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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.
09:02It's good.
09:11Let me know when you're.
09:13You like me.
09:16It's okay.
09:18January 3rd, time right now, 20, 39.
09:21One day of conversation.
09:24What's your name?
09:25Rachel.
09:25Rachel.
09:26We have your permission.
09:26Goodbye.
09:27Okay, let's go.
09:27Okay.
09:32They're in one way.
09:33Yep.
09:38Hey.
09:40What 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.
09:51Like, it's serious.
09:55We'll talk when you get here.
09:58Okay.
10:01Okay, fine.
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.
10:19Um.
10:20Um.
10:21Um.
10:23If they don't tell you, 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.
10:32I think.
10:33Okay, listen to me.
10:35I'm speaking this over.
10:37I don't know what they said to you, like,
10:40but 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.
11:07And 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.
11:23Let'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.
11:46for 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
11:51like a little girl that 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
12:19to link Sheila to the murder.
12:22And until then, Rachel was free to go home.
12:36Rachel messaged me to come stay the night at her house.
12:38And we had a plan to just hang out and smoke pot in the basement.
12:47Sleepovers 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.
13:15Just belly laughing and giggling together.
13:21We were chatting about life and she sat down very seriously and said,
13:26Hey, I have to tell you something.
13:29You know, I look at her seriously and she just blurted out that, that she said,
13:34I'm sorry, Sheila did murder Skylar.
13:39But 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.
15:41There was blood found in Sheila's car that was recovered and needed testing.
15:48The blood samples were sent off for DNA testing and we were super hopeful that we were going to get
15:57a 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.
16:26And I'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.
16:53Whenever she was missing, it was, we have hope.
16:56You 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.
17:29That was...
17:30tough.
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.
18:07You like your...
18:08Do you like your new bloomers, Skyler?
18:14They fit you quite well, don't they?
18:19Do you like your new bloomers, Skyler?
18:25They fit you quite well, don't they?
18:30Our world just collapsed.
18:38We knew she wasn't coming home.
18:47We've been holding out so much hope.
18:50And thinking in the back of our head, we didn't care what the reason 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.
19:09Just let her go, she's out.
19:10I'll plug her back, you must go.
19:20You can stay.
19:20And I'm like that, if you want your new home.
19:21You can stay down and do it.
19:22You can stay down and do it.
19:22You can stay down and do it.
19:23I'm happy you can stay down the road since you want to go.
19:24I'm happy to stay down.
19:24And I'm happy to come down on the road.
19:26And I'm happy to stay down.
19:27I'm happy to stay down and keep going down on the road.
19:28And I'll stay down and do it as well.
19:45even with a confession there is still a ton of work to do with that confession you have to prove
19:52that what they're saying is true since 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
20:05takes more time Sheila oblivious to Rachel confessing just going about her life as if nothing
20:16ever happened nothing 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 for the bulk of our
21:09conversation it was probably venting to each other about the ridiculous rumors
21:22the liaison for the FBI told us she want to talk to us we let them in and she said
21:30sit down it was
21:31almost an unsettling quiet we were told that the Sheila and Rachel stabbed Skyler to death stab 50 sometimes
21:47after Skyler went missing they both said that they would do anything to get Skyler back just about every
21:57night Sheila would say I love you guys I'd reply we love you too
22:04in our hearts we're thinking that poor kid you know she's going to what we are I felt such betrayal
22:12that it was unreal I'm thinking to myself I'm gonna kill them now I thought don't get ahead of yourself
22:22just slow down
22:25we suspected they both had 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 she was best friends with could be
22:45related to this
22:50they were just hiding it for a long time and that just made it worse I couldn't wrap my head
23:01around it
23:03we were going through emotional hell and then they told us Sheila Eddie is going to be arrested
23:14for first degree murder eventually Skyler's remains were scientifically identified the FBI were able to
23:28conclusively and scientifically say that that DNA in Sheila's car the Skyler's now we could substantiate
23:36Rachel'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 watching Mary and Dave go
23:49through their torment we now could arrest both girls for the murder of Skyler niece
23:59Ronnie Gaskins called and said hey we've got Sheila do you want to go with us to take her to
24:04jail
24:07when Sheila was in the back of the car on her way to jail she asked what about my hair
24:14appointment I'm
24:16getting my hair done for prom I'll make that appointment right and I kind of looked at her
24:22I'm getting my hair baffled and said no you're going to jail you're not going to any school dance ever
24:32again
24:33Sheila 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
24:57there's been some disturbing news today that may affect students please reach out to a teacher if
25:02you would like to speak to someone and so when I heard that and I looked down at my phone
25:06shocking
25:08news comes out of Morgantown today two teenage girls have been charged on the murder of Skyler
25:13niece a young girl who went missing last summer so I found out on the news that these are the
25:21people that
25:21killed her so there's big headline that it was Rachel and Sheila killed Skyler niece big headline and I
25:31just put my head down on my desk I was in shock didn't believe it at first and then I
25:40went to my mom
25:43I cried 16 year old Rachel show had been charged with first degree murder but after leading
25:50authorities to Skyler's body in the woods she entered a guilty plea to second degree murder as part of a
25:57plea deal
25:57well one best friend admitted to murder the other 17 year old Sheila Eddie comforted the family she even tweeted
26:05rest easy Skyler you'll
26:07always be my best friend I 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 I don't know the
26:28whole story it's always the ones you least expect but how could you kill your best friend what the
26:33fuck I don't fucking psychos I felt betrayed and upset and didn't know what to do when the person
26:44you're talking to is arrested for murder it just scrambles your brain you don't know you don't know what
26:52to think you don't know what to believe Rachel and Sheila both had hearings to transfer them to adult
27:09status because they were juveniles Rachel's was not covered by the media since she had confessed but
27:18she had had to present herself to the courts court room was completely packed I sat in the very very
27:26back when I saw Sheila in court there's just a smirk on her face Sheila was brought in and led
27:38over to
27:38the right side of us and I looked over at her one time and she was going she let he
27:46laughed at me in the
27:47courtroom and smiled at me my brother and I were in court security he was Judge Clarge's bailiff and I
27:59was in
27:59charge of the court security I said Dave I said I know you want to get at her but you
28:06can't if we
28:08have to take you out of the courtroom you're not going to be allowed back in he said Dave she's
28:13trying
28:13to get a reaction don't give her one you don't want Judge Clarge is mad at you just stay seated
28:20and
28:20keep her mouth shut and don't look at her I said Gary you know how hard this is Gary's my
28:27buddy has been
28:28for years and he had tears in his eyes he's like I hate her too everybody does and I wanted
28:37to choke that
28:44little witch Sheila Eddie faces charges of first-degree murder kidnapping and two counts of conspiracy
28:51you've got two friends accused of stabbing literally taking her out somewhere picking her up in the car
28:58taking her out somewhere going and stabbing two girls charged in Nisa's murder planned everything out
29:06there has to be more to the story absolutely people were trying to then speculate why did they
29:14do it it was like a wildfire like what possesses you to kill your best friend there's got to be
29:19something else going on Skyler's last tweet indicates that she was obviously mad at some so
29:23sorry for the Nisa's family friends that compete for BFF spots and jealousy is rampant so premeditated
29:31they were a catalyst for each other how do you stab your best friend to death and be able to
29:37go on for
29:38months hiding my theory was that Sheila was the one behind everything it was usually Sheila calling
29:45the shots I fully believe that Rachel was just there I mean she's not innocent by any means she
29:55definitely participated but I would say that Sheila was probably the ringleader of that I don't buy into
30:04that at all I mean Sheila was convincing but there's a difference between being convincing and convincing
30:12somebody in the murder holy hell my life has gone to hell this place is so scary and weird for
30:28me
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 need
30:53her why they knew the how because Rachel confessed we only have Rachel's perspective and the reason that she
31:03provided Rachel said that Skylar got in the way of the relationship with Sheila and it was Sheila's idea was
31:14the driving force to do it
31:16and 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
31:31put you through
31:31if I could take it back I would
31:45the sentencing hearing for Rachel show is taking place this morning in Montaguey County Circuit Court
31:57we were just waiting for Rachel to walk through the door and here comes this redheaded teenager
32:10Mary had reached out to me my mom on Facebook and asked us if we could go
32:23she was nervous she 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
32:41versus Rachel Schof's defendant Ms. Schof I would advise you at this time of your right to
32:46allocution simply stated that it is your right to make any statement that you may wish the court
32:51to consider before it passes sentence in this matter
32:57she did choose to stand up and address Dave and I
33:01I'm so sorry I don't know if there's a proper way to make this apology
33:07because there are not even words to describe the guilt and remorse that I feel each day for what I've
33:12done
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 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 Schuyler I hurt my parents and shamed my family
33:39and I hurt my lord and savior Jesus Christ
33:41may God bring eternal peace to Schuyler and the entire niece family
33:45again 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 just shut up you're making it harder on everybody else around you
34:08I felt like she kind of rehearsed her apology and if you're apologizing to someone it's coming from
34:16the heart not something you rehearsed
34:25the prosecutor gets up and tells what the evidence in the case is
34:31that was the first time yeah a lot of people heard
34:36the details of how vicious it was Salah Schuyler's murder
34:40this is what rachel sho finally told police on january 3rd 2013 she said we stabbed her
34:51referring to herself and sheila eddie stabbing schuyler niece
34:57they killed schuyler because the girls always fought with schuyler and she was quote in the
35:07way of the friendship between rachel and sheila that is like the most absurd like and ridiculous
35:16thing i've ever heard and it doesn't make sense to say that you just don't want to be friends
35:22with somebody anymore and that's the reason that you stab them on july 5th 2012 sheila and rachel
35:31agreed that it's today today was when they should commit the murder before rachel left for church
35:42summer camp
35:47when they arrived at that location at the agreed upon countdown
35:54rachel sho and sheila eddie attacked schuyler niece and stabbed her to death
36:16i don't know how you have a senseless crime of lifelong you know best friends murdering each
36:23other none of it makes any sense to me it must be unbearable for dave and mary niece to contemplate
36:33the fact that schuyler's friends hated her so much that they took her in the dark of night and
36:39stabbed her to death even as she struggled for life
36:44all i can see and feel
36:52is them
36:57murdering her and stabbing her
37:02over and over again
37:06we're asked to believe that rachel sho finally became overwhelmed with guilt and remorse and
37:14freely confessed her crime
37:16that rachel sho is a sort of hero in that regard
37:22not really your honor
37:24in exchange for her statement on january 3rd 2013 rachel sho 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 there is no proper sentence other than
37:46an adult sentence
37:49marcia and marcia and parry jo tell the judge how heinous it was they just wanted to make sure that
37:56they got what they deserve
37:57they just wanted to make sure that they got what they deserve
37:59rachel sho would you please stand
38:06is the court's intention to sentence the defendant as an adult rachel sho for your conviction of the offense of
38:16murder 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 thirty years
38:40sheila you are about to kill us you fucking psychopaths
38:51sheila you are about to kill us you fucking psychopaths
39:00i realized that i was gay as an early teenager
39:02i realized that i was gay as an early teenager
39:05when i met sheila and schuyler in high school
39:07um the relationship between sheila and i
39:12was immediately very um unhealthy
39:16and intense and uh obsessive
39:22and there was like just this overwhelming infatuation
39:25it felt like life or death to me
39:29holy fucking shit
39:32ah
39:36girly friend oh my god
39:38love you miss you love you miss you love you miss you love you miss you love you with all
39:45my heart
39:45miss you so much
39:47your best friend
39:50girly friend
39:51i don't know
39:52love you
39:57rachel's obsessed with sheila
39:59it was like a different level of something else like it was more than friendship
40:04one of the like rumors of why they did it was that they were in a secret relationship
40:10and schuyler was gonna tell somebody
40:12there was some lesbian triangle going on
40:15sheila and rachel were afraid schuyler was gonna tell people about their secret
40:19including the sex
40:22sheila and rachel ended up doing all girls can do with each other
40:26the 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
40:45from schuyler throughout the relationship
40:49just a lot of animosity
40:52and threats to expose our relationship
40:54that scared me
40:58i didn't know how the reaction would be
41:00from my family or church
41:03things like that
41:06and my 16 year old
41:07teenage
41:09monstrous mind
41:11it just
41:11felt like nothing could come between us
41:14you know
41:20for the longest time i thought
41:22that sheila
41:23was the one behind everything
41:27but 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 schuyler would tell about their lesbian relationship
41:45but schuyler knew about their lesbian relationship for over a year and never said a word
41:53so why
41:56why would they think that
41:57and even if they did think that
42:00why would they kill her for something like that
42:08rachel came out saying that
42:09you know she was a lesbian and that
42:12that 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
42:20is what i personally believe
42:23rachel's motive makes sense for rachel
42:27but it doesn't make sense for sheila
42:30rachel coming out that would probably crush rachel's life
42:33as far as her family goes
42:35but sheila i don't i just don't see that
42:41sheila eddie will appear today
42:44in montagueya county circuit court
42:46to enter her much anticipated plea
42:48the question now is going to be
42:50does she plead guilty
42:51does she go to trial and have her friend testify against her
42:55we heard sheila was going to
42:57plead
42:58bad anticipation of the unknown
43:00do we have a trial
43:02do we not have a trial
43:04hopefully sheila will plead out
43:06and spare denise's pain
43:08i doubt it though
43:09i think she'll do anything and everything
43:11to save her own skin
43:13at any cost
43:14i hope she is locked away
43:17for life
43:19a friend told me
43:21that was a plea hearing happening that day
43:23and so we left school
43:25i did not go to rachel's hearing
43:27i could not physically do it
43:29i just couldn't go
43:31but sheila
43:33i wanted to watch her go down
43:39if she pleads
43:40if she pleads not guilty
43:40the case will go to trial
43:43if she enters a guilty plea
43:45she'll be sentenced immediately
43:49sheila
43:49sheila looked completely opposite of what she did normally
43:52she was in a jumpsuit
43:54kind of run down
43:56the difference is night and day
43:57from sheila's typical self to
44:00that version of her
44:04sheila
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
44:21mom skylar's father
44:23um i'm here today with my wife mary
44:26i'm speaking to you on behalf of my daughter because she can't be here
44:31since that day my life my wife's life has drastically
44:38altered
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 scotter must have felt
45:14and 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
45:30just
45:31there was no emotion
45:35your honor
45:36at a trial the state's evidence would prove that skylar's disappearance
45:42and death were the result of a conspiracy between sheila eddie and rachel shoaf
45:48to rid themselves of their friend skylar
45:51by killing her
45:56but the two defendants were questioned
45:58by police repeatedly
46:00over a period of five
46:03and six months
46:05following skylar's disappearance
46:06let's not forget that they lied repeatedly
46:09and 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 to hear sheila actually admit it
46:29sheila eddie
46:30how do you plead to the offense of murder in the first degree of the felony charged in count three
46:35of 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
46:44he may be seated
46:46she pled guilty
46:48but you're still trying to find the slithers of
46:51does that really make sense
46:53can you see any advantage to your client if this case proceeded to trial
46:59no
47:00i have examined the law
47:03to attempt to find
47:04a reasonable defense in law
47:07for my client
47:09i have found none
47:11her attorney
47:12expressed that
47:13in their view
47:15the state's case was so strong
47:18that they really
47:20couldn't put on a believable defense
47:24we expected today to be a pre-trial hearing but
47:26in a surprise move sheila eddie
47:28did plead to first degree murder of schuyler niece
47:33is eddie
47:34do you have anything that you wish to say at this time
47:38i can't think
47:40your honor i can on behalf of my client
47:43she
47:45asked that she be permitted to remain silent
47:49sheila
47:49didn't talk
47:50it was just shocking to see that
47:53the no remorse with her
47:55especially not even crying
47:56she's just dead faced in the in the courtroom
47:59i saw it then
48:01there was nothing there
48:02that girl has no soul
48:09sheila
48:12sheila eddie
48:13for your conviction of the offense of
48:15murder in the first degree
48:17upon your plea of guilty
48:19it is the sentence of the court
48:21that you've imprisoned in the west virginia state penitentiary
48:24for the rest of your natural life
48:27that sentence is technically with mercy
48:31which makes you eligible for parole
48:33after you have served 15 years
48:37all rise
48:39the court's in recess
48:43when the hearing was over
48:45i went over to get her
48:46to take her out
48:49and the attorney asked
48:52is it okay if sheila
48:54says goodbye to her parents in the jury room
48:57and i looked at him and i said
49:03Skylar didn't get to tell her parents goodbye
49:05no
49:09they didn't deserve it
49:15they took that away from dave and mary
49:21sheila eddie's silence leaves more questions than answers
49:25and now people are left to decide for themselves
49:29why 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 in the context of teenagers in general
49:51just seeing how vulnerable they are
49:55the brains aren't fully formed and they just can't properly deal with adversity
49:59and process information
50:02as a teenager
50:03everything's kind of magnified
50:04love feels stronger
50:06hate feels stronger
50:08anxiety feels stronger
50:09every emotion is so
50:12intense
50:14part of the issue too
50:16is just more of like the cumulative effect
50:18it's not just like one thing
50:21you have peer pressure
50:22you have social media
50:24and that's completely bombarding them
50:26from all different platforms
50:28and then you couple that
50:30with the obsessive nature of that relationship
50:33between sheila
50:34and rachel
50:36all it would have taken for that plan to fall apart
50:38is if one of them
50:40withdrew backed out said this isn't a good idea
50:43and that
50:44never happened
50:45the dynamic between sheila and rachel
50:48how they feed off of each other
50:50it's definitely the perfect storm
50:52when these personalities meet
50:56they were very passionate
50:58about what they did
51:00it took years of friendship
51:02and anger and love
51:04and whatever else
51:06to do that
51:08that's crazy
51:10you don't like someone
51:11you just stop being friends
51:13you don't kill someone
51:18i'd say there's probably something bigger
51:20that's still not been said
51:22some kind of deeper darker secret
51:25but no matter what the reason is
51:27it still wouldn't explain
51:29let alone excuse murdering my friend Skylar
51:35you
51:40me and sheila are best friends
51:44we'll always be best friends
51:48i
51:49love
51:50hanging out with rachel
51:53sheila and i
51:54are closer to her than we've ever been
51:56with anyone
51:58other than each other
52:09let me see your old woman
52:12she had a
52:13good sense of humor and
52:15she used to do an old lady impression
52:18for us
52:19so how old are you again
52:21100
52:21100
52:23and when she would start doing the impression
52:26dave would join in as an old man
52:30and do his impression
52:31they would do it together
52:32it was it was hilarious
52:34down the hallway holding each other up
52:36it was so cute
52:40back up to the christmas tree
52:43back up to the christmas tree
53:08it was very like
53:10it was very like
53:11weird because you wanted to be like
53:12happy like celebrating
53:15but Skylar wasn't there
53:20from ten years ago to now
53:22it'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
53:32and they killed her
53:34how are you supposed to trust someone
53:36if that's your best friend
53:40when i was a kid
53:42i had to murder a friend
53:43it's like i don't
53:45how do you know what anybody's gonna do
53:49it hurts when
53:51a trust is broken
53:52to that level
53:54the friendship that i had with Skylar
53:59i knew early on
54:00it was a lifelong friendship
54:03even the fact that
54:05she's not here
54:06a lot of the choices i make
54:08in life are reflective of
54:10the friendship i have with Skylar
54:12and the friendship i still have with her
54:17i loved her then
54:19love her now
54:24i would love to see what
54:26she would have done
54:27she would be 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
54:41and i feel pretty close to her
54:43i ended up taking her my
54:45my graduation cap
54:47and i pinned it on the tree
54:49it was just a beautiful way to
54:51remember her
54:52we'll go on
54:55we'll go on
54:58we'll go on
54:58try to be strong
55:01we'll keep you in this song
55:06we'll go on
55:07we'll go on
55:08we'll go on
55:10we'll go on
55:51we'll go on
55:52we'll go on
55:52we'll go on
55:57we'll go on
56:20we'll go on
56:21we'll go on
56:23we'll go on
56:35we'll go on
56:37we'll go on
56:40we'll go on
56:44we'll go on
56:47we'll go on
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