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Nurse Found Dead After Donating Kidney With More than 50 Stab Wounds · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Nurse Renee Pagelle made a remarkable sacrifice by donating a
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  kidney to a stranger mere days before her own life
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  was tragically taken. While she was still in the process
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  of recuperating from the organ donation to the father of
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  one of her nursing students, an intruder entered Renee's home
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  in Rockford, Michigan, and violently stabbed the forty one year
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  old mother of three to death on August fifth, two
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  thousand and six. As reported by Dateline, Unforgettable, This brutal
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  act of violence sent ripples of shock through Renee's close
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  knit circle of friends, yet it would require years of
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  relentless effort from those who loved her to ensure that
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  her murderer faced justice. Collateral damage. It's something I witness
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  all the time, especially when I'm sitting across from a
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  person whose loved one was murdered and they're somehow expected
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  to just go go on with their life. Correspondent Andrea
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  Canning shared of what made the episode so unforgettable. Renee
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  Pargual's friends and daughter shared their stories with me. They
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  talked about their fight for truth and justice, but in
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  the end, this story is about Renee a generous soul
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  who touched the lives of everyone around her, even people
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  she barely knew who was Renee Pagell. Individuals who were
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  acquainted with Renee remarked that she consistently demonstrated exceptional kindness
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  and grace. A person of profound faith, Renee dedicated her
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  life to the service of others in her roles as
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  a nurse and nursing educator. This commitment was evident when
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  she took the initiative to assist one of her nursing students,
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  Caitlin Saliot, who had expressed a keen interest in understanding
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  kidney disease. Upon discovering that Caitlin's father was suffering from
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  kidney failure and was on the waiting list for a transplant,
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  Renee selflessly offered her own kidney, despite having never met
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  Phil Salliot prior to this. Renee Pegel found dead. Renee,
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  whose tragic demise was featured in an episode of Oxygen's
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  and Unexpected Killer, was discovered deceased by her father in
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  her residence on August fifth, two thousand and six, after
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  she did not arrive at a craft fair she had
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  intended to attend with friends my daughter, the grief stricken
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  father communicated to a nine one one operator. We just
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  found her in bed and she has a laceration on
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  her arm and she's covered in blood. Detective E. J.
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  Johnson from the Kent County Sheriff's Department promptly arrived at
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  the location and quickly ascertained that Renee's death was the
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  result of a violent homy. Upon entering the bedroom, I
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  observed Renee lying sideways on the bed with blood splattered
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  across the bedding. I then examined her arms and the
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  area around her head and face, which were marked by
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  numerous lacerations and cuts, he recounted. A coroner later established
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  that Renee, a dedicated mother of three, had been stabbed
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  over fifty times and had sustained defensive injuries, including a
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  stab wound that penetrated her hand as she attempted to
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  defend herself. There was blood on the walls, blood on
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  the lamps, blood on the ceiling. Johnson noted, at the
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  time of the incident, Renee's three young children were residing
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  with their father while she was recovering from surgery. Michael
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  Pagell becomes a suspect. At that time, Renee and Michael
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  were experiencing a contentious divorce and had been living upon
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  for a year. According to Renee's friends, a significant source
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  of conflict between the couple stemmed from the fact that
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  while Renee frequently juggled two to three jobs to provide
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  for the family, Michael either worked part time or not
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  at all. He dedicated more time to being the primary
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  caregiver for their three children, Sarah, Joel, and Hannah. She
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  was the primary earner while he had reduced his full
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  time work commitments to stay home and engage with the children,
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  which created some tension. Recalled her childhood friend Laura Beach.
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  Renee's friend Chris Crandall, described Michael as a master gaslight
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  who employed unique and cruel tactics to belittle his wife,
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  such as suggesting they meet for lunch and then failing
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  to show up, only to later assert that she had
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  misinterpreted the arrangement. He would make her feel as though
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  she was the one losing her grip on reality, she stated.
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  As the couple approached their tenth wedding anniversary, Michael unexpectedly
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  presented Renee with divorce papers while she was in the
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  midst of teaching a nursing class. Despite the marital difficulties,
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  it is widely acknowledged that Michael was a loving and
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  dedicated father to his children. We all lived on a
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  farm together, and I would wake up at six in
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  the morning with my dad to ride the horses and
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  tend to the farm, Sarah recalled, adding he was a
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  good dad. The case goes cold for years. Michael Pagel's
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  brother comes forward. In twenty twenty, detectives successfully located the weapon.
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  They also established a connection between Michael and the flashlight
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  discovered in the yard. It was revealed that he possessed
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  a similar flashlight, albeit in blue, at his residence. The
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  orange and blue flashlights had been marketed as a pair,
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  and the Batti