Dateline: Return to Early Shift – 5 harrowing details about Michelle Mockbee’s murder, explored

NBC’s Dateline episode titled, Return to Early Shift, touched upon the horrifying murder case of Michelle Mockbee, which took place on May 29, 2012, in her office.

The Kentucky woman was found dead by her co-workers during an early shift at their ThermoFisher Scientific warehouse, with the murderer not being far from the office, as the Janitor, David Dooley, was later convicted of committing the heinous crime.

The synopsis of the Dateline episode reads:

"When a Kentucky man is convicted of murdering his co-worker, it appears the mystery is solved until a stunning disclosure years later turns the closed case upside-down."

While Dooley was convicted and jailed, new evidence and a secret relationship between the prosecutor and the detective of Michelle’s case were revealed, resulting in another trial of David. However, it produced the same result, and he was convicted again.

Here are 5 shocking details about Michelle’s murder depicted in the Dateline episode.

Dateline: Return to Early Shift – 5 harrowing details about Michelle Mockbee’s murder

Michelle and Dan Mockbee | Image via Dateline NBC

1) Michelle Mockbee was found dead

As per the Dateline episode, Michelle was loved by the people around her due to her generosity and sincerity. Married to Dan Mockbee, who also worked in the ThermoFisher Scientific warehouse where Michelle was a Logistics Support Representative, Michelle was a loving mother and wife to her family.

However, her happy and content life was cut short when she went to work for her early shift on May 29, 2012, and reached the warehouse at 5:53 a.m., as captured in the CCTV cameras. Later, Michelle's body was found by her co-worker, Ed Yaska, and the janitor, David Dooley, after noticing blood stains in the hallway.

2) Autopsy revealed the cause of Michelle’s death

The large stain and blood in the hallway indicated that Michelle’s death was painful and brutal, as the police found her head covered with a plastic bag. As per Dateline, an autopsy revealed that Michelle died due to an injury to her head.

Moreover, according to the police, the blood stains also pointed that her body was dragged from the hallway. The brutality with which she was killed resulted in the beginning of a murder investigation.

3) Surveillance footage made Janitor, David, a suspect

From Michelle’s husband, Dan, to several other employees who were in the warehouse during Michelle’s death were questioned, but the investigators were unable to find any clues until they discovered crucial evidence.

A surveillance footage, indicating the janitor, David Dooley, leaving the warehouse around 6.30 a.m., then coming back after half an hour, raised suspicion. As per Dateline, he didn’t reveal this information during the questioning. Later, he told the investigators he went to his house after his wife failed to answer his call. However, the wife denied receiving a call from him. The husband and wife kept changing their statements, which raised more questions.

4) Trial and sentencing of David Dooley

As David was found to be hiding something, the police acquired a search warrant against him. They looked into his house but found nothing that could indicate he was the murderer.

However, they found that he and his wife were committing fraud in the company and clocking time in their time cards for each other when they were not even present in the warehouse. While they didn’t find any concrete evidence, the investigators were sure that David was the perpetrator and arrested him on September 27, 2012. He was later sent to prison in 2014 after being convicted by a jury.

5) Revelation of a new piece of evidence and a retrial

However, when it looked like the case was finally solved, a new twist came into existence. As per Dateline, it was revealed that the prosecutor, Linda Tally Smith, and the detective on Michelle’s case, Bruce McVay, were in a relationship. This further complicated the case when surveillance footage of an unknown man was captured around the warehouse on May 28, 2012, which McVay failed to share with the prosecutor.

The new information meant a new trial for David, who had maintained his innocence. However, it didn’t help David in any way, as during the retrial, Kentucky Assistant Attorney General Jon Heck revealed that the unknown man was there for just a couple of seconds, meaning David was still the only one who could have killed Michelle.

David was again convicted for the same crimes by a new jury in 2019 and sent to prison for 43 years for murder and tampering with evidence.