Crime Watch Daily investigates: Who fired the gun that killed Michelle O'Connell?

Things may not be as they seem -- at least that's what her family says. They laid her to rest with more questions than answers.

And now, a bombshell: Critical clues have been unearthed. And only Crime Watch Daily has new evidence from the grave

St. Augustine is a beautiful coastal hamlet in northern Florida. Violence and horror are words that simply don't belong. But on September 2, 2010, something violent and horrific did happen to a beautiful young woman named Michelle O'Connell. The question is: Did Michelle inflict violence and death upon herself, or was this something much more sinister?

Beautiful Michelle O'Connell, 24, was a fun, energetic force. She grew up the youngest of six kids, and Michelle was a loving and dedicated friend.

Everyone agrees Michelle's number-one purpose in life, her reason for living, was being a mother to her 4-year-old daughter Alexis. Michelle had three jobs and had just been promoted to a full-time position with benefits. Michelle's future was looking bright.

Except, that is, for one dark spot: Her relationship with her live-in boyfriend Jeremy Banks, a deputy at the St. Johns County Sheriff's Department, where Michelle's mother Patty and brother Scott also worked. Michelle and Jeremy were together a year -- and in the beginning, everyone approved.

Michelle loved Jeremy, but her friends and family soon began to see red flags. Michelle told her best friend that she believed Jeremy was controlling, manipulative and verbally abusive. Family and friends suspected things were escalating, especially after her mother and others said they witnessed Jeremy body-slam Michelle to the ground. He said it was a joke, but Patty, her mother, says Michelle felt otherwise.

Jeremy Banks has never been charged with any form of abuse.

According to her family, after months of trying to go, Michelle found the courage to leave.

"She was packing her bags, Alexis's toys are in the back of her Jeep. Michelle was leaving," said Ciarra Morris, Michelle's best friend.

But the tragic events of on the night of September 2, 2010 would make leaving impossible.

Allegedly, Jeremy drank too much after a concert he and Michelle attended. Michelle drove them back to the house. Jeremy strangely sat in the backseat. Reportedly, on the way home Michelle informed Jeremy their relationship is over.

Then, according to neighbors, screams and two gunshots were heard.

Police and paramedics responded to Jeremy Banks's 911 call. Michelle was found in the bedroom, dead from a gunshot through the mouth.

Jeremy would soon tell his fellow deputies that he was sitting on his motorcycle in the garage when he heard the shots ring out from the nearby bedroom.

Within hours, Michelle's death was being treated as a suicide.

Despite the initial ruling, the family had faith Michelle's death would be investigated thoroughly and properly. But they would quickly change their tune. Michelle's family would soon suspect some sinister actions on the part of someone they once trusted.

Despite there being two shots fired, police very quickly concluded the 24-year-old mother committed suicide.

But her family is convinced her boyfriend, a sheriff's deputy, was involved. And what's even more troubling is they're convinced critical evidence from the crime scene has gone missing.

When his fellow cops arrive, Jeremy is immediately questioned in the back of a squad car. Within hours, Michelle's death is being handled as a suicide.

That was a shock to Patty O'Connell, who says her daughter had everything to live for. Hours before Michelle turned up dead she left a loving message on Patty's voicemail.

Though Michelle's own brother was a deputy with the same sheriff's department, and her mother held a desk job there, Michelle's family believed from the very beginning the investigation was compromised.

Michelle's family claims important pieces of evidence were either thrown away or quickly deemed unimportant

There's the black glove found on the wet car.

"It hadn't rained that night. There's no water on his sheriff's car or Michelle's car," said Michelle's mother Patty. "I figured he hosed off outside before all the police come in."

And the family says a box of black medical gloves in Jeremy's patrol car was never tested against the one found on his car.

But the family says there were more alarming inconsistencies. Two shots were fired that night, the second being fatal. But the first?

"The shot was fired into her direction into a downward manner, the way the carpet fibers were and the bullet projectile," said Ciarra Morris, Michelle's best friend.

But most perplexing to Patty and the others, the gun was found next to Michelle's left hand. Michelle was right-handed.

No DNA was found on Jeremy's own handgun, the one that Michelle was shot with.

"I'm like wait a minute -- he has no DNA on it, it was wiped clean, but they only had some of Michelle's DNA," said Patty.

Reportedly there wasn't any blood on the gun either.

And according to Michelle's family, one of the biggest mysteries is the missing bloody shirt.

"There was a bloody shirt and what appears to be a gunshot hole through the shirt found photographed on the bed behind Michelle," said Ciarra Morris. "It was actually thrown into a biohazardous waste disposal."

"It's my belief that he took the clothing, wrapped it around his police firearm and used it to stop blood splatter," said Patty. "That piece of evidence is gone."

But St. Johns investigators ruled out these pieces of evidence as pointing to homicide, and declared Michelle had killed herself.

Does the family believe there was an agency cover-up?

But after the autopsy, even the medical examiner ruled it a suicide. Then, bizarrely, one of the assistant medical examiners later amended the death certificate to say "shot by another person."

The case was closed. But the O'Connells weren't about to give up.

In short time, two new witnesses came forward saying they heard more than just gunshots. They also heard screaming.

"They passed an FBI standard polygraph. Nothing showed any red flags of deception, and that's crucial for people to know," said Jennifer Crites, Michelle's sister.

The sheriff's office deemed the witnesses as not credible.

Months later Florida Governor Rick Scott bowed to pressure and the case was reopened by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who brought Banks back in for questioning.

A special prosecutor was appointed, and decided not to indict Jeremy Banks. Case closed, again.

But with each new investigation, the O'Connell family grew more determined.

And now a new bombshell only Crime Watch Daily has: It would be as if Michelle was speaking to all from the grave.

Sheriff's deputy Jeremy Banks was investigated by his own colleagues. Michelle O'Connell's family, who were never interviewed by the local authorities, says there may have been a cover-up to protect one of their own.

But multiple investigations disagreed, and two separate prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges against Jeremy Banks.

Years passed, the outcome seemed unchangeable. But this family was not giving up. The O'Connells wanted a second autopsy. But that could only come up with one very hard decision -- and it was taken just months ago.

In January Michelle O'Connell's body was removed from its resting place. Within hours, Dr. William Anderson, former deputy chief medical examiner for Orange County, Florida, along with two dental specialists, conducted an autopsy.

"In examining the body, we saw the linear fracture which basically cut the mandible into two pieces, and that linear fracture is due to some significant amount of force striking the jaw and causing that fracture," said Dr. Anderson. "This would be blunt-force trauma."

Her jaw had been split in two.

Dr. Anderson says it could not have been caused by the gun recoiling.

"I was able to basically exclude the recoil of a weapon. There's soft tissues -- the base of the mouth, the tongue, the teeth and so forth -- and all of those were intact," said Anderson. "If the gun was recoiling or there was a force to do that, it would damage all those tissues."

How could this fracture possibly have been missed?

Dr. Anderson says it was on the original X-ray.

"The medical examiner did not apparently see the fracture in the X-ray, although it's pretty apparent," said Dr. Anderson.

UPDATE MARCH 13, 2017: In a new development, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission announced it is recommending disciplinary action be taken against the medical examiner and an associate medical examiner responsible for breaking practice guidelines in the original autopsy.

So what could have caused the fracture to Michelle's jaw?

"The only explanation, in my opinion, is that this individual was struck by either a fist or the stock of the gun or some flat object in the front of the jaw with enough force to break the jaw," said Dr. Anderson.

And there was another discovery: Anderson says Michelle's tongue was in a position atypical for a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"The tongue was in a, basically a retracted position," said Anderson. "The fact that the tongue is in this unusual position, which requires it to be compressed back against the back of the throat, essentially cutting off air supply. You'd put the gun on the top of the tongue and fire, you wouldn't attempt to choke yourself before you're shooting."

So what does he think happened to Michelle O'Connell that night? He suggests some of the clues may have been apparent, based on the original autopsy photos showing her badly bruised eye and lip.

"My exam suggests strongly that the individual was hit twice in the face, once breaking the jaw, fell to the floor, the gun was inserted into her mouth while she was on the floor and fired, and this explains the position of the body, the flow of the blood, the retraction of the tongue," said Dr. Anderson. "I've never seen a suicide like this where there's evidence of potentially incapacitating trauma that occurred prior to the gunshot wound. So in my estimation, this is a homicide."

Crime Watch Daily reached out to Jeremy Banks for his thoughts about these stunning developments and autopsy results. No answer at home, so we called. He directed us to speak with his attorney.

Banks's attorney Mac McLeod did have something to say about the findings when we talked to him by phone from the Crime Watch Daily offices.

McLeod's response to the new claim of blunt-force trauma and fractured jaw: "How in the Hell could blunt-force trauma sufficient to break a mandible show no signs of exterior wounding whatsoever? I mean it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out how utterly ridiculous this is. The medical examiner indicated that most of it was split as a result of the gunshot wound. That's a normal finding, and that he went ahead and split it the rest of the way during the autopsy.

"This was not authorized, it wasn't witnessed, they didn't offer the opportunity for anybody to see anything," said McLeod. "They bought somebody to tell them that they wanted to hear because they can't take the tragedy that it is, which is a suicide."

We also contacted the St. Johns County Sheriff, who did not return our call.

"I am hopeful that now they have it in black and white, this isn't a witness, this isn't a sister or a mother, this isn't Mr. Banks or one of the O'Connells. This is a doctor who has no reason to make his findings consistent with anyone's emotional beliefs," said O'Connell family attorney Janet Johnson. "The science is the science. I expect that the governor's office will welcome these findings, appoint a new state attorney, and it will go to a grand jury."

Just a few hours after the autopsy, Michelle O'Connell was reburied at San Lorenzo Cemetery, in St. Augustine, according to her family, now finally at peace. What really happened the night of September 2, 2010, might remain a mystery forever.

"They can say 'suicide' as many times as they want, to scream it from the rooftops, but at the end of the day we're going to right their wrong and everybody will know Michelle did not take her own life," said Michelle's sister Jennifer.

St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar released a statement on May 22, 2016:

On January 12th, 2016 media reports circulated that the body of Michelle O'Connell was removed from her place of rest by certain members of her family. At the time, no one was certain exactly why this was done but the speculation was that a paid expert witness would be hired by these family members to produce a report that of course would support their belief about the case.

Today (Sunday) we learn that this speculation was accurate. The report of the paid expert was delivered by a resident of Clay County who has a “private investigators” license with no connection to any official entity including law enforcement. It is critically important to note that no person officially associated with a prosecutor's office or law enforcement agency was in any way involved including when she was removed from her place of rest. Why did these certain family members not request a judge to order a proper and officially sanctioned exhumation? We suspect the answer is that they would not have met the threshold for a judge to order one.

Most importantly, there have been three separate officially sanctioned medical examiners review this case as well as two officially sanctioned special prosecutors (Jeff Ashton and Brad King) appointed by the Governor, all have determined there is NO evidence present to indicate anything other than that Michelle died by her own hand. The last special prosecutor went so far as to write that he was, “thankful it was NOT a homicide because had it been, it could never have been prosecuted due to the actions of the state agent who at one time was involved in this case.”

The information presented today is nothing new and all was reviewed during the initial autopsy. Molesting Michelle from her place of rest using some freelance type approach is beyond unconventional, it was reprehensible.

The primary advisers to the few family members who will go to any lengths to maintain their moment in the spotlight consist of the private investigator, a former St. Johns County Deputy Sheriff who was fired for ethical misconduct and who is now a candidate for political office. Interestingly, this same individual has been hinting at some recent political events that there was some “big news” coming regarding the O'Connell case. Coincidently, the last time Michelle's sister was interviewed on local television she actually told the reporter that this case is about, “politics”. Though the reporter never followed up on her comment, as the political season evolves it has become very clear what she meant. And finally a career “drug” investigator and current state agent who was recently reprimanded for conducting a “substandard” investigation into the death of Michelle O'Connell.

A great question for the public and media to ask would be, why hasn't the family filed suit against the person they think was culpable in Michelle's death? The answer is probably the same as why they did not seek an official exhumation, because there is no Probable Cause to indicate Michelle died by anything other than her own hand. Of vital importance that most folks do not understand is that the person that certain members of the family think is culpable in Michelle's death, is one of only two people (along with Michelle's brother Scott) who HAS filed a civil suit in relation to this case (against FDLE and Agent Rodgers).

People who are culpable or have committed crimes do not file civil suits because when they do, they can longer shield themselves behind the Fifth Amendment and a civil suit puts everything under a microscope. Fortunately, the civil suit filed by Michelle's brother Scott and Jeremy Banks is well under way and hopefully there should be closure within the next year. I have always taken the position that if a jury ever gets to hear what Scott and Jeremy had to endure because of the conduct of a few people with personal agendas, it would shock their consciences and they would rule in favor of both Scott and Jeremy, I still maintain that position.

The record clearly shows that we have always held employees accountable at the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office when they violate our policies or engage in criminal conduct. In the past, I have had to discipline and even arrest employees for misconduct. If, however, an employee is unfairly and maliciously targeted by external forces they will have no stronger advocate than myself. This case is an example of the latter and not the former."

UPDATE MARCH 13, 2017: In a new development, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission announced it is recommending disciplinary action be taken against the medical examiner and an associate medical examiner responsible for breaking practice guidelines in the original autopsy.