Pretty Little Killers (4 page)

So did Ariel Castro, the notorious kidnapper and rapist who held three Cleveland girls captive in his home for ten years. Some criminals simply cannot stay away from the spotlight that shines on their victims—which makes them especially dangerous.

While working on this book for the last year, it's become apparent that many area teens were traumatized upon learning their fellow classmates had murdered a childhood friend. Other teens experienced emotional distress such as panic attacks, nightmares, and depression, because they defended the two teenage killers. Some of these youths still cannot talk about the murder. If nothing else, we hope their parents will recognize such signs and seek therapy for their teens.

After we learned about Skylar's disappearance and later, her murder, our hearts went out to the Neeses. As we learned more details of what happened, we became fascinated by the case.

It was Mary Neese's love for her daughter, though, that made us determined to tell Skylar's story as candidly as we could. Mary said she was content knowing she “created something that good. [Skylar] was just awesome.”

We hope this book honors her memory while highlighting the serious dangers facing today's teenagers—and their parents.

Daleen Berry

Geoffrey C. Fuller

one

Where the Children Play

The murder plot started
out as a sick joke.

They never intended to carry it out, never dreamed they would actually go through with it. But they did, after something went terribly wrong. It took investigators more than a year to figure out what that “something” was.

Even then, they didn't have
the
answer—the answer to the question everyone has clamored for since May 1, 2013—when Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy, two beautiful teenage West Virginia honor students, were arrested for their part in Skylar Neese's murder.

It was the same question that fell from Skylar's lips as she was being savagely stabbed to death:

“Why? Why? Why?”

Why did two teenage girls brutally kill their best friend?

People who know the Shoaf and Eddy families say they are all good people. In the case of the Shoaf, Eddy, and Neese families, several dynamics were at play: each family had borne at least one tragedy, each had some history of drug or alcohol use, and all three
families had only one child—a little girl who, for various reasons, was accustomed to getting her way.

Many families experience similar problems but they don't end in murder. What made this situation end differently?

The answer is complicated, and the investigators who took on the missing teen's case in July 2012 had no idea that it would turn into one of the most complicated murder investigations they had ever undertaken, or that it would span two states and miles and miles of rural Appalachian backwoods. Nor did they have any idea how two popular and pretty sixteen-year-old girls could go from cracking jokes in biology class to plotting how to dispose of another student, someone who believed she was their best friend. Police found two options the girls entertained particularly chilling: “dunking her in a barrel of acid” and “feeding her to the pigs.”

The story of Skylar's disappearance and murder looks at the huge role social media played in helping to expose her killers, and how broad inferences can be amplified fiftyfold by Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites such as Instagram. It's a story of how an online group convened to search for Skylar and comfort her parents instead deepened their grief. This account explains why the FBI was on the case like lightning, a scant two days after Skylar was reported missing, and the rumored connection between Skylar's murder and a rash of bank robberies in the region. It also tells how law enforcement managed to log thousands of hours on the case—until they put the killers behind bars.

Finally, this story is about whether killer Rachel Shoaf's stated motive for murder, “We didn't want to be friends with her anymore,” carries any validity at all, or if the real reason can be found in the rumors of a lesbian love triangle—or something entirely evil.

Skylar Annette Neese was the only daughter of Mary and Dave Neese, parents who struggled to provide her with the bare necessities. Extras weren't always possible but when they were, Mary and
Dave made sure Skylar had them. Even though life's luxuries were often out of their reach, the Neeses provided Skylar with something many children never receive: unconditional love.

Mary, Dave, and Skylar, age 6.

Years before Skylar was born, Mary had a long-time crush on “DJ Dave,” a local disc jockey who played on the Morgantown bar circuit. She didn't know if he knew her, but she always tried to dress up in case he glanced her way. With his longish brown hair and leather jacket, Mary thought he was cute, but it was his wide smile that made Mary really want to get to know him. With a mischievous sparkle in his eye, Dave looked like he would be a lot of fun.

One night after the music ended, Mary and her girlfriends were leaving a local bar where they had gone to celebrate someone's birthday. They noticed a large crowd gathering outside and saw Dave on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.

Mary pushed through the crowd, demanding to know what had happened and who was responsible. Someone said three rough-looking men had jumped Dave as he was walking to his car.

From what Mary could tell, they had done their best to mess up his face. She leaned over and told Dave she was taking him to the hospital. He didn't argue.

Once there, sitting inside a little exam room, a doctor said Dave's injuries weren't serious. He wouldn't be talking for a while, though, because his jaw was broken and they had to wire it shut while it healed. Perhaps because he didn't have to worry about spinning tunes for an audience, Dave could focus on Mary. He felt like he was seeing her for the first time. With her thick black hair and big blue eyes, he thought she was the prettiest woman he had ever seen.

“Well, since I won't be talking for a while, I should go ahead and ask you now. Would you like to go see a movie?”

Mary blushed, realizing her dream of dating the cute DJ was coming true. Dave didn't waste any time, either. As soon as he was released he took Mary to that movie. Even though he couldn't talk for the next three months, Mary knew he was the man for her.

“Ladies, if you don't stop talking, I'm going to separate you.”

It was easily the rowdiest class he'd ever had, probably because the boys outnumbered the girls three to one. Every day another student was tardy. Most days, many students came to class late. Usually it was the two girls he was trying to silence that day in the autumn of 2011.

Ignoring the bearded man at the front of the class, the two pretty teenagers—one a brunette, the other a redhead—did not stop talking. They prattled on as if they were deaf. Mr. Demchak's sophomore biology class wasn't anything special, but students liked him because he was known as an easy teacher with lax discipline. They described him as one part Santa Claus, because of his legendary long white beard, and one part absent-minded professor.

“Hey, do you know how to dispose of a body?” Shelia Eddy asked the student behind her.

Nick Tomaski shrugged. “I dunno. That show
Breaking Bad
has stuff like that on there.” He was more interested in drawing in his notebook than in anything Shelia said. Besides, he knew she was a flirt.

“We want to figure out what to do with Skylar,” Shelia said. Nick just looked at her like she was stupid.

“Shhh!” Rachel Shoaf, the redhead, whispered. “No names.”

According to students in class that day, Shelia's question came on the heels of several negative comments she and Rachel made other days in the same class, about how much they hated Skylar.

“What kind of acid would you dispose of a body in?” Shelia asked the biology teacher. One student in particular insists Demchak heard this question that day and that he said it could amount to something like conspiracy.

Demchak barked his reply at both girls, according to that student: “How dare you ask that? Get out of my class. Go to the office right now.”