property. It would take good police work to solve Renee's murder. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology   An Emash Digital production

Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Everyone and welcome to episode 328 of the Criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Mike Morford. How you doing, buddy, this week? I've had a bad week.

You know, I've had the house flood. We lost our beloved dog pickles. Everybody that owns a dog or a pet knows that feeling. So it's been a really rough week in my day here. Started off a little rough before we got recording. So I'm hoping this week winds down and I can reset next week and have a little better outcome next week. Yeah, it sounds like a rough one. I mean, obviously, a house flooding is one thing, but losing your dog.

Yeah, that's always rough. And so I feel for you, man. I really do. Yeah, thank you. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Donna Page, Melody McCall, and Raylene Brewer all decide to support the show. So that's very much appreciated.

Yeah, we can't thank everybody enough that takes the time to support the show. It means a lot to us for anyone else that'd like to. You can do so by going on to patreon.com slash criminology to get started. All right. We're wasting no time. We're jumping right into this episode. You know, most of the victims discussed on this podcast and really on any true crime show for that matter, get nothing.

but the most glowing reviews from their loved ones, their friends. You know, you hear a lot of things like they lit up a room. They gave the shirt off their back, those types of things. It's become almost a bit of a cliche to describe murder victims in the most positive light possible. Some people even joke online about how far their loved ones would have to stretch to describe them in these ways. Of course, maybe it's that old saying about, you know,

not speaking ill of the dead. But in this episode, we're discussing a victim who, by all accounts, was truly selfless. When you hear what she did for a stranger, you won't doubt for a second that she would have given the shirt off her back for anyone in need.

Unfortunately, she was very vulnerable because of her actions. We're talking about the murder of Renee Pagel. 41-year-old Renee Pagel was a nursing and health instructor at Kent Career Technical Center. in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many of her students have fond memories of their time in her class, and they have stories about how she touched and even changed their lives. One story sticks out. Renee decided to donate one of her kidneys in late July 2006. It wasn't to save the love of her life,

her best friend, or someone in her family. Renee happened to notice that one of her students seemed to be very interested in kidney diseases, more than just a passion for the subject. When she dug deeper, she learned that the student was concerned for their father, who was experiencing kidney failure. Caitlin Salliot's father, Phil, was on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, but it wasn't happening soon enough. While they waited, Caitlin tried to learn everything she could about her father's situation, hoping for a miracle.

It came, but it wasn't in any of the textbooks. Renee Pagel, who had never met Phil, decided to see if she was a match. She was, and without hesitation, she donated her own kidney to him. Phil Salliot would later tell oxygen, I was just dumbfounded. Someone would want to do that. It really shocked me because here it was a total stranger asking if she could help me. That was just the kind of person that Renee was. Helpful, kind, selfless.

Her recovery following the kidney donation was going well and everything was as it should have been. Everything in her life at the time seemed to be going well with the exception of her marriage. She was in the process of a divorce from her husband, Michael, and they had separated. So divorce is tough. Anyone who has been through that knows it. But I want to talk about Renee and this amazing action that she decided to take. You know, a lot of teachers.

And here she was a health instructor, but she had students. So she was a teacher. They give a lot of themselves. You know, I talk glowingly about. both nurses and teachers a lot. My mom was a nurse. My wife still is a teacher. I mean, I can't tell you more of how many times we've gone out to buy coats for kids because they show up in the dead of winter with no coat. And my wife is just not going to allow that to happen. Now, you know, buying some coats every year or helping out in that way is one thing.

But when you make the decision to give a kidney, that's such a big deal. And like you said, this wasn't, you know, your husband of 30 years. It's not your best friend. This is the father of one of your students. Yeah, I don't think we see that often. It doesn't seem that common. I know there's a lot of organ donors that after they pass away, they'll give organs to strangers, which is very thoughtful and helpful,

but there's not many that are willing to give, you know, an organ to someone they've never met while they're alive. That we just don't hear about that that much. No, you don't hear about it a lot, but I think for good reason, you know, this is not a simple transaction.

This is not running out to the store to pick something up. I mean, we're talking about surgery. There's risks. There, you know, is a recovery. every time. It's a, it's a major undertaking. But I think it goes a long way in showing just the type of character of Renee Pagel, a very selfless person, no doubt. On August 5th, 2006, Renee didn't show up to the craft fair she had planned to go to with friends. That was the first

sign that something was very wrong. Renée's father, Forrest de Magd, went to check on her and make sure everything was okay. Instead of catching up with the... his daughter and finding her at home safe, he had to call 911. According to Oxygen.com, he frantically told the dispatcher, we just found her in bed and she's got a lash on her arm and us, she's all bloody. According to force, Renee was laying sideways on the bed and there were a lot of lacerations and cuts on her body. An autopsy would reveal that Renee had been stabbed more than 50 times.

It was clear that she had tried to fight against her attacker. She had been stabbed through the hand and had multiple, other obvious defensive wounds. Just five days after donating her kidney, Renee was dead. The question immediately was, who would do this to such a kind and caring person like Renee? It was clear that Renee had been attacked while she was lying in bed. Perhaps she was resting and recovering from the transplant,

but she could have even been ambushed while she was sound asleep. She was only wearing her nightgown, and the sheets had tangled around her as she fought with her killer. There were no signs of sexual assault, and nothing had been stolen from the home. In fact, on the nightstand right next to the bed, cash was lying out. This would have been a very easy graph, even for someone in a hurry to flee the scene, yet the money was left behind. Jewelry and electronics were also untouched.

An orange flashlight was found in a patch of long grass outside the home. It stood out because it didn't look worn. from being outside in the elements, it was clean and it looked new. In addition, there was no murder weapon found at the scene. As police looked closer, they found there were no signs of forced entry into the home. It didn't seem like a random attack or a burglary gone wrong.

The attack seemed motivated by pure anger. And I think here, you know, we have something that comes up in many cases. Someone is murdered inside, their home. Police are trying to figure it out. They're looking at everything. And what they're seeing is nothing of value taken. And in this case, I mean, there's even cash just laying out that would be easy to scoop up. They're also not seeing any signs of forced entry. So you're kind of ruling out burglary pretty quickly and you're also ruling out someone breaking into the home. So what does that

mean? Does it mean that Renee let her killer in? She knew her killer. You know, these are all the types of things that police have to try to figure out. And I think based on all the evidence, what was found, what wasn't found, you know, it doesn't take a professional detective to know that something was off with this crime scene. I'm sure many of our listeners right now, are thinking, hey, this doesn't add up to a burglary gone wrong. And then you factor in the amount of stab wounds. That's where you see sort of a crime of passion. So I think the police were going to have their hands full,

trying to figure out what was the motive for this murder. Police learned that Renee regularly left her doors unlocked. She felt safe with a man named Mike Decker living on the property. He was running a building on her property very close to the home. Investigators looked into Mike Decker, the man who was running from her. His apartment was above horse stables about 30 yards away from the main house. Dacker had been recently laid off and had some trouble making full rent payments.

He worked odd jobs and paid Renee what he could when he could. At the time of her death, he didn't owe her any unpaid rent. A few of Renee's friends recalled that he had asked her out to dinner about a month earlier. Police wondered, could he have been angry about being rejected? Mike Dacker invited Renee and her children out for pizza, because he could tell she was stressed out by the divorce. Some pizza and a change of scenery is something he says he would offer any friend in need. Now, we don't know exactly how Renee felt about Mike Decker,

but she obviously felt safe enough, keeping her doors unlocked. If the man just yards away had started to creep her out, she probably would have locked them. Mike Decker had no real alibi. He said he was a little alibi. in his apartment and didn't see or hear anything. He was interrogated for four hours, and two days later, he passed a polygraph examination. Aside from not finding any motive, there was no evidence linking him to the crime scene.

Mike Decker voluntarily gave investigators his DNA and his fingerprints. He also consented to a search of his apartment. Detectives took his electronics and knives and found nothing linking him to the murder. He had been inside the home before as an invited guest, so any fingerprints or DNA from around the house would be useless. He had no scratches or bruises on his body, which would have been extremely lucky for how hard Renee fought against her attacker. Police put him on the back burner as a suspect.

And all eyes immediately turned to Renee's estranged husband, Michael Pagel. According to WoodtTV.com, Detective Jack Smith, noted that Michael didn't express any emotion learning of her death. In fact, at no time did he cry or show concern over what happened despite Renee being the mother of his children and someone he was married to for almost a decade. He also immediately wanted a lawyer. Michael also tried to claim Renee's $10,000 life insurance policy despite being estranged from her. You could argue it was for the children, but it didn't help him look like he was grieving or even anything other than merely inconvenienced and money hungry.

And this is something that really stands out to me in a lot of the cases that we do. You know, I get it. You're estranged. You're going through, let's say, the process of a divorce. But if your spouse was found murdered, I can't imagine, regardless of the circumstances that were going on at the time, that you wouldn't feel some emotion. You have children with this person. You spent many years of your life with this person.

I just find it hard to believe that someone wouldn't feel something in that situation. Now, you can say what you want about, you know, wanting a lawyer. A lot of people see that as a sign of guilt. I don't. I think many people, especially given all the true crime we watch or listen to, kind of know nowadays that, you know, that can be a good idea just to have a lawyer. And then there's the trying to claim life insurance policy, you know, make of that, which you will.

But the lack of emotion on Michael's part really stands out to me. So for the estranged husband of the victim, police were obviously going to be looking closely at Michael. And I think his lack of sorrow for his ex-wife being killed, lack of emotion, I think that probably made him look guilty right away to some people. And then the insurance, you know, maybe he truly did need that money to pay bills, support the kids, that kind of thing. But police also have to wonder, could that be a motive for murder claiming that life insurance money?

Michael was the one to end the marriage. When they met, he and Renee quickly bonded over their shared Christian faith and their dreams of starting a family. The couple gotten married in 1995 and had three children together, a son and two daughters. Their oldest two children, a twin boy and girl, were seven when Renee was killed. Their youngest daughter was just three years old. Michael served Renee with divorce papers in March of 2005. She was completely surprised by this move, not only because she didn't realize he was going to divorce her, but also because he did it while she was teaching her class.

in front of all of her students. And then things got worse from there. Friends recall him gaslighting Renee, making plans to meet with her, and then standing her up. And denying they ever spoke about seeing each other, one of her closest friends told NBC News, he would make her feel like she was crazy.

According to Wood TV, after telling Renee he would make all her friends pay. he was accused of vandalizing a car belonging to a friend of hers. So obviously this marriage ended badly or was on the verge of ending very badly. And Michael doesn't come off as sounding like a great guy. You mentioned it more as the estranged husband. He's going to be looked at by police. That's going to happen in any case.

But here, you know, as you start to. find out some of the particulars. Okay, he wants a divorce. That happens all the time. Divorce papers have to be served. But do they have to be served while Renee is teaching class in front of her students? I don't think they do. To me, that sounds like a person who is going out of their way to really, you know, stick it to the person they're divorcing. And then there's the talk of gaslighting and the accusation that he was going to make her friends pay. Yeah, it seems the more that's revealed about Michael, the more troubling things they are. And you start to add them together and it really paints a picture of who Michael seemed to be.

And it was troubling. Renee's home in Rockford, Michigan was broken into in April 2006, a year after the car vandalism. Only divorce papers and personal photos were stolen. The crime was odd, and investigators didn't believe it was a burglary. What burglar would go through the trouble of burglarizing a home to take divorce papers and photos? Renee took and passed a polygraph examination regarding the break-in, but Michael refused to cooperate with the investigation. At the time of Renee's murder, she and Michael were still locked in a contentious custody battle in court. The divorce was set to be finalized in August.

Renee was looking forward to it being over. According to Wood TV, Renee told friends, Michael was being mean and scary. The most recent hearing between Renee and Michael hadn't gone very well for Michael. He had always been the stay-at-home parent, along with working two part-time jobs. Renee worked as a teacher and worked long hours to go above and beyond for her students. He wanted it to stay this way. But it didn't happen. according to Renee's friend Joyce Shainer in an oxygen interview, the judge told Mike in no uncertain

terms, you're going to go get a job and you're going to work full time and you're going to pay child support and Renee is going to stay in the home. The judge granted custody of the children to Renee. Michael had been court ordered to pay Renee $1,000 every month in child support and to get a higher paying job. Renee's friends and family believe that Michael had been planning the divorce for a long time. He was under the impression that the court would take his last three years of employment history into account when making decisions about custody, child support, and alimony. But staying on or under-employed and making sure that Renee was working as much as she could,

he would look like the spouse that would need financial support. Renee was the breadwinner. Why would that need to change after they separated? They had recently bought their house in Rockford, too. Michael had encouraged the purchase when Renee wasn't sure about it. It was almost as if he had pictured himself and the children in the home after the divorce. He wanted to be at home with the kids and believe that Renee would still work and pay him child support. But the judge didn't feel that was the right situation.

And of course, Michael blamed Renee. So I said before, you know, Michael Peggle wasn't looking good. And I think he looks even worse after all this information comes out. So he's planning this divorce for a long time. And he's intentionally not working or, you know, working very little so that when it comes time for child support and alimony talk, well, he's not going to have to pay because she's the one making all the money. He actually thinks that he's going to get paid and he's going to get the house and the children. and when it doesn't come down that way from the judge, it seems as though, you know,

his anger with Renee increased even more. But for me, more if I get a real sense of calculation here, he's being calculating, or at least he's trying to be. Yeah, and I mentioned earlier getting a picture of who this guy is and all of this stuff with the court,

with the alimony, with the house and child support, all of that stuff. is just continuing to make that picture a little bit more complete, and it doesn't look good for Michael. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency. We just walked in the door, and there's blood in the foyer.

For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved, until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. blood and water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. According to Renee's friend, Joyce, in an oxygen interview, Michael was incensed and livid. After the hearing, Joyce also remembered Renee telling her that she had never seen him, so angry in her whole life. Chris Crandall, another one of Renee's close friends, told Wood TV. She told me every day of that last week of her life. She thought he would kill her.

her. She was afraid. One friend tearfully recalled Renee's worry after waking up from surgery. She was concerned that Michael would try to visit her so that he could tamper with her IV. When she was discharged from the hospital, she visited her children at Michael's house. She would later tell her friends that Michael, under the guise of the kids being excited to see her, actually threw their three-year-old daughter at her. She had to drop to her knees to catch her. She reportedly told some friends that Michael wanted to hurt her. Detective E.J. Johnson, speaking about Renee's husband, Mike, told Michigan Live.com, she didn't have any enemies. She had a good life. He's the only one that hated her. So Michael was an obvious

person for police to look at, because he was not only the ex-partner, there was some bad blood between him and Renee. But Michael Pagel had an alibi for that night. At the time, he lived in Saginaw, about 10 miles away from Renee's home in Rockford. His mother, Patricia, had come to stay with him and spend time with the children while Renee was recovering. She was in the hospital for four days after the surgery, and the night Renee was killed, Michael still had the children. Patricia slept in his bedroom, and Michael slept in the living room with the three kids

who spread out together like they were camping. The children went to bed at around 9.30 p.m. Patricia remembered that he had been home all night with them. She even recalled hearing him let the dog out, side around two or three in the morning. There was no mistaking the distinct sound of the sliding last door. In her mind, Michael had to have been home. And I'll be honest with you more, if I'm always intrigued by alibis. In every case, you know, some alibis are pretty airtight. And even some of the airtight ones you find out later or manufactured, they weren't real.

But here we're talking about, you know, a guy who is. thought to be at home. You know, his mother's there, everyone's sleeping. And that's why I say he's thought to be at home. But how can you really know? You know, I kind of think about my wife and I, the kids are off at college. It's just she and I now. She goes to bed fairly early. I stay up. How would she know if I slipped out of the house and did something heinous? Not saying I would ever do that, but how would she be able to get? And I'm not going to get. And I'm not saying, I'm not saying, give me an alibi other than to say, well, he was home. But how does she really know? I think the best you can do in that situation is say, I went to bed at X time and he was here.

And when I woke up in the morning, he was here still. And I didn't hear him go out in the middle of the night. I mean, but you're right. How does anyone really know that? And then some people might say, this is his mother. That's his alibi. How far would she go to protect him and give him an alibi? is she telling the truth? So I think there was some of that going on as well. And we've seen that happen. We've seen family lie for people to give them an alibi. I'm not saying that's what she did.

I'm just saying we've seen it. We know it happens. Renee's friends and family knew in their hearts that Michael was responsible for her death. Investigators just didn't have enough evidence to make an arrest. Renee's friend Joyce told true crime news. It's unpunished. But in my mind, it saw. The community was greatly affected by Renee's death. The impact she made was far-reaching.

Detective E.J. Johnson, one of the first detectives on scene, had actually prayed for Caitlin's father and for Renee at church. He didn't know Renee personally, but the entire congregation knew there was a member who was receiving a donated kidney. Caitlin, whose father was the recipient, was at a function at Detective Johnson's home. When he got the call to respond to Renee's murder, friends of Renee began to send Michael cards with scripture written on them. They refused to let her be forgotten or to let Michael forget what they thought he did. State police had to investigate claims of harassment from Michael and his family.

According to Michigan Live, Chris Crandall was actually warned that she might face charges for the large amount of mail. She was never arrested or charged, and Michael moved down to the area with the children due to the scrutiny. Eventually, it seemed like even his own family started to doubt Michael's innocence. His brother, Bo, told Oxygen, I don't know for certain, but I will tell you this, I would not defend him now. This is especially interesting because Renee and Bo didn't like each other. They never had, so for Bo to go against his brother in favor of Renee is telling. This situation was rare. René liked pretty much everyone and almost everyone liked her.

There's no incident we know of that caused the mutual dislike between Bo and Renee. According to NBC News, Bo was supposed to be Michael's best man, but he didn't approve of Renee, and he actually cut off any relationship with his brother. Renee told Friends she didn't get good vibes from Bo. Friends admit that Renee didn't want Bo to be around her daughters. Renee actually told friends that she thought Bo poisoned his wife Becky. who had passed away. Her death was determined to be from natural causes. If Bo wasn't supporting Michael's innocence in a case dealing with Renee, it was serious. Bo admits to not liking Renee and

thinking that she was wrong for his brother. And it does seem like a big deal. You know, it's a big deal for a brother to turn on brother. But even more so when you find out that the brother didn't like his sister-in-law at all. He did, Bo didn't want Michael to marry her. He thought she was wrong for him. They never got along during the entire marriage, it sounds like. And so doesn't it make it even that much more telling when he kind of turns on Michael in favor of Renee? Yeah, I think it's just one more part of painting that picture of Michael when his own brother

turns against him, you know, just continues to cast a bad light on Michael. Well, and let's face it, so far, there hasn't been really much putting him in a good light. Almost everything has been negative that's come out about him. In 2018, 12 years after Renee's murder, the investigation was reevaluated. The Michigan State Prosecutor's Association offered to reveal. view cold cases in the state, detectives worked to look through the old case files and

re-interview important witnesses. While looking through old files, detectives realized that there was a blue flashlight in an evidence photo from Michael's home. It looked identical to the orange flashlight found outside of

Renee's home, other than the color. It turns out that they were sold in pairs, one orange and one blue. Even more damning, the batteries inside each flashlight had matching lot numbers. And it's always fascinating, you know, when you find out what clues or what type of evidence, you know, detectives uncover, this is one that I don't know that I've really heard of before. So it's pretty fascinating. You know, we mentioned the orange flashlight at the crime scene. Well, they find a blue one and a

photograph from Michael's home that looks very similar. Then detectives continue to work and they find out that these were sold in pairs. And then they get to the point where, you know, they find out that the batteries had matching lot numbers. Okay. I think at that point, you're steering away from coincidence. That's not a coincidence. That is very telling and indicative of the fact.

that Michael owned both of these flashlights and most likely left the orange one at the crime scene. And I think it just shows how important it is to re-examine cold cases with fresh eyes because you never know what you're going to find. And it just happened that a detective re-examining the case said, hey, look at this flashlight. It looks like the one we found at the scene. So it was, you know, they didn't have any evidence tying Michael to the murder at that point or they would have arrested him. So this had to be a big glaring clue for them to consider. Around March 2020, Bo Pagel sent Chris Crandall a friend request on Facebook. He wanted to talk about his brother, Michael. Crandall told the police and they asked her to record their phone call. According to NBC news, Bo was afraid of

Michael, who apparently thought Bo was out to get him. Michael was often drunk, armed with a loaded gun. and ranning about Bo. He seemed conflicted, and some parts of his story contradicted others. Bo told NBC, he fooled us all, though at the time he said he didn't know who killed Renee. He told Chris Crandall that he didn't think Michael would kill Renee, but also said, I'm going to be his next victim. So he seemed to feel that Michael could be dangerous. It was actually Bo, who eventually helped investigators finally put the pieces together.

He admitted that Michael confessed to the murder. murder. After they each had a few beers, according to Wood TV, Michael told Bo, this is how I finalized my divorce as he showed him a knife. He then threw the knife off the bridge they were standing on into a creek in Saginaw County. This was back in 2011, but Michael had threatened to do to Bo what he did to Renee, if he told anyone. Using this information, authorities used a magnet to search the bottom of the creek. After three days, they were able to retrieve the murder weapon from Birch Run Creek. It was a large military-style knife with a nine-inch blade. It looked just like the knife Bo drew for detectives and matched the medical examiner's description of the weapon

that inflicted the injuries on Renee. According to Wood TV, despite the threats, Bo told their mother about Michael's confession. Completely unfazed, she asked him, just don't do anything until after I'm gone. Patricia Pagel passed away in September 2019. Michael Pagel was arrested during a traffic stop on February 5th, 2020. Detective Johnson specifically requested to be the one that handcuffed him. He told Wood TV, I wanted to be the one because Mike and I had a conversation outside his house when this was going on, that his time will come.

As he was arresting Michael, Johnson reminded. reminded him of that warning. He said, today's the day. When Michael was arrested, his youngest daughter was 17 and still living at home with him. His oldest daughter, Sarah, who was just seven when Renee was killed, told Oxygen that she was absolutely shocked when her father was arrested for the murder of her mother. Detective Sergeant Marks was the one to tell the Pagel children about Michael's arrest. He told Wood TV, that was probably one of the hardest notifications I've ever had to make. And I get it. You know, Sarah told a news outlet that she was completely shocked.

Well, what kid wouldn't be? You know, who would want to believe that one of their parents murdered their other parent? I just, I just don't know how a child would process that or would come to that conclusion. You just don't think your parents are like that and that that would ever happen. Yeah. And I always feel sorry for the kids in these cases when we talk about where there's a murder and it turns out that one of the parents is responsible because now they've lost both parents essentially, one that was killed and one that did the crime.

And how do they deal with all that? How do they grapple with that? You know, I think many times they probably need help and going through that. And, you know, I hope that kids in that situation get the help they need to, to deal with such a shocking thing. Yeah, I agree with you. It seems like it would take some therapy for many of these people to kind of sort through all of their emotions.

Because if you think about it, this didn't happen right away. You know, these kids live with their father for many, many years after the murder of their mother. And then all of a sudden, they're shocked with this unbelievable news that he's arrested for the murder of their mom. A hard drive was scanned copies of Mike's handwritten journal was found hidden behind a hollowed out piece of wood in his home. According to Oxygen, he wrote many complaints about Renee. Like, the bitch is such a drain. I am not appreciated for anything, not respected for anything I've done or I am doing, or I will do. More incriminating

entries included statements like, I must terminate with extreme prejudice. And more of, I'm always shocked about what people write down and kind of keep for posterity. You know, very incriminating type of stuff. Now, I get it. This is on a hard drive. He thinks he has it hidden. But if found, you know, this type of stuff can be very damning. evident. It doesn't make sense that he would need to write this stuff down. And who knows, maybe he could try and argue that when he said, I must terminate with extreme prejudice. Maybe he would try and claim he would end his marriage and not kill his wife, but it doesn't look good at all. And again, I keep going back to this picture that just keeps coming together in each little piece just makes this

crystal clear who this guy is. But isn't that true with so many cases? You know, a lot of times, it's not just one thing. It's pieces of the puzzle that start to fall into place. And at a certain point, there's so many of them that you see the full picture. It's kind of how I think of it. Before Michael was arrested, his mom, Patricia Pagel, changed her tune and denied ever saying that she heard the sliding glass door. And she also changed her whole timeline of the night.

Now she said that she heard Michael telling the children, to quiet down at her own 1.30 a.m. And that she had been the ones used the sliding glass door to let the dog out. The prosecutor in the case would later say it was clear that she was lying for him. Michael reached out to prosecutors through his attorney and asked if they would consider a plea deal.

He agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder, rather than risk facing a jury on a first-degree murder charge, which would carry a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Though there was no trial, prosecutors spent hours on Zoom with Renee and Michael's children

explaining the charges and the evidence. Despite agreeing to plead guilty and saying the words, I am ultimately responsible. And I regret that very much. He didn't actually take full responsibility at his plea hearing. Instead, Michael claimed that he had offered

to pay his brother both. $100,000 to kill Renee, the money would come from his share of the inheritance when their mother died. According to WZZM 13, he said to the judge, I was not in my right mind when I hired my brother to murder Renee. He had only planned the murder, not committed it himself. Investigators pursued this information from Michael, but found no evidence to back up the claim that Bo was involved in any way. prosecutor Kelly Conkey told WZZM 13. It was a premeditated, planned, deliberate murder carried out by Michael Pagel himself. This wasn't a quicker and personal killing.

Renee was stabbed 50 times, many of the blows striking her face and head. You had to get close and you had to be determined and angry. It was personal. And that's something that we really haven't spent a lot of time talking about yet. 50 stab wounds. A lot of times that does indicate rage. It indicates that the murder is personal. My thought is if you were to hire someone to kill your wife,

would they have that same amount of animosity and rage? And would it require 50 stab wounds to kill the person? You know, I think it's very telling. Yeah, I think we've heard cases. like this where there's somebody stabbed so many times, dozens of times. But if you sit and think about how much time and effort that takes, you know, I always visualize attorneys who will take the murder weapon in court and demonstrate to the jury. They'll count one, two, three, just to let the jury see how hard it is to do that that many times. So it really helps

demonstrate just how personal that was. He didn't really have an alibi. He worked as a trucker, so he didn't have any co-workers to vouch for his whereabouts, but he claimed to have finished up on the road and gone to sleep. He had been at home in Saginaw about two hours away all night. The next morning, he and his daughter went kayaking. Investigators noticed that there was a scratch on his arm. He claimed it was from his dog.

Bo had also explained to detectives how Michael was able to get in and out without leaving a trace. According to Wood TV, Bo said that Michael prepared by putting on coveralls and some galoshes. Michael claimed Bo, who he knew watched CSI-type shows, had described this to him, not the other way around. Prosecutor Conkey asked Michael what Bo's plan would have been if René wasn't alone that night. When he answered, he slipped. He gave his plan not Bose. Michael's exact words were, if there was any indication that someone else would be there, I would not have went through with it. In the end, Michael admitted to the murder, and he gave his true reasons. According to NBC News, Michael said the divorce was going from bad to worse and getting more and more contentious.

He specifically mentioned that he was losing more and more time with the kids. It doesn't seem that Michael expected Renee to be able to fight back as much as she did. there was a lot of blood at the scene and her death was obviously a murder. There was no mistaking this for a suicide or a fatal complication from her surgery. Lieutenant E.J. Johnson, who was one of the first detectives on scene, told Wood TV, she fought, she fought hard. In the end, 55-year-old Michael Pagel was found guilty and sentenced up to 50 years in prison. If he were to be released after serving the minimum of 25 years, he would be 80 years old.

By the time he got out of prison, even then, he would have to report to a parole officer. Kent County Circuit Court Judge George J. Quist was purposeful in giving Michael that sentence. While life in prison may seem more appropriate for someone who brutally murdered the mother of his young children while she was recovering from surgery, under the law in Michigan, a life sentence for second. degree murder would have meant that Michael would be eligible for parole after just 15 years. Prosecutor Kelly Conkey told Oxygen, if it wasn't for those kids, we would have made no offer. She could just not ignore the fact that he had three lovely children who were impacted by this more than anybody. So it wasn't about getting a win.

It wasn't about making sure his true nature was exposed. It was about not further harming the children while still getting justice for their mother's awful murder. In court, Michael said, I am truly sorry. I have greatly sinned. And I thought this was an interesting part of the case. You know, he pleads guilty to second degree murder. But he sentenced to 50 years, which required a minimum of 25 years to be served.

If he would have been given a life sentence, he could have actually gotten out in 15. Seems like strange logic. But you can see why the judge, made the determination and gave the sentence that he did. Yeah, I think they wanted to make sure that he didn't get off too easy, but they also want to consider the children's concerns and thoughts, and they didn't want to put him in prison forever. So it seemed like the judge's best conclusion was to come to that sentence.

Ultimately, Sarah told Oxygen that she forgives her father, if only because she believes that everyone deserves to be forgiven. Remembering her mother, Sarah says she had a beautiful personality. It's a personality she says clearly speaks when you see how many people care about her today. Even though she was young when she lost her mother, Sarah knew the one most important thing, just how much she was loved. Sarah told Michigan Live, I never doubted that she loved me. Sarah says Michael always let them talk about their mother.

and would even point out the ways they reminded him of Renee, their sense of humor, their smiles, and their interests. These cases where one parent kills the other are always tragic because when justice finally comes, it just creates more heartbreak and loss. It's interesting and heartbreaking that Renee basically prepared her children to lose her. Sarah in particular had been nervous about her mom going into the hospital. She showered them with love, praise, and comfort that they would never forget. Even her friends got to spend an amazing day with her just before the surgery.

July 29th was her 41st birthday, and her friends threw a surprise party the day before she donated her kidney. Everyone was there, and they had a great time making new memories. It's not often that this happens. Renee got to tell everyone how much she loved them, and she was surrounded by those who loved her just as much. There's no consolation here, but it's just one of those things that sticks out in a case like this. Renee's sister Michelle told Wood TV the Pagel children are smart, motivated, accomplished, accountable, responsible, and goodhearted. Many people who knew Renee say that she would be very proud of who her children have become

as they grew up. Some more, you know, as we wrap this case up, you use the word heartbreaking. And it really is. You know, Renee Pagel, by all accounts, was an amazing person. The problem was that she was married to a guy who wanted out. Okay, that happens every day

all across the world. Relationships deteriorate. One person wants out of the marriage. But just getting out of the marriage wasn't enough for Michael Pagel. He wanted everything. He wanted Renee to continue to support him. He wanted him.

the house. He wanted the children. He even, you know, probably wanted some life insurance money. At the end of the day, he was just an extremely selfish person. Yeah, I mentioned a couple times how everything here just sort of was in one little stroke on a painting and all of a sudden you, the final picture is there and you see who this person is. And he, you know, greedy, shallow, cunning. And, and remorseless, it seems, because I don't think there's any real remorse that he took Renee's life. I think he's remorseful that he got caught, even when as far as to try and throw his brother under the bus for it. So you really see who this person is. And the real shame here is Renee, if you look at what she gave during that time, imagine how much she was not able to give because

her life was taken away. As a teacher, you know, Renee, all the things Renee was teaching nursing students, you know, the things she would have passed on to them might have helped them in their careers to help other people. So there's a real ripple effect because she wasn't there to do that. Yeah, that's a great point, something that we don't always think about. You know, you have the known facts of what people did while they were alive, but there's no way to know what that person would have gone on to do and how many more lives they would have touched. Because you have to figure she would have worked and taught for many, many more years. So how many more people would have benefited from her teaching, her knowledge?

There's just no way to calculate that. And the influences she would have had on so many people. It's just, it's tough. You know, these cases are tough when the person who, you know, you were married to for years. She had children with you were in love with is the one who ultimately turns on you and murders you. And the fact that he did this to the mother of his own children took their mom from them. Just terrible. And now his children are having to live with that.

And how has that affected their lives? It's just a real mess. And there's no winners here. And it's just a sad story all the way around. Yeah, absolutely. but Michael Pagel caused all of it. You know, his actions, his decision. None of this had to happen.

But that's it for our episode on Renee Pagel. If you love the show, but haven't done so yet, go out, take a minute, give us a review, five-star rating, all of that helps. Also, keep telling your friends about the criminology podcast. That word of mouth really helps the show. If you want to find us on social media, We're on X with the handle at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by going to facebook.com slash criminology podcast.

And you can join our Facebook discussion group, criminology podcast, discussion and fans. So that's it for another episode of Criminology. But Morph and I will be back with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode. So until then for Mike and Morph. We'll talk to you next week. Take care, everyone.