Forever 16 | Chapter 9

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Ten years after Sheila Eddy and Rachel Schoff took Skylar Niece's life, Rachel appeared before the parole board, facing an audience of three. Normally, the victim's family is physically present at such an event.
But due to the pandemic, Lakin patched the niece's family and friends into the hearing room over the phone. They couldn't see their daughter's killer in person, but they heard what she had to say for herself.
After Rachel was finished, her father, Rusty Shove, spoke briefly.

First acknowledging the niece's sorrow and their loss,

he then went on to cite Rachel's prison education and religious faith

and said if released, she would be loved and supported by her family.

He closed, saying she'd been rehabilitated

and she was not a threat to any member of society. Then the parole board offered Dave Neese a turn to speak.
This time, he accepted the opportunity. Through the phone, you could feel his raw pain and anger.
And you may go ahead and address the board and what you'd like for us to take consideration, please. Ladies and gentlemen of the West Virginia Parole Board, thank you for the opportunity to tell you why this inmate should not be granted parole.
Because of the malicious monster, my child will never get a limo ride to her prom. Instead, she got a ride in the coroner's vehicle.
Also, there was no sparkling gown for Skylar, just a body bag.

She will never have a certificate of graduation, only a death certificate because of this inmate's actions. This cold-blooded killer is not sorry for the brutal murder of my only child.
It's my belief she's proud she murdered my daughter in cold blood. The day after she plunged kitchen knives into my child, this devil was seen on a boat with a friend posing for photographs.
The date of July 6, 2012 was chosen for a specific reason, you see. Miss Soap wanted the killing out of the way before she left her church camp okay just another task to mark off her list like standing over my child and I do quote this saying die bitches she took her last breath thank you for listening to me I got a little bit more I wasn't there to defend my baby girl from this diabolical killer on July 6, 2012, but I'm here today to do everything within my power to make sure she stays behind bars.
This inmate has proven that she is evil and mentally unstable. No one can fix that kind of madness.
I believe if she's paroled, she will kill again. Murder is a game to this inmate.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is insanity. This person has proved to be a narcissist and a dangerous person to society with no remorse in her soul.
This inmate has destroyed so many lives when she murdered Skyler. This inmate is a rat who got a deal.
That's the only thing that saved her from first degree murder charges. She showed us where Skyler's body was.
She's also the one that put her there. This vicious murderer sits here today asking for a second chance.

I want to ask you guys something.

Where's Skyler's second chance?

She doesn't

get a second chance because

of the inmate Soap's actions

on July 6,

2012. An accident

is when you bump into someone.

An accident

is when you step on someone's shoe. This was not an accident.
Thank you. At this time, the board is going to a different site and we're going to deliberate and we'll come back to our decision momentarily.
So please stand by. Off the record.
From Waveland, I'm Holly Millay. And I'm Justine Harmon.
This is 3, Episode 9, Forever 16. Once you've made the decision to commit a murder, the very next question you ask yourself, or your co-conspirator, is how? And while it's true to say Rachel and Sheila didn't have easy access to a gun, it's hard to believe they couldn't get their hands on one, especially in West Virginia, which ranks third in household gun ownership, and where gun laws are especially lax.
Of all the different ways to kill someone,

stabbing is the most intimate, even in the act itself.

If you can, imagine using a knife and attacking someone 10 times or 50.

It's not our first inclination to stab someone.

That's malicious intent. It's rage.
It's just determination. And to me, you know, it's definitely very personal to stab someone.
You know, the sounds that you'll hear, everything about a stabbing, you can shoot someone from any distance and it doesn't really affect you. But being that close, they had to be covered in blood and everything else.
That's not an easy thing to be around. And I think they enjoyed it.
I think they reveled in it whenever they were doing it. They were very, very close, which they had been close, but I think this brought them even closer.
You know, blood bond and all would be how I would describe it. They've killed together.
You know, they're together forever. In that sense, they were the only two there.
They planned it. And, you know, that bond, I think, scared Rachel more than it did Sheila.
I think Sheila enjoyed it, that connection that they had. And I think that's the ultimate thing that made Rachel freak out was, oh, I'm with this forever and it's never going away.
As the parole board deliberated over what they'd just heard, back on our side of the call, tensions were high. Did you put some of it? Yes, I did.
She was an actress in school, and she's going to be an actress always, as to this crime. And that garbage about being so young, and she didn't know better, where'd she pull that one out of? They're going to make a decision real soon, I think.
At this point, Tom addressed me directly. I don't know if you heard, but we're waiting right now.
Several people didn't get to speak, but I think it was clear that the board members were excellent and got her to admit things she didn't admit during the hearing, which was that she did premeditate it. She knew it was going to happen.
She knew where the knives were. And that is completely different than from before.
Yeah. Can you hear me if I talk? Yes, now I can.
Yeah. Okay.
I know you're with Mary and Dave. How long will you be with them? Can I call you alone afterwards so that I can recap with you because I didn't get a lot of the audio.
Okay. Yeah, that'll be fine.
We're just waiting. Let's wait for the ending.
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Streaming on Hulu. After just a few minutes, the three members of the parole board had reached a decision.
We're back on the record. All right, Ms.
Schofield, the board has deliberated. And at this time, the board is not ready to grant you parole at this time.
We will see you again in May of 2024. At that time, hopefully no more write-ups, or no write-ups at all, just like you keep doing what you're doing, and maybe you have a better decision at that time.
You will get a decision of this hearing sent to you as soon as it's completed, ma'am. Any questions? No, sir.
Thank you for your time. Yes, ma'am.
Thank you. Good luck.
Off the record. Okay, as you heard, it was denied.
Right after, Tom called me back and we spoke about what had just happened. The headline should be a life sentence for the niece family.
And that's how I looked at it. And she was trying to get off, but they were stuck with this life sentence.
And that is why, you know, when they asked me, well, why are you still here? And I said, you know, I want to be very supportive of Dave. I knew the three girls, I knew Dave.
But as the closer we got and as things developed, we formed the bondship that as a parent who had a daughter, I could only imagine, you know, no, I can't even imagine. but you know that that is how I approached it, as if it was my daughter.

And we've become very, very close, Dave, Mary, and I. Dave's younger brother, Michael, who spoke so lovingly about his niece, Skyler, at Rachel's sentencing, committed suicide in 2021.
There's no doubt her murder played a part in his decision to end his own life. I asked Tom why this wasn't mentioned in Dave's statement to the parole board.
They talked to me about it and they, Mary decided she did not want to add that to it. I said to Dave and Mary that I don't want her to think that because of her actions, she still has control.

You can't let her see or know anything about that because that is the final straw of what they want.

Right. Because then they still are controlling the situation and controlling you.

Rachel Shove came up for her first parole hearing.

The parole board deciding no parole for her.

Shove said at the hearing today, she and the other defendant in the case had a romantic relationship.

There was some fighting among the three friends that Skyler had threatened to expose their relationship. Rachel was despondent after the decision.
Stormy heard from her friend still in Lakin. She was so distraught that she didn't make parole that she didn't come out of her room all that day.
She didn't call her mom. She didn't call her dad't call her a brother she didn't call nobody she stayed in her room that whole day didn't nobody talk to her she didn't eat that whole day um you know whatever she said that it it shocked her hearing david mary's voice after so long mind you then we're allowed to watch Snapped, Dateline, anything we want to watch.
Anytime they're on it, we're allowed to watch it. You've heard Dave and Mary's voice on that.
You've heard them say how you've messed their life up. But for you to hear it in real life is a different story.
Rachel Schoaf will be eligible again every year up until her release date of 2028. The same date Sheila Eddy will be up for her first parole hearing.
Ten years after finding out that Skylar Neese was murdered by her two best friends, Morgantown is still trying to heal from the violence, the betrayal that destroyed the trust in a small town. The crime looms large here.
At one point during our reporting, we wandered into the historic old Stonehouse gift shop on Chestnut Street. When we mentioned why we were in town, the volunteer shopkeep's face changed.
The store went cold. It was time to leave.

I don't say we never got over it. It's 10 years later and we're still getting over it because when it comes up, for example, the 10-year anniversary came up.
Rachel was up for parole and it brought back all the feelings. I mean, thousands of people signed this petition.
It's like they still don't want to be, they don't want it to come back in our community. The community was so, that happens in Philadelphia.
That happens in California. That happens in New York City.
Not here. Not in, you know, lovely University High School or Morgantown High School.

How could something like this happen and turn on each other and no one see it?

And this, I'll call it the cancer that's in the other big cities, is now here. So now the realism hits, hey, we're not immune to what really is going on.
Star City Chief of Police Jessica Colbank agrees and adds another chilling observation locals have been forced to accept. I think society around here in the community, they were shocked that this could happen here for one and that these girls could do that because they're such pretty girls is what we kept hearing.
You could be the most facially beautiful person with the most destructive demonic soul and to, that's how these girls were. It's not...
Everything isn't always as it seems. So I think that was the biggest shock for the community.
While Morgantown carries on, there are those who moved away. Kelly Kearns, who'd been like a second mother to Rachel, relocated with her husband to Laramie, Wyoming.
And Kim Keener, the Shof's next-door neighbor, eventually settled in Florida, far away from the cul-de-sac with the haunted memories. But that Morgantown man, I'll tell you, I was born and raised there, but now that I've been out of it about three years looking back, I'm going to tell you that it's just really, after this stuff with Rachel, I just was not comfortable in the neighborhood anymore, you know, that kind of thing.
I mean, my life was just wiped out from under me. I mean, just completely wiped out from under me.
Patricia Schof and Tara Eddy are both gone now too. Before leaving town, Tara had Mike Benninger send a package to Dave and Mary Neese.

And it was the, it was a necklace and I picked it up and right away I knew I saw it before.

And the note said, Mrs. Clendenin was cleaning out her daughter's room and found this necklace

and knew it didn't belong to her and thought it might be Skyler's.

Five years later, it was five years ago, I get the necklace and I look at it and I asked Mary,

I don't know. this necklace and knew it didn't belong to her and thought it might be Skyler's.
Five years later, it was five years ago, I get the necklace and I look at it and I asked Mary, I said, Mary, I've seen it somewhere where it wasn't. And then it dawned on me when last time she hugged me goodbye, the necklace flew out and hit me in the chin.
And I said, you watch that necklace, you're going to give me a chin bleed. And she just giggled and walked in, you know, and to find that the Eddie girl took it off her neck after she murdered her.
That's, I'm telling you, that's serial killer stuff right there. And it's scary as hell.
It really is. For somebody that young to be that evil, are you born with it or do you grow into it? Dave Neese still sees his daughter everywhere.
He talks to her all day long. One of the ways they keep her memory alive is through Skylar's Promise, a series of talks they give around the country to high schools and prisons to share their story and prevent what happened to Skylar from happening to anyone else.
Mary told me the other day, she goes, why do we keep doing this? And I said, I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me.
She said, Dave, every time I feel like I want to stop, 10 minutes later something kicks me. I said, that's Skylar.
She's not bashful. When she wants something done, she makes sure it gets done.
And people may not believe in spirits or stuff, but I do. And I believe things don't always happen for a reason, but every cloud has a silver lining.
And Skylar's death, as horrible as it was, took away from the world so much. I mean, she would have been, it's hard to tell.
She might have been president of the United States. It's hard to tell with her.
But one thing, Skylar was full of love, and that's what she wants on her. She wants love.
And she doesn't ever want this to happen to anyone again. And I don't either.
Later, Dave texted me something written by his friend, Jackie Morgan. I keep it on my phone.
I am often told how strong of a man I am. That is not a true statement.
I do what is necessary to survive each day. Unless you have lost a loved one to a senseless and vicious murder, you will never be able to comprehend the pain faced every day as I waken only to remember once again that my daughter is no longer with us.
It is as if I lose her again each and every morning. On a back road in brave Pennsylvania, my heart was ripped from my body and I will never be the same again.

While others my age share photographs of their grandchildren, my child is frozen in time in a school photo in my wallet, forever 16. I will never have the opportunity to walk her down the aisle as the wedding march plays and lift her veil to kiss her as I give her hand to another man.
Her mother will never have the occasion to hold her daughter's hand as she labors to bring forth new life. However, as insurmountable as our loss has been, it does not compare to what was taken from Skylar.

She had her life stolen from her before she could graduate from university high school with honors.

She was never able to attend college and become the lawyer that she intended to be.

Her kindness to those that were a bit different and to every living thing could have made a major

impact on the world that she knew the life of a spirited and loving young woman such as Skylar niece that is something that you cannot begin to grasp exactly what could have been Absolution is not a possibility at this point in time.

It is my honest assessment that it will never be a likelihood. Forgiveness is a process, a choice you have to make over and over until you are free of all hurt and pain.
My precious daughter was not only viciously murdered by two individuals that she believed to be her most trusted friends, they also betrayed her on levels that a rational person could never comprehend. Due to sickness and evil, Skylar will be forever 16.

Skyler will forever be 16.

It's the worst thing I've ever heard, but it's so true.

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Many of these victims didn't get the press coverage they deserved during the initial investigations, but I'm sharing what our reporting team has found on these stories in hopes that someone listening may have the information needed to bring answers to light. And that listener could be you.
Listen to The Deck now, wherever you get your podcasts. Mary and Dave eventually moved away from Morgantown, too.
Never allowed a moment's rest after the case was closed, they left Star City and now live just over the West Virginia-Pennsylvania state line. Well, actually, it was a few things.
mainly it was you know people knew where we lived because we had had

we'd celebrated Skylar's birthday

had And mainly it was, you know, people knew where we lived because we had had, we'd celebrated Skylar's birthday, had a candlelight vigil there. So they knew where we lived.
Well, then we would come home from work and there would be people there waiting for us. and they would want to visit and bring us little gifts

or just say hello

or would be people there waiting for us and they would want to visit and you know bring us little gifts or just say hello or how are you doing and at first you know it was okay well then it's as it continued it it gets on your nerves you know it's like just leave us alone And we would find stuff on our doorknob you know they would leave things with our neighbors that we didn't even know only you know that was pretty embarrassing and it that and the fact that every time we turned around you know you saw Skylar She loved to sit out on the deck and sunbathe. And she'd prop her feet up on the banister.
And her and Leeloo would be there in the sun. And Leeloo would hide under the chair away from the sun sometimes.
But even just walking past her bedroom door, it just got to be too much.

And it was just time to go.

You know, both of us knew it.

And we just decided we wanted someplace out of the way and quiet.

So that's what we did.

We moved.

Mary had a heart attack two years ago. She's since retired with other health issues.
But she and Dave are strong. And having survived the worst of tragedies, they're still together.
And, you know, we have heard that so much about how couples end up splitting up. I don't know how's like who would they lean on or depend on if they had split up i just i don't understand you know i would think it would be more the other way but you know where dave says a lot that we helped each other when he was down.

I would help him through it.

And when I was down, he would help me through it.

And that is so true.

I can remember so many times just losing it for no reason, you know.

And he was there.

And the same thing, you know, he would come home and be all crazy and I'd have to calm him down. You know, it's just, yeah, we truly were there for each other.
I couldn't have done it without him, I'm so sure. Even today, after so many years have gone by, no one, from the lawyers, to the prosecutors, to the investigators, to the families involved, can understand how three beautiful girls, best friends, could collide in such a violent event.
Sheila's attorney, Mike Benninger, who stated in court he could not find a reasonable defense for his client, has a theory that doesn't explain the why of what happened, but does address how, in another era, things might have ended so differently. Had social media, cell phones, and the internet, and cellular coverage not have been in existence in 2012, Skylar Neese would be alive today, in my opinion.
And here's why. These girls would not have said and transmitted tough talk, nastiness, their messages back and forth because they wouldn't have said those things to each other face to face across the table like we're sitting here today or within inches of each other.
They wouldn't have done that because that would be unacceptable conduct in a personal, interpersonal exchange in real time in each other's presence. That's my view of this.
And once it gets to the point where it's cumulative, anxiety isiety is cumulative. Hatred, it adds up.

It's a pylon effect.

And when you have two on one,

as we did in that instance,

it's a cumulative.

It's a force multiplier in the military terms.

Many times during our reporting,

I've returned to Skyler's Instagram page,

which is still available online with the handle at high as the underscore sky. So many artifacts of her young life live forever on the page.
A close-up of Leeloo with the caption, when my dog cuddles with me. A dusty rose sunset.
Avon Naturals body mist in pomegranate and mango scent. A Jolly Rancher

brand candle. A handmade beaded necklace.
Also on the grid, Rachel and Sheila. The last image of whom was posted less than two weeks before the murder, with the caption, I love summer.
Like the items Skylar left behind

Her Wendy's work shoes

Her hair straightener, her diary, her goodie, and the bra recovered by the FBI. The things she immortalized on her Instagram feed seemed both ordinary and infused with meaning.
The intricate set dressing of a character whose life ended in the middle of the scene, forever waiting for someone to come back and claim them, to make them real again. Ten years later, Skyler's cell phone, the one they found in the woods at the murder site, remained sealed in a small Ziploc bag with the FBI tracking number still taped to the front.
Open up the plastic bag and the reflection from the mirrored screen is partially covered with dried mud. Skyler's fingerprints and nails cross the screen from her who knows how many unlocks of the pattern match.
It's an LG phone, barely half the size of a teen's phone, in 2024. The FBI recovered the phone not far from Skyler's body.
They most certainly were able to break into the phone, but now the nieces have it. The phone shouldn't work at all.
After sitting in the wilderness for those six months, the SD card is missing, but the phone still turns on today and gets a signal. Dave has looked at the phone for hours and hours, haunted by the unknown memories of Skylar still locked inside.
I saw a butterfly was right under there, and I walked over to read the bench, and it flew up out and into the sky. Yeah, that's got her.
You know, they left her in her element. She loved the outdoors.
She loved the wilderness. And, you know, although something horrible happened here, she's happy.
She's happy it is what it is now. It's a place of love.
And the people that did the bench put this grape thing up. Beautiful.
Although I don't think they'll ever get anything to grow out here because a deer will eat it before it ever gets a chance to grow. But Skylar would love that too.
Yeah, she would. She absolutely loved animals.
I wasn't even allowed to kill ants, for God's sake. She would definitely put her foot down.
I remember one time I had a fly land on them, and flies are annoying. And I went to slap at it like this, and I missed it.
And she goes, you're lucky you missed it. Take it take it outside and let it go and i'm like how do you catch a fly and take it outside and let it go she goes well they don't deserve to die dad and i said she goes it's here on earth for a reason and i never really dawned on me what she meant until she was gone.
And it was here on earth for a reason.

Stay tuned for a bonus episode coming to you next week.

3 is an original production of Waveland.

The series is created and written by Holly Millay and me, Justine Harmon. The executive producer is Jason Hoke, who produced and edited the series.
Associate producers are Lydia Horn and Leo Culp. Fact-checking by Lydia Horn.
Sound engineering by Shane Freeman. Music by Robert Ellis.
Studio recording at CDM Studios in New York

and Wildwood's Picture and Sound in Los Angeles.

Special thanks to Dave and Mary Neese

and the city of Morgantown, West Virginia.

If you love the series, leave a review

and please tell your friends.

Follow Waveland on Instagram at Waveland Media

for more on this series and upcoming new shows. Thanks for listening.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Mario's Bistro. The special tonight is the Beef Carpaccio.

With the Venmo debit card, you can turn the basketball game tickets your friends paid you

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Thank you. Carpaccio.
With the Venmo debit card, you can turn the basketball game tickets your friends paid you back for into a romantic dinner that you can earn up to 5% cash back on. Use your Venmo balance to pay for the things you love to do.
Visit venmo.me slash debit to learn more. The

Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. Pursuant to license by MasterCard International

Incorporated. Terms apply.
Dosh cashback terms apply. I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist

and former deputy sheriff. And I'm Anna Siga Nicolazzi, former New York City homicide prosecutor.
We've each spent decades on the front lines of crime, witnessing the devastation that violence leaves behind. And for us, the heart of these cases is the people involved, the victims whose stories deserve to be told and not forgotten.
Every week on Anatomy of Murder, we dissect the layers of a homicide through the lens of those who know them best. the families that the We'll see you next time.