Husbands' Secret Lives
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After losing his medical license, Michael went into business selling body tissue for transplants and bone grafts. Barbra says she thought her husband's life was back on track when he made more than $4 million in four years.
Then, in February 2006, Michael was arrested, and the grizzly truth was exposed.
Investigators revealed that Michael made his fortune by stealing skin, bones and other body parts from deceased men and women and selling them. Police say Michael dissected more than 1,000 dead bodies over the years.
To make matters worse, Barbra learned that her husband and his associates knowingly sold tissue and bones infected with hepatitis, HIV and cancer to transplant patients, putting thousands of people at risk.
"My life with him was an entire lie. Everything that I believed wasn't so," she says. "He always had a story. ... He lied to his attorney; he lied to me. He lied to everyone that crossed his path."
Michael eventually pled guilty to body stealing, forgery, grand larceny and corruption. He's serving 25 to 75 years in prison for his crimes, but for people like Karen DelRe, time will never heal the pain these crimes caused.
Karen's 74-year-old father, James, was one of Michael's victims. "What was done to our father cannot be undone," she says. "This wasn't like a stranger broke in my home and stole a ring. They stole parts of my father, my family, my memories. All of it."
Then, in February 2006, Michael was arrested, and the grizzly truth was exposed.
Investigators revealed that Michael made his fortune by stealing skin, bones and other body parts from deceased men and women and selling them. Police say Michael dissected more than 1,000 dead bodies over the years.
To make matters worse, Barbra learned that her husband and his associates knowingly sold tissue and bones infected with hepatitis, HIV and cancer to transplant patients, putting thousands of people at risk.
"My life with him was an entire lie. Everything that I believed wasn't so," she says. "He always had a story. ... He lied to his attorney; he lied to me. He lied to everyone that crossed his path."
Michael eventually pled guilty to body stealing, forgery, grand larceny and corruption. He's serving 25 to 75 years in prison for his crimes, but for people like Karen DelRe, time will never heal the pain these crimes caused.
Karen's 74-year-old father, James, was one of Michael's victims. "What was done to our father cannot be undone," she says. "This wasn't like a stranger broke in my home and stole a ring. They stole parts of my father, my family, my memories. All of it."
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