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Abuse

Michele suffered multiple injuries to the chest and back, a broken nose, burns on her skin, and a broken arm before the age of four at the hands of her stepmother, Mary Rae. These led to over 20 visits to a hospital, including one in which she was hospitalized for a month.

 

Murder

On August 9, 1961, Mary held Michele under water and stomped her violently, believing that the child had lied about something. These actions were seen by Michele's older brother, George. At dinner, Michele threw up blood clots. The next day she died of her internal injuries. An autopsy was conducted by the pathologist at the army base where the Morgans lived, and the cause of death was found to be massive trauma to the chest.

 

Due to a technical error, the report was not completed until some time later, when an inexperienced Coroner listed the cause of death as pneumonia and also stated that it had occurred in 1976.