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Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese - Season 1 - Episode 03: The Truth
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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.
09:04Yeah.
09:11It's gonna happen.
09:12Yeah.
09:13It's gonna happen.
09:13What do you like me?
09:18January 3rd.
09:19Time right now, 2031.
09:21Long day conversation.
09:24What's your name?
09:25Rachel.
09:26We have your permission.
09:26Mm-hmm.
09:27That's fine.
09:27Okay.
09:31They're in one way.
09:33Yep.
09:39Hey, what are you doing?
09:44Would 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.
10:03We talked to Rachel and said,
10:04listen, you have to be as natural as you can be.
10:06Just have a conversation with her as you normally would
10:09and just see what Sheila says.
10:17Oh, God.
10:18Okay.
10:18I'm kidding.
10:19Um.
10:21Um.
10:23If they don't tell me to change your 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.
10:34Listen to me.
10:35I'm speaking so much.
10:37I don't know what they said to you, like, but they can't prove what you 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.
10:57We've 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.
11:07We were thinking, well, that's really good for our case, right?
11:10But beyond that, there really wasn't anything overly incriminating from that conversation.
11:17So 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 this.
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.
12:02This is a kid that just stabbed their friend.
12:09She wasn't charged at that moment because we didn't have a body.
12:13We 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.
12:38And we had a plan to just hang out in 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,
13:10but 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.
19:45Even with a confession, there is still a ton of work to do with that confession.
19:51You have to prove that what they're saying is true since they had lied so much.
19:55who's to say they're not lying again analyzing all of the data and all of the evidence
20:01is what you have to do to make a case so that just takes more time
20:10sheila oblivious to rachel confessing just going about her life as if nothing ever happened
20:17nothing changed rachel 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
20:50sheila 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 him in and she said sit down it was almost an unsettling quiet
21:35we were told that sheila and rachel stabbed schuyler to death stabbed 50 sometimes
21:47after schuyler went missing they both said that they would do anything to get schuyler back
21:56just about every night sheila would say i love you guys i'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
22:14i'm thinking to myself i'm going to kill them
22:20now i thought don't get ahead of yourself just slow down
22:25we suspected they both had knew something about it but we never would have dreamed that they
22:32actually murdered her
22:34i i never thought in my deepest darkest dreams that the two people that she was
22:44best friends with could be related to this
22:50they were just hiding it
22:54for a long time
22:57and that just made it worse
23:00i i couldn't wrap my head around it
23:03we were going through emotional hell
23:08and then they told us she let he's is going to be arrested for first-degree murder
23:23eventually schuyler's remains were scientifically identified the fbi were able to conclusively and
23:29scientifically say that that dna in sheila's car
23:31the scholars
23:34now we could substantiate rachel's confession once we got that confirmation i mean that was it
23:41so after months and months of investigating this after all the rumors the lies
23:48watching mary and dave go through their torment
23:51we now could arrest both girls for the murder of schuyler niece
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 i'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 sheila 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 please reach out to a teacher if you would like
25:02to speak to someone
25:04and so when i heard that and i looked down at my phone shocking news comes out of morgantown today
25:09two teenage girls have been charged on the murder of schuyler niece a young girl who went missing last summer
25:19so i found out on the news that these are the people that killed her
25:23so there's a big headline that it was rachel and sheila killed schuyler niece
25:29big headline and i just put my head down on my desk
25:35i was in shock didn't believe it at first
25:39and then i went to my mom
25:43and i cried
25:4616 year old rachel shoaf had been charged with first degree murder but after leading authorities to schuyler'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 eddie comforted the family
26:04she even tweeted rest easy schuyler you'll always be my best friend
26:09i miss you more than you could ever know
26:18all this confusion about
26:21how
26:22could you do this to someone
26:24who'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
26:34i felt betrayed and upset
26:38and didn't know what to do
26:42when the person you're talking to
26:46is arrested for murder
26:48it just scrambles your brain you don't know
26:51you don't know what to think you 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
27:14she had confessed
27:17but sheila had to present herself to the courts
27:22court room was completely packed
27:25i sat in the very very back
27:27when i saw sheila in court
27:29there was just a smirk on her face
27:36sheila was brought in
27:37and led over to the right side of us
27:40and i looked over at her one time
27:42and she was going
27:46sheila and he laughed at me in the courtroom
27:48and smiled at me
27:49i 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 court room you're not going to be allowed back in
28:11and he said dave she's trying to get a reaction don't give her one you don't want judge claudia's mad
28:18at you just stay seated and keep her mouth shut and don't look at her
28:25i said gary you know how hard this is gary's my buddy has been for years and
28:29he had tears in his eyes he's like i hate her too everybody does
28:36and i wanted that joke that little witch
28:45sheila eddie faces charges of first degree murder
28:48kidnapping and two counts of conspiracy
28:51you've got two friends accused of stabbing literally
28:55taking her out somewhere picking her up in the car
28:58taking her out somewhere going and stabbing two girls charged in nieces murder
29:03planned everything out there has to be more to the story absolutely
29:09people were trying to then speculate why did they do it it was like a wildfire
29:16like what possesses you to kill your best friend there's got to be something else going on skyler's
29:20last tweet indicates that she was obviously mad at some so sorry for the niece family friends that
29:26compete for bff spots and jealousy is rampant so premeditated they 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 it
29:39my theory was that sheila was the one behind everything it was usually sheila calling the shots
29:48i fully believe that rachel was just there i mean she's not innocent by any means she definitely
29:56participated but i would say that sheila was probably the ringleader of that i don't buy into that at
30:04all i mean sheila was convincing but there's a difference between being convincing and convincing
30:12somebody to murder holy hell my life has gone to hell this place is so scary and weird for me
30:30i miss mcdonald's i miss mom i miss weed i miss home this is pathetic
30:38i look so terrible life sucks sheila was not interviewed after she was arrested they had enough
30:47evidence they didn't need her statement it would have been nice if she had said why but they didn't
30:53need her why they knew the how because rachel confessed we only have rachel's perspective and the
31:03reason that she provided rachel said that skylar got in the way of the relationship with sheila and it
31:12was sheila's idea was the driving force to do it and rachel went along with her
31:21rachel told a shit ton of lies the bitch knows she's a liar but anyways i'm sorry for all i've
31:30put you
31:31through if i could take it back i would the sentencing hearing for rachel shoaf is taking place this
31:49morning in montagueya county circuit court we were just waiting for rachel to walk through the door
32:01and here comes this redheaded teenager
32:10mary had reached out to me 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 she was very nervous rachel's family was there for the plea
32:31dave's in the middle section of the courtroom
32:35it's just so tense yeah we are here this morning in the case of state of west virginia versus rachel
32:42shoaf's defendant i would advise you at this time of your right to allocution
32:47simply stated that is your right to make any statement that you may wish the court to consider
32:51before it passes sentence in this matter
32:56she did choose to stand up and address dave and i i'm so sorry i don't know if there's a
33:05proper
33:05way to make this apology because there are not even words to describe the guilt and remorse that i
33:11feel each day for what i've done
33:14the person that did that was not the real me
33:16not the person i am not what i'm made of and not what i believe in
33:21she did this long speech about how sorry she was and she was in tears what you know during her
33:29whole
33:29speech i became scared and caught up in something that i did not want to do i hurt the niece
33:34family
33:34and those who love skylar i hurt my parents and shamed my family and i hurt my lord and savior
33:40jesus
33:41christ may god bring eternal peace to skylar and the entire niece family again i'm so sorry and i pray
33:46each 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
34:03say makes a difference just shut up you're making it harder on everybody else around you i felt like
34:09she kind of rehearsed her apology and if you're apologizing to someone it's coming from the heart not
34:16something you rehearsed
34:25prosecutor gets up and tells what the evidence in the case is that was the first time yeah a lot
34:34of
34:34people heard the details of how vicious it was yeah scholars murder this is what rachel show finally
34:44told police on january 3rd 2013 she said we stabbed her referring to herself and sheila eddie
34:54stabbing skylar niece
34:58they killed skylar because the girls always fought with skylar and she was quote in the way
35:07of the friendship between rachel and sheila that is like the most absurd like and ridiculous thing i've
35:17ever heard and it doesn't make sense to say that you just don't want to be friends with somebody
35:22anymore and that's the reason that you stabbed them
35:28on july 5th 2012 sheila and rachel agreed that it's today today 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 rachel shofe and sheila eddie
35:57attacked skylar niece and stabbed her to death
36:15i don't know how you have a senseless crime
36:19of 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 niece to contemplate the fact that skylar's friends hated
36:35her so much that they took her in the dark of night and stabbed her to death even as she
36:41struggled for
36:42her life all i can see and feel
36:53is them
36:57murdering her and stabbing her
37:02over and over again
37:06we're asked to believe that rachel shofe finally became overwhelmed with guilt and remorse and freely
37:14confessed her crime that rachel shofe is a sort of hero in that regard
37:22not really your honor in exchange for her statement on january 3rd 2013
37:29rachel shofe extracted a benefit in the form of a lesser plea
37:37surely for this oh so adult crime of cold-blooded planned premeditated murder there is no proper
37:45sentence other than an adult sentence marcia and perry joe tell the judge how heinous it was
37:54they just wanted to make sure that they got what they deserved
37:59rachel shofe would you please stand
38:06it's the court's intention to sentence the defendant as an adult rachel shofe for your conviction of the
38:15offense of murder in the second degree it is the sentence of the court that you'd be imprisoned in
38:20the west virginia state penitentiary for a period of 30 years
38:39sheila you are about to kill that you fucking psychopath
39:00i realized that i was gay as an early teenager
39:05when i met sheila and scholar in high school
39:07um the relationship between sheila and i was immediately very um unhealthy
39:17and intense and um obsessive and there was like just this overwhelming infatuation
39:25it felt like life or death to me
39:36girly friend oh my god
39:39i love you miss you love you miss you love you miss you love you with all my heart
39:45miss you so much your best friend girly friend i don't know love you
39:57rachel's obsessed with sheila it was like a different level of something else like it was more
40:02than friendship one of the like rumors of why they did it was that they were in a secret
40:09relationship and skylar was gonna tell somebody there was some lesbian triangle going on sheila and rachel
40:17were afraid skylar was going to tell people about their secret including the sex sheila and rachel
40:23ended up doing all girls can do with each other the lesbian got old a long time ago
40:31i tell the whole school all the shit i have on everyone which is a lot
40:42there was a lot of jealousies and conflict from skylar throughout the relationship
40:49just a lot of animosity and threats to expose our relationship that scared me
40:58i didn't know how the reaction would be from my family or church things like that
41:06and my 16 year old teenage monstrous mind it just felt like nothing could come between us you know
41:20for the longest time i thought that sheila was the one behind everything but looking back at it now
41:28i'm pretty sure that it was rachel because 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 about their lesbian relationship
41:46but skylar knew about their lesbian relationship for over a year and never said a word so why
41:56why why would they think that and even if they did think that why would they kill her for something
42:03like that
42:08rachel came out saying that you know she was a lesbian and that that was part of the reason why
42:13she did the whole murder in the first place but i gotta say that's bullshit
42:18it's just you trying to get out of jail is what i personally believe rachel's motive makes sense for
42:25rachel but it doesn't make sense for sheila rachel coming out that would probably crush rachel's life
42:34as far as her family goes but sheila i don't i just don't see that
42:41sheila eddie will appear today in montagueya county circuit court to enter her much anticipated plea
42:48the question now is going to be does she plead guilty does she go to trial and have her friend
42:53testify against her we heard sheila was going to plea that anticipation of the unknown do we have a
43:01trial do we not have a trial hopefully sheila will plead out and spare denise's pain i doubt it though
43:09i think she'll do anything and everything to save her own skin
43:13at any cost i hope she is locked away for life a friend told me that was a plea hearing
43:22happening
43:23that day and so we left school i did not go to rachel's hearing i could not physically do it
43:29i just
43:30couldn't go but sheila i wanted to watch her go down
43:39if she pleads not guilty the case will go to trial if she enters a guilty plea she'll be sentenced
43:46immediately sheila looked completely opposite of what she did normally she's in a jumpsuit kind of run
43:55down the difference is night and day from sheila's typical self to that version of her
44:04we had to keep an eye on day
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
44:19my name is david niece mom skylar's father um i'm here today with my wife mary
44:26i speak to you on the behalf of my daughter because she can't be here
44:31since that date my life my wife's life has
44:35was drastically altered we are no longer a family the person sitting before you skylar's so-called
44:45friend took her away from us without any remorse or feelings
44:50you can look into the eyes of those who are responsible but you could never hear what they
44:54heard as they 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 was dead as they took a knife and enter her life
45:10you cannot imagine the pain that scott must have felt in the pain that mary and i now feel
45:21it was so sad and then you have this girl sitting there that took their daughter's life and
45:30just there was no emotion your honor at a trial the state's evidence would prove that skylar's
45:42disappearance and death were the result of a conspiracy between sheila eddie and rachel shoaf
45:48to 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
46:05following skylar's disappearance let's not forget that they lied repeatedly and that they were
46:10communicating with each other to keep their lies straight to keep them consistent with each other
46:17all i was just waiting for was to to hear sheila actually admit it
46:29sheila eddie how do you plead to the offense of murder and the first degree of the felony
46:33charged in count three of the indictment in this case guilty the record will reflect that the
46:40defendant has entered a plea of guilty to the offense of murder in the first degree may be seated
46:46she pled guilty but 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 no i have examined the law
47:03to attempt to find a reasonable defense in law for my client i have found none her attorney expressed that
47:13in their view the state's case was so strong that they really couldn't put on a believable defense
47:24we expected today to be a pre-trial hearing but in a surprise move sheila eddie did plead to first
47:30degree murder of schuyler niece do you have anything that you wish to say at this time
47:38i can't think on behalf of my client she um asked that she'd be permitted to remain silent sheila
47:49didn't talk it was just shocking to see that the no remorse with her especially not even crying she's
47:56just dead-faced in the in the courtroom i saw it then there was nothing there that girl has no
48:03soul
48:07sheila eddie would you please stand
48:12sheila eddie for your conviction of the offense of murder in the first degree
48:17upon your plea of guilty it is the sentence of the court that you've been imprisoned in the west
48:22virginia state penitentiary for the rest of your natural life that sentence is technically with mercy
48:31which makes you eligible for parole after you have served 15 years all rise the court's in recess
48:41yes when the hearing was over i went over to get her to take her out
48:50and the attorney asked is it okay if she like says goodbye to her parents in the jury room and
48:58i looked
48:58at him and i said
49:03skylar didn't get to tell her parents goodbye no
49:21sheila eddie's silence leaves more questions than answers and now people are left to decide for
49:28themselves why two teenagers perpetrated such a horrific crime
49:38it's just hard to come to grips with the facts of the case it was gruesomely horrific
49:47but if you think about in the context of teenagers in general just seeing how vulnerable they are
49:54the brains aren't fully formed and they just can't properly deal with adversity and process
50:00information as a teenager everything's kind of magnified love feels stronger hate feels stronger
50:08anxiety feels stronger every emotion is so intense
50:14part of the issue too is just more of like the cumulative effect you know it's not just like one
50:19thing
50:21you have peer pressure you have peer pressure you have social media and that's completely bombarding
50:26them from all different platforms and then you couple that with the obsessive nature of
50:32that relationship between sheila and rachel all it would have taken for that plan to fall apart
50:38is if one of them withdrew backed out said this isn't a good idea and that never happened
50:45the dynamic between sheila and rachel they feed off of each other it's definitely the perfect storm when
50:53these personalities meet they were very passionate about what they did it took years of friendship and
51:03anger and love and whatever else to do that that's crazy you don't like someone you just stop being
51:12friends you don't kill someone i'd say there's probably something bigger that's still not been said
51:22some kind of deeper darker secret but no matter what the reason is it still wouldn't explain let alone
51:30excuse murdering my friend skylar
51:41me and sheila are best friends we'll always be best friends
51:48i love hanging out with rachel
51:54sheila and i are closer to her than we've ever been with anyone other than each other
52:09let me see your old woman she had a good sense of humor and she used to do an old
52:17lady impression for us
52:18so how old are you again 100 100 and when she would start doing the impression dave would join in
52:27as
52:28an old man and do his impression they would do it together it was it was down the hallway holding
52:35each other up and it was so cute back up to the christmas tree
53:08it was very like weird because you wanted to be like
53:12happy like celebrating but skylar wasn't there
53:20from 10 years ago to now it's shaped dozens of lives and it still does
53:26i've had trust issues trusting people like they were her best friends and they killed her
53:34how are you supposed to trust someone if that's her your best friend
53:40when i was a kid i had to murder a friend and it's like i don't how do you know
53:46what anybody's gonna do
53:49it hurts when a trust is broken to that level
53:54the friendship that i had with skylar i knew early on it was a lifelong friendship even the fact that
54:05she's not here a lot of the choices i make in life are reflective of the friendship i have with
54:11skylar
54:12and the friendship i still have with her
54:17i i loved her then love her now
54:24i would love to see what she would have done
54:27she wanted to be a lawyer skylar when it 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 i ended up taking her my uh
54:46my graduation cap and i pinned it on the tree it was just a beautiful way to remember her
54:52we'll go on
54:58try to be strong
55:01keep you in this song
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