- 2 days ago
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.
09:02That's right.
09:11You can't hear me.
09:13That's a good shot.
09:13You're right there.
09:13Do you like me?
09:19January 3rd.
09:19It's time right now, it's 20-31.
09:21Long day conversation.
09:24What's your name?
09:25Rachel.
09:25Rachel.
09:26We have your permission?
09:27So, we have a good job.
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.
19:29She was like, no, no, no, no.
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.
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
20:05takes more time sheila oblivious to rachel confessing just going about her life as if
20:16nothing ever happened nothing changed rachel and sheila had both left school and they started
20:27homeschooling so 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 want to talk to us we let him in and she said
21:30sit down it was
21:31almost an unsettling quiet we were told that the sheila and rachel stabbed skylar to death
21:41stabbed 50 sometimes
21:47after skylar went missing they both said that they would do anything to get skylar 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 you know she's going to what we are i felt such betrayal
22:13that it was unreal i'm thinking to myself oh i'm gonna kill him
22:19and 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
22:32that they actually murdered her i i never thought in my deepest darkest dreams that
22:42the two people that she was best friends with could be related to this
22:51they were just hiding it for a long time and that just made it worse
22:59i i couldn't wrap my head around it we were going through emotional hell
23:08and then they told us sheila eddie's is going to be arrested for first degree murder
23:23eventually skylar's remains were scientifically identified the fbi were able to conclusively
23:29and scientifically say that that dna in sheila's car the scholars now we could substantiate rachel's
23:36confession once we got that confirmation i mean that was it so after months and months of
23:43investigating this after all the rumors the lies watching mary and dave go through their torment
23:51we now could arrest both girls for the murder of skylar 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
24:07and 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 and i kind of looked at her
24:23baffled and said no you're going to jail you'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 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 in the murder of skylar niece
25:13a 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's big headline that it was rachel and sheila killed skylar 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 and then i went to my mom
25:43i cried 16 year old rachel shoaf had been charged with first degree murder but after leading
25:50authorities to skylar's body in the woods she entered a guilty plea to second degree murder as
25:56part of a plea deal while one best friend admitted to murder the other 17 year old sheila eddie comforted
26:03the family she even tweeted rest easy skylar you'll always be my best friend i miss you more than you
26:10could 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 get it psychos i 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 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 she had confessed but she had had to present herself
27:20to the courts court room was completely packed i sat in the very very back
27:27when i saw sheila in court there's just a smirk on her face
27:36sheila was brought in and led over to the right side of us and i looked over at her one
27:42time and
27:42she was going
27:46she let he laughed at me in the courtroom and smiled at me
28:02i said dave i said i know you want to get at her but you can't if we have to
28:08take you out of the
28:09courtroom you're not going to be allowed back in he said dave she's trying to get a reaction don't give
28:15her one you don't want judge claude just mad at you just stay seated and keep her mouth shut and
28:22don't look at her i said gary you know how hard this is gary's my buddy has been for years
28:29and
28:29he had tears in his eyes he's like i hate her too everybody does and i wanted that joke that
28:38little witch
28:45sheila 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
28:57her up in the car taking 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 people were trying to
29:11then speculate why did they do it it was like a wildfire like what possesses you to kill your
29:18best friend there's got to be something else going on skyler's last tweet indicates that she was
29:22obviously mad at so sorry for the niece family friends that compete for bff spots and jealousy is
29:29lamped so premeditated they were a catalyst for each other how do you stab your best friend to
29:36death and be able to go on for months hiding my theory was that sheila was the one behind everything
29:43it was usually sheila calling the shots i fully believe that rachel was just
29:53there i mean she's not innocent by any means she definitely participated but i would say that
29:59sheila was probably the ringleader of that i don't buy into that at all i mean sheila was convincing
30:09but there's a difference between being convincing and convincing somebody to murder
30:22holy hell my life has gone to hell this place is so scary and weird for me i miss mcdonald's
30:31i miss mom
30:32i miss weed i miss home this is pathetic i look so terrible life sucks sheila was not interviewed after
30:45she was arrested they had enough evidence they didn't need her statement it would have been nice
30:50if she had said why but they didn't need her why they knew the how because rachel confessed we only
31:00have
31:00rachel's perspective and the reason that she provided rachel said that skylar got in the way of the relationship with
31:10sheila
31:11and it was 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
31:31put you through
31:44the sentencing hearing for rachel's show is taking place this morning in montagueya 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
32:18rachel so my mom pulled me out of school early and we went over she was nervous she was very
32:26nervous
32:28rachel's family was there for the plea dave'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 shof's defendant mrs shof 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
32:57she did choose to stand up and address dave and i i'm so sorry i don't know if there's a
33:05proper way to
33:05make this apology because there are not even words to describe the guilt and remorse that i feel each
33:11day for what i've done the person that did that was not the real me not the person i am
33:18not what i'm
33:19made of and not what i believe in she did this long speech about how sorry she was and she
33:26was in tears
33:28you know during her whole speech i became scared and caught up in something that i did not want to
33:33do
33:33i hurt the niece family and those who love skylar i hurt my parents and shamed my family and i
33:39hurt my
33:40lord and savior jesus christ may god bring eternal peace to skylar and the entire niece family again i'm
33:46so 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
34:25prosecutor gets up and tells what the evidence in the case is that was the first time yeah
34:34a lot of people heard the details of how vicious it was yeah a scholar's murder
34:40this is what rachel shoff finally told police on january 3rd 2013 she said we stabbed her
34:52referring to herself and sheila eddie stabbing 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
35:16i've ever 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 on july 5th 2012 sheila and rachel agreed that
35:33it's today today was when they should commit the murder before rachel left for church summer camp
35:47when they arrived at that location at the agreed upon countdown rachel shoff and sheila eddie attacked
35:58skylar 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 other
36:25none of it makes any sense to me it must be unbearable for dave and mary niece to contemplate
36:33the fact that skylar's friends hated her so much that they took her in the dark of night and stabbed
36:39her to death even as she struggled for life all i can see and feel
36:52as them
36:57murdering her and stabbing her
37:02over and over again
37:06we're asked to believe that rachel shoff finally became overwhelmed with guilt
37:12and remorse and freely confessed her crime
37:16that rachel shoff is a sort of hero in that regard
37:22not really your honor
37:25in exchange for her statement on january 3rd 2013
37:30rachel shoff 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 shoff would you please stand
38:06is the court's intention to sentence the defendant as an adult rachel shoff 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
38:20west virginia state penitentiary for a period of 30 years
38:23are you
38:40Sheila! You are about to kill that! You fucking psychopaths!
39:00I realized that I was gay as an early teenager.
39:05When I met Sheila and Skylar in high school,
39:07the relationship between Sheila and I was immediately very unhealthy
39:16and intense and obsessive.
39:22And there was, like, just this overwhelming infatuation.
39:25It felt like life or death to me.
39:30Holy fucking shit!
39:32Ah!
39:36Girly friend, oh my god.
39:39Love you, miss you.
39:41Love you, miss you, love 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 sex.
40:22Sheila and Rachel ended up doing all girls can do
40:25with 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
40:44from Skylar throughout the relationship.
40:49Just a lot of animosity and threats
40:53so it was our relationship that scared me.
40:58I didn't know how the reaction would be
41:00from my family or church, things like that.
41:06And my 16-year-old teenage monstrous mind,
41:11it just felt like nothing could come between us, you know?
41:20For the longest time, I thought that Sheila
41:23was the one behind everything.
41:26But looking back at it now, I'm pretty sure
41:29that it was Rachel because of her not wanting her family
41:32to know she was gay.
41:36She said they did it because they were afraid
41:42that Skylar would tell about their lesbian relationship.
41:46But Skylar knew about their lesbian relationship
41:50for over a year and never said a word.
41:54So why, why would they think that?
41:57And even if they did think that,
42:01why would they kill her for something like that?
42:08Rachel came out saying that, you know,
42:10she was a lesbian and that that was part of the reason
42:13why 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 just don't see that.
42:41Sheila Eddy will appear today in Montagueya 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? Do 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 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 a rundown.
43:56The difference is night and day from Sheila's typical self
43:59to 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,
44:19and then you may speak.
44:20My name is David Neese.
44:21I'm a scholar's father.
44:24I'm here today with my wife, Mary.
44:26I speak to you on behalf of my daughter,
44:29because she can't be here.
44:31Since that day, my life, my wife's life has drastically altered.
44:39We are no longer a family.
44:42The person sitting before you, Scott, her so-called friend,
44:45took her away from us without any remorse or feelings.
44:50You can look into the eyes of those who are responsible,
44:53but you can never hear what they heard
44:54as they were taking her life.
44:58You can see the faces of the killer,
45:00but you can't see Scott's face.
45:03You can never understand the fear that she was dead
45:06as they took a knife and entered her life.
45:10You cannot imagine the pain that Scott 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
45:27that took their daughter's life,
45:28and just there was no emotion.
45:34Your Honor, at a trial,
45:38the state's evidence would prove
45:40that Schuyler's disappearance and death
45:44were the result of a conspiracy
45:46between Sheila Eddy and Rachel Schoeff
45:48to rid themselves of their friend Schuyler
45:51by killing her.
45:56But the two defendants were questioned
45:58by police repeatedly
46:00over a period of five and six months
46:05following Schuyler's disappearance.
46:07Let's not forget that they lied repeatedly
46:09and that they were communicating with each other
46:12to keep their lies straight,
46:13to keep them consistent with each other.
46:17All I was just waiting for
46:19was to hear Sheila actually admit it.
46:29Sheila Eddy, how do you plead
46:31to the offense of murder
46:32and the first degree of the felony charged
46:34in count three of the indictment in this case?
46:37Guilty.
46:38The record will reflect that the defendant
46:40has entered a plea of guilty
46:42to the offense of murder
46:43in the first degree that you may be seated.
46:46She pled guilty.
46:48But you're still trying to find the slithers of,
46:52does that really make sense?
46:54Can you see any advantage to your client
46:56if this case proceeded to trial?
46:59No.
47:00I have examined the law
47:02to attempt to find
47:04a reasonable defense in law
47:07for my client.
47:08I have found none.
47:10Her attorney expressed that
47:13in their view,
47:16the state's case was so strong
47:18that they really couldn't
47:21put on a believable defense.
47:23We expected today
47:25to be a pre-trial hearing,
47:26but in a surprise move,
47:28Sheila Eddy did plead
47:29to first degree murder
47:31of Skylar Neese.
47:33Ms. Eddy,
47:34do you have anything
47:35that you wish to say at this time?
47:38Yes.
47:38I can't think of it.
47:41On behalf of my client,
47:43she asked that she be permitted
47:46to remain silent.
47:49Sheila didn't talk.
47:50It was just shocking
47:52to see that
47:53the no remorse with her,
47:55especially not even crying.
47:56She's just dead-faced
47:57in the courtroom.
47:59I saw it then.
48:01There was nothing there.
48:02That girl has no soul.
48:06Ms. Eddy, would you please stand?
48:12Sheila Eddy, for your conviction
48:13of the offense of murder
48:15in the first degree
48:17upon your plea of guilty,
48:19it is a sentence of the court
48:21that you've been imprisoned
48:22in 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,
48:47to take her out.
48:50And the attorney asked,
48:52is it okay if Sheila says goodbye
48:55to 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 Eddy's silence leaves more questions
49:24than 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
49:40with the facts of the case.
49:42It was gruesomely horrific.
49:47But if you think about it in the context
49:49of teenagers in general,
49:51just seeing how vulnerable they are.
49:54The brains aren't fully formed
49:56and they just can't properly deal with.
49:58Adversity and process information.
50:02As a teenager,
50:03everything's kind of magnified.
50:05Love feels stronger.
50:06Hate feels stronger.
50:08Anxiety feels stronger.
50:10Every emotion is so intense.
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.
50:23You 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
50:32of that relationship
50:33between Sheila and Rachel.
50:36All it would have taken
50:37for that plan to fall apart
50:38is if one of them withdrew,
50:41backed out,
50:42said this isn't a good idea.
50:43And that never happened.
50:45The dynamic between Sheila and Rachel,
50:48they 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 to do that.
51:17I'd say there's probably
51:19something bigger
51:20that's still not been said,
51:22some kind of deeper,
51:24darker secret.
51:25But no matter what the reason is,
51:27it still wouldn't explain,
51:29let alone excuse,
51:31murdering 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
51:55than 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
52:14and she used to do
52:16an old lady impression for us.
52:19Say, how old are you again?
52:21100.
52:22100.
52:23And when she would start
52:25doing the impression,
52:26Dave would join in
52:27as an old man
52:30and do his impression.
52:31They would do it together.
52:33It was hilarious.
52:34Down the hallway
52:34holding each other up.
52:36It was so cute.
52:41Back up to the Christmas tree.
53:08It was very, like, weird
53:11because you wanted to be, like, happy,
53:13like, celebrating.
53:15But Skylar wasn't there.
53:20From 10 years ago to now,
53:22it's shaped dozens of lives
53:24and 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 her 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
53:46what anybody's gonna do?
53:49It hurts when a trust is broken
53:52to that level.
53:54You're the missing piece.
53:56You're all the time.
53:57The friendship that I had
53:58with 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
54:09of the friendship
54:11I have with Skylar
54:12and the friendship
54:13I still have with her.
54:17I loved her then
54:19and love her now.
54:24I would have loved to see
54:25what she would have done.
54:27She would have been a lawyer.
54:29Skylar would have kicked butt
54:31in court.
54:33She would have done
54:34really 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
54:45my graduation cap
54:47and I pinned it on the tree.
54:49It was just a beautiful way
54:51to remember her.
54:52We'll go on
54:54We'll go on
54:58Try to be strong
55:01Keep you in this song
55:21Three Weeks
55:21You
55:21You
55:21You
55:50For more information visit www.fema.org
56:12For more information visit www.fema.org
56:44For more information visit www.fema.org
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