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00:10It was a few days after the new year on January 3rd, I get a call from Ronnie saying Rachel
00:18wants
00:19to talk to you. So we go interview Rachel at her attorney's office.
00:30Rachel is already in the room and I've never seen Rachel before like this where she is like
00:40sobbing you know she's just like has these like mascara is running. I remember her saying
00:48I'm gonna throw up and she had like a little wastebasket there. I could see her turning white.
00:55She was white as a ghost. And I said were you with Skylar when she died? She's looking down
01:05and she goes yes. I said thank you. Thank you for telling us that. Did Skylar overdose? And she goes
01:14no.
01:17Did Skylar choke on her vomit? No.
01:24Did boys kill Skylar? She goes no. We're just really sitting there in silence like just taking this all in.
01:35Rachel paused. You could tell she was just trying to amp herself up to tell us what happened.
01:43She looks down. She breathes in. She leans back and goes, we stabbed her.
02:05Her jaws just fell to the table.
02:09I cannot believe that she told us this. I just can't believe this.
02:14We're just so, so much in shock. It wasn't an overdose. It wasn't the Conoways. It was her best friends.
02:27So we kind of take a moment and we're like, okay, you have to tell us everything that happened.
02:36And then why? Rachel said Sheila just was getting sick of her and Sheila had the idea and says, you
02:44know, we should kill her.
02:52When I talk about how upset I am, Sheila keeps saying it's not a big deal.
02:57Of course it's not a big deal to her.
03:00Everything makes me cry lately. I am so sick of it.
03:06Who the fuck does that?
03:08We're not five.
03:11I knew there was a reason I hated you so much.
03:22I was driving back to Morgantown.
03:25My partner, Ronnie Gaskins, called me and was like, Morgan, Rachel and Sheila are the ones that killed Skylar.
03:33Get up here right now.
03:36I did not once think that Rachel and Sheila were the ones that killed Skylar.
03:47And I get there.
03:49Rob and Ronnie said she's willing to go take us to the spot where it happened.
03:56Are you ready to go?
04:05On that night of the murder, Rachel told us they had gathered Clorox wipes, a change of clothes, plastic bags.
04:18Rachel got the shovel from her dad's garage.
04:22Sheila brought the knives.
04:25It was agreed upon that Sheila would pick up Skylar.
04:42They had her believe we were going to drive around and smoke some pot.
04:48And they drive her to this remote area in Pennsylvania.
05:01So we're driving for several hours.
05:04She was acting, you know, like she normally would.
05:08I'll turn here, go this way, I drive up here.
05:14It took us a couple of times to drive around because it had changed in summer.
05:27And Rachel said they got to like a little pull-off spot.
05:37They got out of the car.
05:41Skylar walks ahead of them towards like this ravine area.
05:50And they count one, two, three, and they jump her from behind.
06:03And they plunged two knives in her back and in her neck.
06:10She did try to get up, but they tackled her again and, you know, it was two on one.
06:19I did ask Rachel, what was Skylar saying, this whole, she said, why, I said, why?
06:36Now we're in this very secluded, remote location, and Rachel's like kind of excited and says, okay, wait, wait, wait,
06:45wait.
06:48And we stop, and, you know, it takes a moment, and she points, and I remember her pointing, saying, and
06:56this is what she said, she goes, it's over there.
07:01Not even she, and it's certainly not Skylar, but it's it.
07:12They tried burying her, but for some reason the ground was too tough for them to do it, so they
07:18drag her and then conceal her with the natural debris along the ravine area.
07:24They changed clothes, put everything in a bag.
07:28They drove around a bit afterwards and eventually went home.
07:33The next day is when Skylar's dad called Sheila saying, hey, have you seen Skylar?
07:39You know, that was the beginning of the first lie.
07:49I met with the FBI evidence response team leader.
07:52She kind of did like a survey of the scene, and she just told me the snow was too high
07:58in order to conduct a search.
08:00And I even thought like, let's get heat lamps.
08:03Let's melt the snow.
08:04I'll get a shovel.
08:05I'll do whatever I need to do.
08:06I've been looking for her for six months.
08:09But the ERT team leader said, the weather is supposed to break.
08:13Let's come back out later.
08:16All the snow will be gone.
08:18It won't be a waste of time, but we just can't be walking around here hoping to get lucky.
08:23We need to preserve what we have.
08:33Sheila was still out there, and she didn't know that Rachel was now cooperating with us.
08:39There was a real sense of danger.
08:43The decision is made to see if we can get some incriminating information from Sheila.
08:49So I said, are you willing to have a recorded conversation with Sheila about this?
08:56And she says, yeah.
09:11He wants to be a good kid.
09:13He wants to be a good kid.
09:18He wants to be a good kid.
09:19Okay, yeah.
09:19It's January 3rd.
09:19I'm right now, 20, 31.
09:21On the day of conversation.
09:24What's your name?
09:25Rachel.
09:25Rachel, we have your permission?
09:26Okay.
09:39Hey, what are you doing?
09:43Would you be allowed to come over?
09:46Just to like to talk to me?
09:49Sheila, like it's like necessary, like it's serious.
09:55We'll talk when you get here.
09:58Okay.
10:01Okay, fine.
10:03We talked to Rachel and said, listen, you have to be as natural as you can be.
10:06Just have a conversation with her as you normally would and just see what Sheila says.
10:17How's it going?
10:18Okay.
10:19Um.
10:22Um.
10:23If they don't tell me to change the story.
10:26The FBI don't believe us at all.
10:28Like they don't believe us at all.
10:30They don't.
10:32Okay.
10:33Okay, listen to me.
10:35I'm speaking so much.
10:38I don't know what they said to you.
10:39Like, but they can't prove what we said wrong.
10:47They want to get out of us.
10:48Then we know she's dead.
10:50But we don't know she's dead.
10:55It's going to be okay.
10:57I know we made it six months.
10:59We can do it.
11:02Sheila said, hey, you didn't change the story, did you?
11:05You know, to me, that's very telling.
11:07And we were thinking, well, that's really good for our case, right?
11:11But beyond that, there really wasn't anything overly incriminating from that conversation.
11:16So bringing her to jail at that particular time was just not in our realm of possibility.
11:22Let's take a picture.
11:24We have to take.
11:25Oh, God.
11:26Every day.
11:41I remember Ronnie and I sitting right there saying, okay, Rachel, you did a really good job for us today.
11:47Thank you for doing that.
11:48And I remember her going, clapping her little hands like this and looking down, like, almost like a little girl
11:54that is, like, really appreciative of this accolade that you're giving him.
11:58I'm looking at her, again, always reminded, this is a kid.
12:03This is a kid that just stabbed their friend.
12:09She wasn't charged at that moment because we didn't have a body.
12:14We needed to get as much evidence as we possibly could to corroborate her confession and also to link Sheila
12:20to the murder.
12:21And until then, Rachel was free to go home.
12:35Rachel messaged me to come stay the night at her house and we had a plan to just hang out
12:41in a smoke pot in the basement.
12:46Sleepovers with Rachel were some of my favorite days.
12:50You know, you're in high school, so you talk a lot of drama between whatever's going on in life.
12:56Musicals is all we would watch, like, on TV, because we, you know, love to sing and we love to
13:00sing together.
13:02We would sneak, you know, just a bottle of liquor, you know, drink a little bit, smoke a little bit,
13:09but mainly just talk and talk and talk and giggle and laugh and giggle and laugh.
13:14Our bellies would hurt, just belly laughing and giggling together.
13:21We were chatting about life and she sat down very seriously and said, hey, I have to tell you something.
13:29You know, I look at her seriously and she just blurted out that, that she said, I'm sorry, Sheila did
13:37murder Skylar.
13:40But I had nothing to do with it.
13:45I could not believe it.
13:48I asked her, did you know anything?
13:51She said she knew nothing about it.
13:56So I believed that because I loved her so much.
14:02And she said, you can't tell anybody.
14:15I couldn't sleep that night because I was just thinking about it.
14:18I was like, that's really what happened.
14:20And I felt like I was the only one who knew.
14:25I couldn't say anything to anybody.
14:27So I was just like confused.
14:35The record will reflect the presence of the state of West Virginia by Marsha Ashdown, prosecuting attorney.
14:42In Montague County, we prosecute all the major crimes.
14:46I was in the office and got a call from the U.S. Attorney that Rachel Shove had confessed to
14:52the murder.
14:52What she had to say in her confession was far beyond what anybody in that room expected.
15:02We began to put together a trial.
15:07We have to ask the jury to believe Rachel Shove that Sheila was there.
15:12And if that becomes unbelievable, then Sheila Eddy really walks free.
15:19There really did need to be some evidence aside from Rachel's confession that linked Sheila to the case.
15:31The FBI seized Sheila's car.
15:34The evidence response team conducted a thorough search of the vehicle.
15:42There was blood found in Sheila's car that was recovered and needed testing.
15:48The blood samples were sent off for DNA testing.
15:52And we were super hopeful that we were going to get a match.
15:58There would have been no explaining away Skyler's blood in the back of Sheila Eddy's trunk.
16:16I was in school, I think it was like last period.
16:22And I had heard someone say, they found a body, they found a body.
16:26I'm like, what's going on?
16:31I heard the rumors that they had found a body.
16:35I turned the radio station on and the announcement came that it was her.
16:44Remains found in Wayne Township, Pennsylvania are those of 16-year-old Skyler Niece.
16:50Federal officials announced on Wednesday.
16:53When she was missing, it was, we have hope, you know, she can come back.
17:00That hope was all gone.
17:11They made an announcement on the intercom at school.
17:16We have therapists here to talk to anyone that needs to talk to someone.
17:21I didn't really want to talk to anyone.
17:24And then we had like a moment of silence for her.
17:28That was tough.
17:37Now we have an answer.
17:40And now it was more of a, we need to find out what happened.
17:47Someone killed her.
17:49Because Skyler won't have committed suicide.
17:52That's not Skyler.
17:54Someone hurt her.
18:01Skyler and her new bloomers.
18:07Do you like your new bloomers, Skyler?
18:14They fit you quite well, don't they?
18:29Our world just collapsed.
18:38We knew she wasn't coming home.
18:47We've been holding out so much hope and thinking in the back of our head, we didn't care what the
18:54reason was.
18:55When she walked in that door, we'd both grab her and hug her like we'd never hug her.
19:03And she's not gonna ever walk through that door again.
19:25And she's not gonna ever walk through that door again.
19:29''
19:45Even with a confession, there is still a ton of work to do with that confession.
19:50You have to prove that what they're saying is true.
19:53Since they had lied so much, who's to say they're not lying again?
19:58Analyzing all of the data and all of the evidence is what you have to do to make a case.
20:04So that just takes more time.
20:10Sheila, oblivious to Rachel confessing, just going about her life as if nothing ever happened, nothing changed.
20:23Rachel and Sheila had both left school, and they started homeschooling.
20:30So I never really saw them, but they would post everything about themselves.
20:36Sheila was hanging out with friends, going to parties, getting her hair done.
20:41Rachel looked very chill. She seemed totally fine. She seemed happy.
20:46I hear you like to gamble. Let's take the road, let's travel.
20:50Sheila and I texted a good bit. You know, we were just a regular conversation.
20:57And all that, like, little flirty stuff.
21:03Sheila was one of the people I remember staying in contact with the most.
21:08For the bulk of our conversation, it was probably venting to each other about the ridiculous rumors.
21:22The liaison for the FBI told us she wanted to talk to us.
21:27We let them in, and she said, sit down.
21:31It was almost an unsettling quiet.
21:35We were told that Sheila and Rachel stabbed Skyler to death.
21:41Stabbed 50-something times.
21:48After Skyler went missing, they both said that they would do anything to get Skyler back.
21:56Just about every night, Sheila would say, I love you guys.
22:00I'd reply, we love you too.
22:04In our hearts, we're thinking, that poor kid.
22:07You know, she's going to what we are.
22:10I felt such betrayal that it was unreal.
22:15I'm thinking to myself, I'm going to kill them.
22:20Then I thought, don't get ahead of yourselves. Just slow down.
22:25We suspected they both knew something about it, but we never would have dreamed that they actually murdered her.
22:34I never thought in my deepest, darkest dreams that the two people that Sheila was best friends with could be
22:45related to this.
22:51They were just hiding it for a long time.
22:57And that just made it worse.
22:59I couldn't wrap my head around it.
23:03We were going through emotional hell.
23:08And then they told us, Sheila is going to be arrested for first degree murder.
23:23Eventually, Skyler's remains were scientifically identified.
23:26The FBI were able to conclusively and scientifically say that that DNA in Sheila's car, the Skyler's.
23:34Now we could substantiate Rachel's confession.
23:37Once we got that confirmation, I mean, that was it.
23:41So after months and months of investigating this, after all the rumors, the lies, watching Mary and Dave go through
23:50their torment,
23:51we now could arrest both girls for the murder of Skyler Nieves.
23:59Ronnie Gaskins called and said, hey, we've got Sheila.
24:02Do you want to go with us to take her to jail?
24:07When Sheila was in the back of the car, on her way to jail, she asked, what about my hair
24:14appointment?
24:16I'm getting my hair done for prom.
24:18I'll make that appointment, right?
24:20And I kind of looked at her, baffled, and said, no, you're going to jail.
24:28You're not going to any school dance ever again.
24:34Sheila cried a little bit and asked for her mom.
24:50The news broke in the middle of a school day, and it came out in the intercom.
24:56There's been some disturbing news today that may affect students.
25:00Please reach out to a teacher if you would like to speak to someone.
25:04And so when I heard that, and I looked down at my phone.
25:07Shocking news comes out of Morgantown today.
25:10Two teenage girls have been charged in the murder of Skyler Nieves, a young girl who went missing last summer.
25:19So I found out on the news that these are the people that killed her.
25:24So there was a big headline that it was Rachel and Sheila killed Skyler Nieves.
25:29Big headline.
25:31And I just put my head down on my desk.
25:35I was in shock.
25:37Didn't believe it at first.
25:39And then I went to my mom.
25:43And I cried.
25:4616-year-old Rachel Schoep had been charged with first-degree murder, but after leading authorities to Skyler's body in
25:52the woods,
25:53she entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder as part of a plea deal.
25:57While one best friend admitted to murder, the other, 17-year-old Sheila Eddy, comforted the family.
26:04She even tweeted,
26:05Rest easy, Skyler.
26:07You'll always be my best friend.
26:09I miss you more than you could ever know.
26:18All this confusion about how could you do this to someone who's your best friend.
26:27I don't know the whole story.
26:28It's always the ones you least expect.
26:30But how could you kill your best friend?
26:32What the fuck?
26:34I don't get it.
26:34Fucking psychos.
26:35I felt betrayed and upset and didn't know what to do.
26:42When the person you're talking to is arrested for murder, it just scrambles your brain.
26:50You don't know.
26:51You don't know what to think.
26:53You don't know what to believe.
27:06Rachel and Sheila both had hearings to transfer them to adult status because they were juveniles.
27:12Rachel's was not covered by the media since she had confessed.
27:17But Sheila had to present herself to the courts.
27:22The court room was completely packed.
27:25I sat in the very, very back.
27:27When I saw Sheila in court, there was just a smirk on her face.
27:36Sheila was brought in and led over to the right side of us.
27:40And I looked over at her one time and she was going, she let him laugh at me in the
27:47courtroom
27:48and smiled at me.
27:52My brother and I were in court security.
27:56He was Judge Clodges' bailiff and I was in charge of the court security.
28:02I said, Dave, I said, I know you want to get at her, but you can't.
28:08If we have to take you out of the courtroom, you're not going to be allowed back in.
28:11He said, Dave, she's trying to get a reaction.
28:14Don't give her one.
28:16You don't want Judge Clodges mad at you.
28:19Just stay seated and keep her mouth shut and don't look at her.
28:25I said, Gary, you know how hard this is?
28:27Gary's my buddy, has been for years.
28:29And he had tears in his eyes.
28:31He's like, I hate her too.
28:33Everybody does.
28:36And I wanted that joke, that little witch.
28:45Sheila Eddy faces charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and two counts of conspiracy.
28:52You've got two friends accused of stabbing, literally taking her out somewhere,
28:57picking her up in the car, taking her out somewhere, going and stabbing.
29:01Two girls charged in Nisa's murder, planned everything out.
29:06There has to be more to this story.
29:08Absolutely.
29:09People were trying to then speculate, why did they do it?
29:14It was like a wildfire.
29:17Like, what possesses you to kill your best friend?
29:18There's got to be something else going on.
29:20Skylar's last tweet indicates that she was obviously mad at some.
29:23So sorry for the Nisa's family.
29:25Friends that compete for BFF spots.
29:28And jealousy is rampant.
29:30So premeditated.
29:31They were a catalyst for each other.
29:34How do you stab your best friend to death and be able to go on for months hiding?
29:39My theory was that Sheila was the one behind everything.
29:43It was usually Sheila calling the shots.
29:48I fully believe that Rachel was just there.
29:53I mean, she's not innocent by any means.
29:55She definitely participated.
29:56But I would say that Sheila was probably the ringleader of that.
30:02I don't buy into that at all.
30:05I mean, Sheila was convincing.
30:08But there's a difference between being convincing and convincing somebody to murder.
30:22Holy hell, my life has gone to hell.
30:26This place is so scary and weird for me.
30:29I miss McDonald's.
30:31I miss mom.
30:32I miss weed.
30:34I miss home.
30:35This is pathetic.
30:38I look so terrible.
30:40Life sucks.
30:43Sheila was not interviewed after she was arrested.
30:46They had enough evidence.
30:48They didn't need her statement.
30:49It would have been nice if she had said why.
30:52But they didn't need her why.
30:54They knew the how.
30:58Because Rachel confessed, we only have Rachel's perspective and the reason that she provided.
31:05Rachel said that Skylar got in the way of the relationship with Sheila.
31:11And it was Sheila's idea was the driving force to do it.
31:16And Rachel went along with her.
31:21Rachel told a shit ton of lies.
31:24The bitch knows she's a liar.
31:27But anyways, I'm sorry for all I've put you through.
31:31If I could take it back, I would.
31:44The sentencing hearing for Rachel Shove is taking place this morning in Montaguey County Circuit Court.
32:09Mary had reached out to me and my mom on Facebook and asked us if we could go.
32:18So, my mom pulled me out of school early and we went over.
32:23She was nervous.
32:25She was very nervous.
32:28Rachel's family was there for the plea.
32:31Dave's in the middle section of the courtroom.
32:35It's just so tense.
32:37Yeah.
32:38We are here this morning in the case of the state of West Virginia versus Rachel Shove's defendant.
32:43Ms. Shove, I would advise you at this time of your right to allocution.
32:47Simply stated that it is your right to make any statement that you may wish the court to consider before
32:52it passes sentence in this matter.
32:57She did choose to stand up and address Dave and I.
33:01I am so sorry.
33:03I don't know if there's a proper way to make this apology because there are not even words to describe
33:09the guilt and remorse that I feel each day for what I've done.
33:14The person that did that was not the real me, not the person I am, not what I'm made of
33:19and not what I believe in.
33:21She did this long speech about how sorry she was and she was in tears during her whole speech.
33:30I became scared and caught up in something that I did not want to do.
33:33I hurt the niece family and those who love Skylar.
33:36I hurt my parents and shamed my family.
33:39And I hurt my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
33:41May God bring eternal peace to Skylar and the entire niece family.
33:44Again, I'm so sorry and I pray each day for everyone involved and I pray each day for forgiveness.
33:54The whole sob story of how I can never take it back and I'm like, no, like you've done it.
34:02Nothing you say makes a difference.
34:04Just shut up.
34:05You're making it harder on everybody else around you.
34:08I felt like she kind of rehearsed her apology.
34:12And if you're apologizing to someone, it's coming from the heart, not something you rehearsed.
34:26Prosecutor gets up and tells what the evidence in the case is.
34:31That was the first time a lot of people heard the details of how vicious it was.
34:40Yeah, Skylar's murder.
34:41This is what Rachel Schoaf finally told police on January 3rd, 2013.
34:48She said, we stabbed her, referring to herself and Sheila Eddy, stabbing Skylar Nieves.
34:57They killed Skylar because the girls always fought with Skylar.
35:04And she was, quote, in the way of the friendship between Rachel and Sheila.
35:11That is like the most absurd, like, and ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
35:17And it doesn't make sense to say that you just don't want to be friends with somebody anymore
35:22and that's the reason that you stabbed them.
35:27On July 5th, 2012, Sheila and Rachel agreed that it's today.
35:34Today was when they should commit the murder.
35:38Before Rachel left for church summer camp.
35:47When they arrived at that location, at the agreed-upon countdown,
35:54Rachel Schoaf and Sheila Eddy attacked Skylar Nieves and stabbed her to death.
36:16I don't know how you have a senseless crime of lifelong, you know, best friends murdering each other.
36:25None of it makes any sense to me.
36:29It must be unbearable for Dave and Mary Nieves to contemplate the fact that Skylar's friends hated her so much
36:36that they took her in the dark of night and stabbed her to death, even as she struggled for life.
36:44All I can see and feel is them murdering her and stabbing her over and over again.
37:06We're asked to believe that Rachel Schoaf finally became overwhelmed with guilt and remorse and freely confessed her crime.
37:17That Rachel Schoaf is a sort of hero in that regard.
37:22Not really, Your Honor.
37:24In exchange for her statement on January 3rd, 2013, Rachel Schoaf extracted a benefit in the form of a lesser
37:34plea.
37:37Surely, for this oh-so-adult crime of cold-blooded, planned, premeditated murder,
37:44there is no proper sentence other than an adult sentence.
37:49Marcia and Perry Jo tell the judge how heinous it was.
37:54They just wanted to make sure that they got what they deserved.
37:59Rachel Schoaf, would you please stand?
38:01No.
38:06It's the court's intention to sentence the defendant as an adult.
38:12Rachel Schoaf, for your conviction of the offense of murder in the second degree,
38:17it is the sentence of the court that you'd be imprisoned in the West Virginia State Penitentiary for a period
38:22of 30 years.
38:38Rachel Schoaf, for your conviction of murder in the West Virginia State Penitentiary for a period of 30 years.
39:00I realized that I was gay as an early teenager.
39:05When I met Sheila and Skylar in high school,
39:09the relationship between Sheila and I
39:11was immediately very unhealthy
39:16and intense
39:18and
39:20obsessive
39:22and there was just this overwhelming infatuation.
39:26It felt like life or death to me.
39:30Holy fucking shit!
39:36Girly friend, oh my god.
39:39Love you, miss you, love you, miss you,
39:42love you, miss you, love you, miss you,
39:44love you with all my heart.
39:46Miss you so much.
39:48Your best friend, girly friend, I don't know.
39:52Love you.
39:57Rachel was obsessed with Sheila.
39:59It was, like, a different level of something else.
40:02Like, it was more than friendship.
40:04One of the, like, rumors of why they did it
40:08was that they were in a secret relationship
40:10and Skylar was gonna tell somebody.
40:12There was some lesbian triangle going on.
40:16Sheila and Rachel were afraid Skylar was gonna tell people
40:19about their secret, including the set.
40:21Sheila and Rachel ended up doing all girls can do with each other.
40:27The lesbian shit got old a long time ago.
40:31I tell the whole school all the shit I have on everyone,
40:34which is a lot.
40:42There was a lot of jealousies and conflict from Skylar
40:46throughout the relationship.
40:49Just a lot of animosity and threats to expose our relationship
40:54that scared me.
40:58I didn't know how the reaction would be from my family or church,
41:03things like that.
41:06And my 16-year-old teenage monstrous mind,
41:10it just felt like nothing could come between us, you know?
41:20For the longest time, I thought that Sheila was the one behind everything.
41:26But looking back at it now, I'm pretty sure that it was Rachel
41:30because of her not wanting her family to know she was gay.
41:36She said they did it because they were afraid that Skylar would tell
41:43about their lesbian relationship.
41:46But Skylar knew about their lesbian relationship for over a year
41:51and never said a word.
41:54So why, why would they think that?
41:57And even if they did think that, why would they kill her for something like that?
42:08Rachel came out saying that, you know, she was a lesbian
42:11and that that was part of the reason why she did the whole murder in the first place.
42:15But I gotta say that's bullshit.
42:18It's just you trying to get out of jail is what I personally believe.
42:23Rachel's motive makes sense for Rachel.
42:26But it doesn't make sense for Sheila.
42:30Rachel coming out, that would probably crush Rachel's life as far as her family goes.
42:35But Sheila, I don't, I just don't see that.
42:41Sheila Eddy will appear today in Montaguey County Circuit Court
42:46to enter her much anticipated plea.
42:48The question now is going to be, does she plead guilty?
42:52Does she go to trial and have her friend testify against her?
42:55We heard Sheila was going to plead.
42:58Bad anticipation of the unknown.
43:01Do we have a trial?
43:02Do we not have a trial?
43:04Hopefully, Sheila will plead out and spare Denise's pain.
43:08I doubt it though.
43:09I think she'll do anything and everything to save her own skin at any cost.
43:15I hope she is locked away for life.
43:19A friend told me that it was a plea hearing happening that day.
43:23And so we left school.
43:25I did not go to Rachel's hearing.
43:28I could not physically do it.
43:29I just couldn't go.
43:31But Sheila, I wanted to watch her go down.
43:39If she pleads not guilty, the case will go to trial.
43:43If she enters a guilty plea, she'll be sentenced immediately.
43:49Sheila looked completely opposite of what she did normally.
43:52She's in a jumpsuit, kind of run down.
43:56The difference is night and day from Sheila's typical self to that version of her.
44:04We had to keep an eye on Dave.
44:09You know, you could see the anguish in their faces.
44:16If you would just please identify yourself for the record, then you may speak.
44:20My name is David Neese.
44:21My name is Skylar's father.
44:24I'm here today with my wife, Mary.
44:26I speak to you on behalf of my daughter, because she can't be here.
44:31Since that day, my wife's life has drastically altered.
44:39We are no longer a family.
44:42The person sitting before you, Skylar's so-called friend, took her away from us without any remorse or feelings.
44:50You can look into the eyes of those who are responsible, but you can never hear what they heard as
44:55they were taking her life.
44:58You can see the faces of the killer, but you can't see Skylar's face.
45:02You can never understand the fear that she must have had as they took a knife and enter her life.
45:10You cannot imagine the pain that Skylar must have felt and the pain that Mary and I now feel.
45:21It was so sad.
45:24And then you have this girl sitting there that took their daughter's life and just, there was no emotion.
45:34Your Honor, at a trial, the state's evidence would prove that Skylar's disappearance and death were the result of a
45:45conspiracy between Sheila Eddy and Rachel Schoeff to rid themselves of their friend Skylar by killing her.
45:56But the two defendants were questioned by police repeatedly over a period of five and six months following Skylar's disappearance.
46:07Let's not forget that they lied repeatedly and that they were communicating with each other to keep their lies straight,
46:13to keep them consistent with each other.
46:17All I was just waiting for was to hear Sheila actually admit it.
46:29Sheila Eddy, how do you plead to the offense of murder in the first degree of the felony charged in
46:34count three of the indictment in this case?
46:37Guilty.
46:38The record will reflect that the defendant has entered a plea of guilty to the offense of murder in the
46:43first degree.
46:44You may be seated.
46:46She pled guilty.
46:48But you're still trying to find the slithers of, does that really make sense?
46:54Can you see any advantage to your client if this case proceeded to trial?
46:59No.
47:00I have examined the law to attempt to find a reasonable defense in law for my client.
47:09I have found none.
47:10Her attorney expressed that, in their view, the state's case was so strong that they really couldn't put on a
47:22believable defense.
47:24We expected today to be a pre-trial hearing, but in a surprise move, Sheila Eddy did plead to first
47:30degree murder of Skylar Neese.
47:33Ms. Eddy, do you have anything that you wish to say at this time?
47:39Nothing.
47:40On behalf of my client, she asked that she be permitted to remain silent.
47:49Sheila didn't talk.
47:50It was just shocking to see the no remorse with her, especially not even crying.
47:56She's just dead-faced in the courtroom.
47:59I saw it then. There was nothing there. The girl has no soul.
48:06Ms. Eddy, would you please stand?
48:12Sheila Eddy, for your conviction of the offense of murder in the first degree, upon your plea of guilty,
48:19it is the sentence of the court that you've imprisoned in the West Virginia State Penitentiary for the rest of
48:24your natural life.
48:27That sentence is technically with mercy, which makes you eligible for parole after you have served 15 years.
48:37All rise. The court's in recess.
48:43When the hearing was over, I went over to get her, to take her out.
48:50And the attorney asked, is it okay if Sheila says goodbye to her parents in the jury room?
48:57And I looked at him and I said,
49:03Schuyler didn't get to tell her parents goodbye. No.
49:09They didn't deserve it.
49:16They took that away from Dave and Mary.
49:21Sheila Eddy's silence leaves more questions than answers.
49:25And now people are left to decide for themselves why two teenagers perpetrated such a horrific crime.
49:38It's just hard to come to grips with the facts of the case.
49:42It was gruesomely horrific.
49:47But if you think about it in the context of teenagers in general, just seeing how vulnerable they are.
49:55The brains aren't fully formed and they just can't properly deal with adversity and process information.
50:02As a teenager, everything's kind of magnified.
50:05Love feels stronger. Hate feels stronger.
50:08Anxiety feels stronger.
50:10Every emotion is so intense.
50:14Part of the issue, too, is just more of like the cumulative effect.
50:18You know, it's not just like one thing.
50:21You have peer pressure.
50:23You have social media and that's completely bombarding them from all different platforms.
50:28And then you couple that with the obsessive nature of that relationship between Sheila and Rachel.
50:36All it would have taken for that plan to fall apart is if one of them withdrew, backed out, said
50:42this isn't a good idea.
50:43And that never happened.
50:45The dynamic between Sheila and Rachel, they feed off of each other.
50:50It's definitely the perfect storm when these personalities meet.
50:56They were very passionate about what they did.
50:59And it took years of friendship and anger and love and whatever else to do that.
51:08That's crazy.
51:10You don't like someone, you just stop being friends.
51:13You don't kill someone.
51:18I'd say there's probably something bigger that's still not been said, some kind of deeper, darker secret.
51:25But no matter what the reason is, it still wouldn't explain, let alone excuse, murdering my friend Skylar.
51:40Me and Sheila are best friends.
51:44We'll always be best friends.
51:49I love hanging out with Rachel.
51:53Sheila and I are closer to her than we've ever been with anyone.
51:58Other than each other.
52:09Let me see your old woman.
52:12She had a good sense of humor and she used to do an old lady impression for us.
52:19So how old are you again?
52:21One hundred.
52:23And when she would start doing the impression, Dave would join in as an old man.
52:30And do his impression, they would do it together.
52:33It was, it was hilarious.
52:34Walked down the hallway holding each other up.
52:36It was so cute.
52:40Back up to the Christmas tree.
53:02Back up to the Christmas tree.
53:08It was very like, weird because you wanted to be like, happy, like celebrating.
53:15But Skylar wasn't there.
53:20From ten years ago to now, it's shaped dozens of lives and it still does.
53:26I've had trust issues.
53:29Trusting people.
53:30Like they were her best friends and they killed her.
53:35How are you supposed to trust someone if that's her best friend?
53:40When I was a kid, I had to murder a friend.
53:43And it's like, I don't, how do you know what anybody's going to do?
53:49It hurts when a trust is broken to that level.
53:57The friendship that I had with Skylar, I knew early on it was a lifelong friendship.
54:03Even the fact that she's not here, a lot of the choices I make in life are reflective of the
54:10friendship I had with Skylar and the friendship I still have with her.
54:17I loved her then, love her now.
54:24I would love to see what she would have done.
54:27She would have been a lawyer.
54:29Skylar would have kicked butt in court.
54:33She would have done really good in this world.
54:39Sometimes I go to her site and I feel pretty close to her.
54:43I ended up taking her my graduation cap and I pinned it on the tree.
54:50It was just a beautiful way to remember her.
54:52We'll go on.
54:55We'll go on.
54:58Try to be strong.
55:01Keep doing this song.
55:07Try to be strong.
55:07Thank you for that.
55:15Try sharing it.
55:16Take care.
55:16Have you high, minus two, where?
55:27I �ium e sociedad.
55:27Do my first floor.
55:28You're the only one's.
55:29Keep pouring it all.
55:29Your second floor.
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