By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Testimony resumed in a Boone County courtroom Thursday in the David Dooley retrial, following a one-day break.
Dan Mockbee, standing at right, answers questions from Assistant Attorney General Jon Heck. Mockbee’s wife Michelle Mockbee was killed at the Thermo Fisher Scientific plant where she worked in Boone County in 2012 (photo by Mark Hansel).
Dooley is charged with murder and tampering with evidence in the killing of Michelle Mockbee at the Thermo Fisher Scientific facility in Boone County where they they both worked.
Mockbee, a Fort Mitchell mother of two girls, was employed by Thermo Fisher Scientific. Dooley worked for an outside contractor performing custodial duties at the facility.
Mockbee was bludgeoned to death in the early morning hours of May 29, 2012, as she reported to the facility to do the company payroll.
Thursday Mockbee’s husband, Dan Mockbee, and Joseph Siegert, who worked on the receiving dock at Thermo Fisher, took the stand.
Their DNA swabs, along with those of Michelle Mockbee and Dooley, were sent to forensic labs for comparison with evidence collected at the crime scene.
Dan Mockbee also worked as a supervisor at Thermo Fisher Scientific, but routinely worked a later shift and was scheduled off on the day his wife was killed.
Assistant Attorney General Jon Heck, who is the lead prosecutor for the Commonwealth in the case, questioned Mockbee about his finances and events in the hours prior to to the killing.
He also asked Mockbee questions about life since the death of his wife.
Mockbee said he and Michelle routinely had a date night on the day before she did payroll and their daughters stayed with his mother-in-law on those nights.
Mockbee said he received a call from an employee on the morning his wife was killed saying he couldn’t get into the facility parking lot because it was blocked by law enforcement vehicles.
Mockbee said he attempted to contact his wife and supervisors at the facility without success, and called 911. He was told by a 911 operator that there had been an incident at the facility and that someone would call him back.
Mockbee, who was employed as a supervisor at Thermo Fisher Scientific at that time, said he then drove to the facility and was told by Boone County Sheriff’s Det. Everett Stahl that his wife had been killed.
“They started asking me all kinds of questions,” Mockbee said.
David Dooley (center) is charged with killing Michelle Mockbee at the Thermo Fisher Scientific facility in Boone County in 2012. His trial is underway in a Boone County courtroom. If convicted he faces a sentence up to life in prison (file photo).
Stahl became one of the lead investigators in the case and may testify later in the trial.
Mockbee said that after his wife’s death he and his daughters moved in with his mother-in-law.
He said he still owns the house he shared with Michelle, which is unoccupied, and her belongings are still there.
Heck also questioned Mockbee about his finances before and after his wife’s death. Mockbee acknowledged that the couple had some debt but he didn’t know how much because his wife handled the finances.
It was later revealed by defense attorneys that the debt was more than$70,000.
Mockbee said he had several life insurance policies on his wife, the largest of which was $700,000, which he has received. He said the couple took out the policies because the premiums were not that expensive.
Mockbee also had other policies and the total compensation that he has received, or will receive, though social security, workers compensation and other sources will exceed $1 million.
He has since withdrawn more than $400,000 of that money, mostly in cash.
Heck asked Mockbee what he spent the money on.
“Mostly the girls or something to do with the girls.”
Mockbee said. “I don’t want the girls to give up on life. I do everything to feel like life isn’t over yet.”
Mockbee was asked if family members asked him for money. He said they did and that he gave it to them.
Heck brought a picture of Michelle Mockbee up on a monitor and asked Mockbee to confirm that it was his wife. Visibly shaken, Mockbee said that it was.
Michelle Mockbee, a Fort Mitchell mother of two, was killed at the Thermo Fisher Scientific plant where she worked in May, 2012. David Dooley, who worked as an outside contractor at the facility is on trial for murder in the killing (provided photo).
Heck then asked Mockbee, in a raised voice, “Did you kill your wife?”
“No sir,” Mockbee replied.
Defense attorney Deanna Dennison then questioned Mockbee about his wife’s death and their finances.
The defense wants to convince the jury that not only did Dooley not kill Mockbee, but that others, possibly her husband or Siegert, had either a motive or the opportunity to do so.
Dennison went into great detail identifying each source of money Mockbee has received since his wife’s death and the amounts.
In explaining how he spent the money, Mockbee revealed that he had lost about $100,000 in a failed business venture with a friend.
“(I) had a buddy, Ed, that was a concrete guy and I was gonna try to be a partner in his business,” Mockbee said. “So we tried it like an introductory period — like where I was investing a lot of money into the company. Problem was I wasn’t getting anything back out of it.”
Mockbee also admitted that he still owes more than $1,000 on a cemetery monument for his wife.
On redirect, Heck asked Mockbee questions about his finances prior to his wife being killed. Mock confirmed that the couple had more than enough money to cover their debt though their 401K plans and other resources.
Dennison also asked Mockbee questions about his access to the Thermo Fisher Scientific facility.
As a supervisor, he had a key card that allowed him entry into the building.
“Could you give your swipe key to somebody?” Dennison asked.
“Could you give it? Sure,” Mockbee said.
Dennison questioned Mockbee about a $10,000 check paid to Chris Black shortly after his wife’s death. Black was a friend of Mockbee’s who was also employed at Thermo Fischer Scientific, but was off work the day of the killing.
Mockbee seemed puzzled by the question and said he did not recall giving a $10,000 check to Black.
Dennison pressed Mockbee to elaborate on the statement that he did not kill his wife.
“You say that you didn’t kill your wife but did you have anything to do with hiring somebody to kill your wife?”
“Absolutely not,” Mockbee said.
Dock worker whose DNA was compared to crime scene evidence testifies
Siegert, an employee at Thermo Fisher Scientific, who was on site when Michelle Mockbee was killed there in May, 2012, also testified Thursday (photo by Mark Hansel).
Joseph Siegert, a receiving dock worker who was at the facility at the time Mockbee was killed, also took the stand Thursday.
During direct questioning from special prosecutor Jeff Prather, who also represents the Commonwealth, Siegert recounted the events of that morning.
He said he saw Mockbee clock in that morning.
“She was in a hurry to go and get her job done,” Siegert said.
Siegert also said he saw Dooley that morning in the parking lot as he was taking his break, which he routinely did, beginning at 7 a.m.
Siegert said Dooley came up to him and engaged him in conversation, which he said was out of character, because they rarely spoke. He said Dooley told him he had ripped his pants and had to go home to change them.
Siegert admitted that he failed to mention that conversation to investigators when he was questioned on the day Mockbee was killed, but told them about it in a subsequent interview.
Under cross-examination by Dennison, Siegert was less cooperative.
Dennison asked Siegert to explain gaps in his work history from that day, which was recorded on an electronic devise used by employees. The times were consistent with the time that Mockbee was believed to have been killed, and before her body was discovered.
Siegert explained that when he unloaded trucks, his work record frequently had gaps because regular use of the electronic device was not required.
Dennison, however, pointed to inconsistencies in various statements Siegert made about events from that morning.
In previous testimony Siegert indicated it took him about 40 minutes to unload a truck. Thursday he said he completed the task in about 20 minutes.
In exploring his activities that morning based on his statements and the timeline, Dennison questioned how Siegert could have accomplished everything in that short amount of time.
Siegert said he reported for work at about 5 a.m., got a forklift, did a safety check on it, went upstairs, dropped off paperwork, got rubber bands and delivered them to other employees, and unloaded the truck by about 5:20 a.m.
“If you did all that, you couldn’t have unloaded the truck by 5:20,” Dennison said.
“I guess not,” Siegert replied.
The questioning seemed to unnerve Siegert.
When Dennison questioned Siegert further about what he did in a particular office, he replied that he had not “ransacked” anyone’s office.
Dennison also questioned Siegert about statements he previously made to investigators, including a dream he claims to have had in which Mockbee was killed with injuries to the back of her head.
He also spoke about his theory of Mockbee’s death, in which she startled someone breaking into her office and struck her head on the side of a desk.
When asked by investigators which article of Mockbee’s clothing the killer would have known to be missing, Siegert responded, “her shoes.”
Investigators have stated previously that they believe Mockbee was killed because she caught someone breaking into her office. Her skull was fractured in four places, which caused her death, and her shoes were located in a restaurant takeout bag, away from where her body was found.
Dooley was convicted of murder in Mockbee’s killing in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison. He was granted a new trial when Boone Circuit Judge James R. Schrand ruled evidence that may have aided in his defense was withheld from his attorneys.
Testimony is scheduled to resume at 12:30 p.m. today, in Courtroom 4B of the Boone County Courthouse in Burlington.
For links to the NKyTribune’s extensive coverage of the Dooley case, click here.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
