MORGANTOWN, W.Va. The 2012 Skylar Neese murder shocked the Morgantown area, and the details that unfolded in the following months gained national attention. Sheila Eddy was sentenced to life in prison for the carefully planned killing, and her co-defendant, Rachel Shoaf, was sentenced to 30 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years.
Now, after a week’s delay, Shoaf will go before the parole board for the first time on May 9 at 10:30 a.m.
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Dave Neese, Skylar’s father, said he knew the hearing date would “race” toward the family. He said the West Virginia Parole Board staff has been there for the family as the hearing approaches and is rescheduled.
“She made us feel so calm in knowing we have support behind us and really knowing that no one wants them out other than them,” Neese said.
Neese said Skylar met Sheila Eddy at a local non-profit and became friends. Later, the pair met Rachael Shoaf, and according to Dave Neese, “the duo became a trio” that were friends until July 6, 2012, when the murder occurred.
On one occasion during the friendship, Neese said Eddy wrote some very inappropriate things on social media that he and his wife spoke to Eddy’s mother about. When the Neese family showed Eddy’s mother the troubling content, she completely dismissed the concerns and declared her daughter had nothing to do with it. Neese said there were other small incidents along the way, but the girls seemingly got along.
“The trail of lies starts there and then just compacts as it goes along,” Neese said. “Looking into Shelia Eddy’s eyes, there’s nothing there—that girl is evil, pure through.”
Since the 2012 murder of his daughter, Neese and his wife have been telling their story in schools and prisons. Neese said in schools they talk about the “Skylar Neese Promise,” making the promise to report anything that seems off in relationships. Sharing the story will hopefully prevent other families from going through the same tragedy.
“The talks I do in prisons, and my wife and I go to the schools—I went to Penn State last week and talked to the students there,” Neese said. “I just never want this to happen to anyone.”
In prisons, Neese wants inmates to understand the depth of their actions and the importance of controlling emotions. Neese said the inmates are attentive and respectful, and during one talk, an inmate thanked him for his words and revealed he was incarcerated for taking a life.
“In prisons, I try to get the inmates to understand that the crimes you committed against a particular person don’t just affect that one person,” Neese said. “It effects so many—their family, your family, and in Skylar’s case, the whole world.”