Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC will look into Michael Reese’s murder because of an alleged love triangle. The episode “Even the Devil Went to Church” airs on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. A synopsis reads, “When a small town Alabama resident is murdered in his home, rumors involving a local pastor begin to swirl as the truth ends up turning the community upside down.”
According to Al.com, Michael Reese’s wife, Cindy Reese, claimed she found a crime scene in their home in Morris, Alabama, on February 18, 2015. Cindy called 911, and officers found Michael dead in the doorway. Moreover, the house appeared to have been robbed. Police also found a Piggly Wiggly bag with ham and orange juice inside at the scene. They believed the victim’s death occurred in a burglary gone wrong but later deduced that there was more to it.
Several sources reported that during the investigation, authorities learned shocking details about Michael’s personal life and an alleged love triangle. The case resulted in the arrests of two individuals close to the family while they blamed each other for committing the crime.
Who were the suspects in Michael Reese’s murder case?
About a month after Michael Reese’s shooting death, authorities arrested his wife, Cindy Reese. They also arrested Jeffrey Brown, a senior pastor at the same church where Cindy worked as the music minister. Brown was a close friend of the Reeses’ and was allegedly having an affair with Cindy for several years, reported Al.com. However, Cindy and Brown offered conflicting accounts of the events and tried to blame the other person.
The outlet stated that Cindy revealed they began their alleged affair in 2013. She claimed they shared a savings account with Brown and had her name on the title of his vehicle and the apartment lease. Per Cindy’s account, their affair turned physical in the spring of 2014 and lasted until Fall. Meanwhile Brown denied having a physical relationship with her. Throughout this time, the Reese and the Brown families remained close friends.
The U.S. Sun stated that after their arrests in connection with Michael Reese’s murder, the duo turned on each other. However, authorities believed Cindy Reese and Jeffrey Brown plotted to commit the killing so they could continue their relationship. They charged both Cindy and Brown with murder, but the latter pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter and testified against his one-time girlfriend.
Brown alleged that Cindy wanted him to hire a hitman to murder Michael and often talked about wanting her husband dead. Brown also alleged that on the night of the murder, Cindy met him at a nearby gas station and gave him a gun or jewelry. Cindy, while maintaining that she met her alleged boyfriend that night, denied giving him the gun or jewelry. She claimed she only gave him $15 for gas, per Al.com.
Following this, Cindy said she went to Piggly Wiggle and returned home to find the crime scene. She claimed that she never saw Michael Reese’s body but only the mess inside the house before calling 911. However, prosecutors argued that she fatally shot Michael before leaving to go to Piggly Wiggly. The defendant then returned to the house and staged the crime scene to make it seem like a burglary incident.
In 2017, a jury convicted Cindy Reese of murder for which she received a 40-year prison sentence. Elsewhere, Jeffrey Brown received 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the lesser manslaughter charge.
Dateline NBC‘s episode on Michael Reese’s murder case airs on Sunday, April 21.
