Utah Doctor Martin MacNeill Attempts Suicide With Jail Razor After Being Convicted Of His Wife's Murder
Dec. 6 2013, Published 8:08 p.m. ET
The Utah doctor convicted of killing his wife tried to kill himself on Thursday evening, RadarOnline.com is reporting.
Martin MacNeill was hospitalized after taking apart a disposal razor and attempting to cut the femoral artery in his leg.
"He was discovered early enough by guards so his injuries were not life-threatening," Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office told ABCNews.com.
The Mormon doctor is expected to recover but will remain in the hospital overnight and there's a chance he'll stay through the weekend.
"Obviously, he was experiencing some emotional turmoil. He's post-conviction, but pre-sentence, and he's facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. So in our mind, that creates a lot of emotional stress," Cannon said in a press release.
"Sometimes, people facing a sentencing like this question whether they should even exist. It's a very vulnerable time… He was not under direct observation 24/7, but there are regular checks that need to be done. They found him in the midst of the attempt to kill himself."
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Inmates at Utah County Jail are typically given 15 minutes of access to disposal razors for hygiene purposes, Cannon revealed.
MacNeill, 57, was found guilty on Nov. 7 of first-degree murder and second-degree obstruction of justice in the 2007 death of his wife, Michele MacNeill.