Dr Phil tries to help Michelle O’Connell family grieve

Historic City News has learned that on October 31, perhaps the most well-known mental health professional in the world, Dr. Phil McGraw, will see if he can get the O’Connell family to put their differences aside and come together and grieve for Michelle — the 24-year-old mother who was found shot to death in what authorities ruled a suicide.

Using his top-rated show as a teaching tool, “Dr. Phil” regularly takes aim at critical issues including domestic violence, bullying, drug abuse, depression, child abuse, suicide and various forms of severe mental illness; that he refers to as the “silent epidemics”.

The new episode, “The Mystery of Michelle O’Connell: A Family Divided”, comes on the heels of reported new evidence in the case, sufficient to move Florida Governor Rick Scott to dispatch a central Florida state attorney to St Augustine to determine if the case should be presented to a grand jury.

At issue, Michelle’s mother, Patricia O’Connell, and sister, Jennifer, insist the young mother never would have taken her own life, and they believe Michelle’s boyfriend, Jeremy Banks — a St Johns County deputy sheriff — killed her, which he denies. Michelle’s brother, Scott O’Connell — also a St Johns County deputy sheriff — supports Banks.

How does Scott answer his mother’s accusation that he’s betraying his family to save his job? He says that his mother and sister need to stop living in denial.

What happened to Michelle that night?

Hear from one of the first responders on the scene — why does she believe the initial finding of suicide was wrong?

Dr. Phil, a leader in daytime talk, brings the fractured family together in search of answers.

Dr. Phil McGraw earned a B.A. from Midwestern State University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of North Texas, which was followed by a year of post-doctoral training in Forensic Psychology at The Wilmington Institute. He was a licensed psychologist in the State of Texas and practiced clinical psychology. After 25 years he retired from practice as a licensed psychologist to devote full time to his educational media platform.