Skylar Neese Murder: Where are Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf Now?

Skylar Neese Murder

Skylar Neese Murder: Where are Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf Now? – On July 6, 2012, Neese, then 16 years old, disappeared from the home she shared with her parents in Morgantown, West Virginia. Her parents characterized her as a dedicated honours student with a promising future. Neese’s closest friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, killed her on a Pennsylvania country road the night she vanished.

The case is meticulously followed in Lifetime’s episode Sleeping With a Killer: Fatal Friendship,” which lays out the details of the incident, the subsequent investigation, and the fallout in an open-and-shut manner. You’ve come to the right site if you want to learn more about the case, the identity of the offenders, and their current whereabouts. Let’s start now!

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who was Skylar Neese

Who Was Skylar Neese and How Did She Die?

Skylar Annette Neese, the only child of Mary and David “Dave” Neese, was born on February 10, 1996. Mary Neese was an administrative assistant in a cardiac lab. David Neese was a product assembler at Walmart at the time. Skylar, a University High School student, wants to practice criminal defense law. She worked at Wendy’s with two close friends.

After finishing a shift at Wendy’s on July 5, 2012, Neese returned to her family’s residence in Star City, West Virginia. On July 6, at 12:30 a.m., Neese entered a sedan at her apartment complex and departed via her bedroom window, according to CCTV footage. Neese’s father claimed that she left her window open, did not bring her phone charger, and intended to return home.

Shoaf and Eddy encouraged Neese to sneak out with them on the night of the murder. Neese was initially hesitant because he had recently broken up with the two. Neese changed her mind in response to numerous calls and texts from the girls.

Neese’s murder had been a long-term project for Shoaf and Eddy. They left Eddy’s house prepared to attack Neese with kitchen knives, paper towels, bleach, cleaning cloths, clean clothes, and a shovel. In their hoodies, they hid the knives.

Neese left her bedroom window at around 12:30 a.m., crossed the street, and climbed into the backseat of a four-door vehicle. Later, law enforcement officials discovered that Eddy had owned the car that evening. The three girls then took US Highway 19 from Star City toward Blacksville. The criminals intended to follow W.V. Route 7, but they turned around when they saw a state police vehicle. They ultimately reached their objective, a place where all three of the females had occasionally smoked marijuana, just beyond the state line in Pennsylvania.

The culprits admitted to Neese after the girls had exited the car that they had failed to carry a lighter. Neese offered to return to the car and get her own lighter. Shoaf and Eddy waited for Neese to turn around before starting to stab her after the count of three, which was their predetermined signal. Neese tried to flee, but she could only manage a few metres (or a few feet) before Shoaf pushed her to the ground and started the attack. Neese was able to pry the knife away from Shoaf, and in an apparent act of self-defense, she cut Shoaf’s ankle. Shoaf reported that Eddy kept stabbing Neese until there was utter silence, and “Neese’s neck ceased producing gurgling sounds.”

Then, Shoaf and Eddy tried to bury Neese by pulling her to the side of the road, but the ground there was too rough and hard for them to dig a hole. Neese’s body was instead covered in rocks, stray branches, and mud. After cleaning up the murder scene and themselves in the car, they departed.

Who Killed Skylar Neese

Who killed Skylar Neese and Why?

Neese was initially thought to be a runaway by law enforcement; therefore, an Amber Alert has not been released immediately regarding her disappearance. The Star City Police Department confirmed that the individual sighted was not Neese despite an early tip claiming that Neese had been spotted in North Carolina. Flyers about Neese’s disappearance were distributed by her parents around the Monongalia County area.

Police questioned Eddy after determining that the unidentified automobile in which Neese was last seen belonged to her. Neese was picked up, but Eddy claimed to have dropped her off an hour later. On September 10, 2012, the FBI and the West Virginia State Police joined the hunt for Neese and started questioning his classmates.

When Shoaf acknowledged conspiring to murder Neese with Eddy, the case finally came to a head. They “didn’t like her” and “didn’t want to be friends with her anymore,” according to Shoaf, who justified the murder. According to David Neese, these two girls were some of his daughter’s closest friends, and Eddy even assisted the family by handing out missing person flyers.

Shoaf led investigators to Neese’s body after making her confession. In a news statement dated March 13, 2013, U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II said that Neese’s body had been discovered in Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, on January 16, 2013. Neese’s body was discovered 48 kilometres (less than 30 miles) from her house.

Where is Shelia Eddy now
Shelia Eddy

Where are Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy Now?

Shoaf entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder on May 1, 2013. Shoaf said that she and Eddy picked up Neese in Eddy’s car, according to the court transcript. The females travelled to Pennsylvania, got out, and started mingling. Shoaf and Eddy fatally stabbed Skylar at a predetermined time. Neese’s body was covered with branches by the youths after they failed in their attempt to bury Neese. According to the court transcript, other students overheard Shoaf and Eddy discussing the murderous scheme but chose not to report it because they thought the girls were kidding.

Shoaf admitted guilt to second-degree murder by “unlawfully, feloniously, wilfully, maliciously and intentionally caused the death of Skylar Neese by stabbing her and causing fatal injuries,” as stated in her plea deal. The State of West Virginia recommended a sentence of 20 years in prison in the plea bargain. During her sentencing, Rachel Shoaf expressed regret and apologized to the Neeses, her family, and God. Through their attorney, Shoaf’s family also expressed their regret for her acts in public.

Where is Rachel Shoaf Today
Rachel Shoaf

Prosecutors in West Virginia publicly named Eddy as the second alleged killer of Neese on September 4, 2013, and declared that she would face an adult trial. On September 6, 2013, a grand jury returned an indictment against Eddy, charging him with kidnapping, first-degree murder, and murder conspiracy. She made a not guilty plea.

The trial was first scheduled for January 28, 2014. Eddy admitted to first-degree murder to avoid facing further accusations from Pennsylvania police. She showed no remorse but was nonetheless given a life term in jail, with the possibility of parole after 15 years, according to West Virginia law. According to the plea agreement, Pennsylvanian authorities did not press prosecution.

Following her admission of guilt on May 1, 2013, on February 25, 2014, Shoaf was given a sentence of 30 years in prison, with a 10-year parole eligibility period.

After being arrested, Eddy was initially housed in a juvenile detention centre. Both ladies are now in their 20s and are presently detained at Mason County’s Lakin Correctional Center.

Neese’s disappearance did not result in the issuance of an Amber Alert because none of the four conditions were met: 

  1. A child is believed to have been abducted; 
  2. If the child is under 18; 
  3. the child may be in danger of death or serious injury; and 
  4. There is enough information to suggest the issuance of an alert would be helpful. 

A youngster has to be absent for at least 48 hours before being declared found. When a child is reported missing and in danger, regardless of whether it is thought that the child has been abducted, a West Virginia state legislator from the Neese family’s district introduced a bill called Skylar’s Law to change West Virginia’s Amber Alert plan to issue immediate public announcements. 

Supporters of Skylar’s Law published opinion pieces in West Virginian and national media, some of which also acknowledged the law’s detractors and shortcomings. Skylar’s Law was approved by the West Virginia House of Delegates on March 27, 2013, by a vote of 98 to 0. The measure was unanimously approved by the West Virginia Senate on April 12, 2013, but with a few minor technical adjustments that the House approved of Delegates on the same day. The West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin approved the measure in May 2013.

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