Episode Two - The State vs Chapel
Episode Two
The State v. Michael Harold Chapel
Episode One introduced you to Michael Chapel. Episode Two turns to the case that convicted him—the witnesses, the physical evidence, the money trail, and the story prosecutors presented to the jury in 1995.
Before we show you what the jury never heard, you need to understand what it did.
Retired Gwinnett County Firefighter
Terry Bagley with Henry Ball (2026)
Terry Bagley was the acting Lieutenant on Fire 14 crew that responded to the scene.
Driver's side door, Interior
Inside passenger side door jamb
"We know he did it, we have his raincoat and it has her blood all over it."
Chief Detective John Latty to Terry Bagley
Evidence Files:
Paul Omodt Testimony
Combined Page 222
Q. Okay. And can you describe what the officer looked like?
A. “From what I could see, Caucasian male. Of course, he was wearing a rain suit and rain hat. Pretty good size gentleman, six feet maybe.”
Q. How tall are you?
A. “Five-eleven.”
Q. Was he about your size or bigger?
A. “He'd probably been about my size, my build.”
Q. Could you tell anything about his hair color or anything else?
A. “No, sir. He --”
Q. Did he have anything in his hand?
A. “Just a flashlight.”
Karl Kautter Testimony
Combined Pages 236–237:
Q. Could you describe that person?
A. “Medium build, over six feet, not a heavy-set individual, but a medium build. I mean fairly stocky, about my build but taller than myself.”
Q. Could you describe what that person was wearing?
A. “He had rain gear on. It was -- because it had been raining. There was rain gear that was on and a big brim hat that was -- that was on.”
Q. Did you notice anything about the hat, other than that it was a big brim? Did you notice anything else about it?
A. “It had a covering on it, like a plastic covering on the hat.”
Q. And what color was the rain gear; do you remember?
A. “Yellow.”
Q. Could you describe -- when you say rain gear, could you describe -- there's different kinds of rain gear. Could you describe what you remember about the rain gear?
A. “A rain jacket is about all I can recall.”
Q. Did the person that you saw walking up to the dark-colored car have anything in their hands?
A. “A flashlight.”
Q. Could you tell the sex or race of the person?
A. “No.”
Witness Testimony:
Description of Patrol Vehicle at Scene
Edward Schmanski: “The best I recall it was white with a yellow stripe going down the side.” — Combined p. 120
Maryann Johnsa: “It was white.” — Combined p. 125
Stacy Turner: “Rectangular shape. It was mostly white, had blue and yellow reflective decals on it.” — Combined p. 140
Sean Charles: “I saw a -- it was a Gwinnett County police car. I recognized the emblem. It was an older style. It was more squared off than -- opposed to the newer rounded style.” — Combined p. 145
Allen Robertson: “Well, to the best of my knowledge I saw that kind of like a gold stripe down the side, and I recall the lights being on, the blue lights.” — Combined p. 176
Karl Kautter: “It was a white Gwinnett County patrol car.” — Combined p. 236
Michael Thompson
Combined Testimony pp. 419 & 452
Claims Chapel Saw the Money
Q. Did Officer Chapel ever ask you to leave the trailer?
A. “Yes.”
Q. And where did you go when you left the trailer?
A. “Outside.”
Q. And did you happen to see what happened or was going on inside the trailer after you left?
A. “Yes.”
Q. Describe for the jury how you saw it.
A. “I looked through the window in the door.”
Q. And what did you see?
A. “My mother showing him the money that was left.”
No witness testified that they saw Emogene leave for work with her purse on April 15, and no witness testified that they saw $7,000 in her possession that night.
Michael Thompson expressly conceded that point on cross examination:
Q. Mr. Thompson, you never saw your mother leave for work the night she was killed?
A. “Uh-uh. No. Excuse me.”
Q. Okay. So you don't know for certain that she had her purse with her that night?
A. “Not for certain, but she -- it went everywhere she did.”
Q. But you don't -- you didn't see it with her that night?
A. “No.”
Michael Chapel — Recorded Interrogation
“I didn’t kill anybody, Lieutenant!”
“I’m telling the truth, but the truth ain’t working.”
“That’s where I was. That’s who I was with. That’s what we did.”
The Raincoat—What the Jury Was Told
Danny Porter — Closing Argument, Combined p.1941
“But look at the pattern. Look at the pattern on the rain jacket of the high velocity blood spatter. Look at the interspersing of human blood in that pattern. And what other reasonable explanation has been presented, and what other reasonable explanation can be determined from the interspersing of human blood with spots that are consistent with human blood than that it's all human blood, because there has been no other reasonable explanation presented as to animals or anything else. And I urge you to look at that.”
Kelly Fite — Combined p. 1040
Q. And what is that opinion?
A. “There is a high velocity blood spatter pattern on the right arm and right chest area of this rain gear.”
Q. How far from the explosion or the weapon does one see high velocity blood spatter?
A. “You can have high velocity blood spatters or a portion of the spatter pattern out as far as three feet from the injury on the -- where the blood originated.”
The Car Seat — What the Jury Was Told
Keith Goff — Combined pp. 1239–1240
Q. And did you calculate a frequency of occurrence of the banding patterns that were shared between the sample from the car seat and the blood of Emogene Thompson?
A. “Yes, sir.”
Q. And what was that frequency of occurrence?
A. “I found that no more than one in ten billion individuals in the black or the Caucasian population would exhibit the banding pattern which is shared between the blood stain from the car seat and Emma Thompson.”
Q. Okay. Based upon your education, training, and experience and the DNA analysis that you did in this case, do you have an opinion as to whether Emogene Thompson was the source of the blood stain found on item 15 of the crime lab report, which was the car seat submitted from the cruiser of Michael Chapel?
A. “Yes, sir, I do.”
Q. And what is that opinion?
A. “The DNA that's obtained from the blood stain on the car seat that matches Emma Thompson originated from Emma Thompson or her identical twin if she has one.”
The 4 $100 Bills—What the Jury Was Told
Investigator Hinson
Combined pp. 1098–1099
Q. Can you describe for us what you did with the notebook, if anything?
A. “These items depicted in the photograph were laying where they are in the photograph. I went over after Investigator Teatino had gone through the briefcase, and I began to follow him in going through the contents of the briefcase. I picked this notebook up and flipped through it, looked at -- looking for whatever information we might could have used in the trial of this case. Before I put it down, I happened to look behind the notebook or the legal pad in the notebook down in the slot, and I saw what to me appeared to be the corner of two one hundred dollar bills.”
Q. Were you surprised by that?
A. “Very surprised, yes.”
Q. Let me show you what we have had previously marked as State's Exhibits Number 121A, B, C, and D. Can you look at those and identify them, please?
A. “Yes, sir. These are one hundred dollar bills that were later pulled from the slot inside of this notebook.”
September 8, 1995 — The Verdict
Michael Harold Chapel was found guilty.
