Oliver O'Quinn: How Florida nurse injected his crush with 4 lethal doses of anesthetic for 'putting him down'
Michelle Herndon was found dead in the early hours of November 10, 2005, by the police in Gainesville in Florida after her boyfriend Jason Dearing reported that he had been unable to get in touch with her for many days. Michelle's front door had been locked but her dog Duke could be seen through the window and was barking. Every time Jason called her phone, he could hear it ringing inside the house. Her car was also parked at home. Oxygen's series 'License to Kill' which airs on Saturdays at 6/5c looks into the murder of Michelle.
Crime Scene
The investigators found no evidence of any break-in or forced entry and suspected that Michelle's killer had been someone she knew as they had also locked up the home when they left. Michelle's remains were sent for an autopsy and it was found that she did not die from any natural causes. A needle mark had been found on her arm. According to retired Gainesville Police Department crime scene investigator Marc Woodmansee, "the medical examiner thought that this injury was done by somebody with medical training because there was no redness or bruising around the site."
Michelle's mother Belinda shared that her daughter was scared of needles and would not sell her plasma or donate blood. To figure out what she had been injected with, authorities had ordered a toxicology screening which would take weeks. In this time, they conducted a thorough search of her home. Woodmansee shared, "One of the first things we noticed was that Michelle’s bathroom trash was missing. The trash can was empty, and there was no bag in it. That appeared to have been cleaned out, so we went to check the trash dumpsters located adjacent to the property down a dirt alley."
The authorities found a small grocery bag that had "pharmacy grade pharmaceuticals", blood-stained syringe, and small vials of injectable medicine, including propofol, midazolam, and etomidate.
The Mystery Man
Michelle's landlord Peter Alcorn recalled that on November 5, he had gone to pick up some tools that he had left at her house when a young man with dark hair and glasses had opened the door. The man told Alcorn that it wasn't a good time and to come back later.
Michelle had later called Alcorn to tell him that she was fine and it was a friend who had given her some good medication for her migraine. Upon interviewing Michelle's best friend, Jessica Seipel, authorities found that Michelle had not been expecting any out of town visitors but that she sometimes did hang out with Seipel's roommate, Oliver O'Quinn.
In an interview with the police, Seipel shared, "I know that he kind of had a thing for Michelle, and I know Michelle had no interest in him. But he always like, he would do things like call Michelle his friend. And I would get, you know, ‘What do you mean your friend? I’m the one that introduced you two.’ He’s just weird."
Oliver O' Quinn
Gainesville Police Detective Michael Douglas revealed, "Oliver seemed smitten with Michelle, and he would kind of follow her around like a little puppy dog. Michelle kind of befriended him but kept him at arm’s length. I knew I needed to find Oliver O’Quinn."
Oliver was a nurse at the surgical intensive care unit at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital meaning he had the knowledge and training to perform injections. The authorities went to speak to Oliver at the hospital after being unable to reach him via phone. His supervisor said that Oliver had been fired on the same day of Michelle's death as he did not have the skills needed to work in the ICU. The supervisor added that Oliver also worked part-time at Nature Coast Regional Hospital. When detective Douglas went there, he found Oliver who matched the description given by Michelle's landlord. He did not agree to sit for an interview and left for a vacation. Days later, he was not to be seen and did not return to work.
Toxicology Report
In the time that Oliver went missing, Michelle's toxicology report came back. Prosecutor James Colaw revealed, "It was determined that she had more than four times a lethal dose of propofol in her system. At that quantity, Michelle Hernon would have been unconscious and not breathing in a matter of seconds after this going into her blood… On multiple days leading up to Michelle Hernon’s death, and even on the day of her death, Oliver O’Quinn had withdrawn propofol from that Omnicell machine."
Getting Caught and Sentencing
Oliver first fled to Ireland and then vanished again. On June 6, 2006, detective Douglas was notified that Oliver had shown up at the embassy in Mauritania and wanted to pick up a money order. He escaped a second time and went to Senegal where he was busted by local authorities and deported to the US.
Oliver refused to speak to the authorities but DNA tied him to the syringe and Michelle. He had also reportedly admitted to the crime while speaking to his jail cellmate, Thomas Rauscher. Rauscher claimed Oliver said he had murdered Michelle after he overheard a conversation where she reportedly made "derogatory comments" about him. Colaw revealed, "His quote to Thomas Rauscher was that because she put him down, he was going to put her down." He was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.