Ain't no rest for the wicked.
~ Twitter post by Sheila the day she and Rachel committed the murder.

Rachel Shoaf and Sheila Eddy are two American women from West Virginia who were responsible for the murder of their former best friend Skylar Neese on July 6, 2012 in Greene County, Pennsylvania.

Background, the crime, and aftermath edit

Rachel, Sheila, and Skylar were all students at University High School in Morgantown, West Virginia and were initially inseparable. Over time, however, the dynamics of the three's friendship began to change and Skylar became kind of a "third wheel" to Rachel and Sheila. Rachel and Sheila grew to dislike Skylar and began showing it in to her in subtle ways, and would even make fun of her behind her back. Slowly but surely the three's friendship began to deteriorate. Rachel even admitted to a fellow student that she "hated" Skylar and "wouldn't mind if she were dead." The student did not take her seriously. It was around this time that the two girls began planning to murder Skylar.

In the months leading up to the murder, the three girls began to fight with each other constantly; Skylar published a revealing post on Twitter saying "you doing shit like that is why I will NEVER completely trust you." There is also a rumor (that has not been confirmed) that Rachel and Sheila had become lesbian lovers and Skylar had found out and was planning to expose their secret, and that was how their friendship officially ended.

On the night of July 5, 2012, Skylar slipped out of her family's apartment window to sneak out with Rachel and Sheila. The three girls then headed northwest from Star City toward Blacksville via U.S. Route 19. They eventually arrived at their destination just across the Pennsylvania state border, a spot where all three of the girls would occasionally smoke marijuana, which Skylar assumed they were going to do again. Using concealed kitchen knives, Rachel and Shelia counted to three. Upon reaching three, they began stabbing Skylar. She attempted to run, but was only able to run a few feet before Rachel tackled her to the ground and continued the assault. During the attack, Skylar managed to wrestle Rachel's knife from her and, in an apparent attempt to defend herself, cut her knee. Sheila continued to stab Skylar until there was complete silence and, according to Rachel, "her's neck stopped making gurgling sounds." Skylar's post-mortem revealed more than 50 stab wounds. According to the two girls, right before she died, Skylar managed to ask, "Why?"

Skylar's remains would not be found for six months, and during that time period, she was classified as a missing person, with rumors abounding about what happened to her ranging from her being smuggled to another country to her overdosing at a party. Rachel and Sheila were initially able to keep what they had done a secret, and even acted shocked and upset about Skylar's "disappearance" - though eventually, over time, the stress of what they had done start to cause them to unravel at the seams - to Rachel in particular.

On December 28, 2012, Rachel finally snapped when she flew into an uncontrollable rage and began attacking her parents and screaming, forcing her mother to call 911. She was taken to a mental health facility and then requested to be taken to the authorities, where she finally confessed that she and Sheila murdered Skylar. She would lead the police down the same road she and Sheila took Skylar and lead them to discover her remains, which were determined to be Skylar's a few months later.

On May 1, 2013, Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a sentence of 30 years in prison, with the possibility of parole in 10 years. Sheila Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 15 years. During the court trial, both girls expressed remorse for the murder, but Skylar's father, Dave Neese, who had once ardently defended both girls, harshly denounced both of them, saying that they've done "nothing but turn [his and his wife's] lives into a living hell" and that "they could take their apologies and sit on them, because that's about all they're worth." Rachel actually broke down in tears after the latter statement out of guilt during the trial.

Both girls are currently incarcerated at Lakin Correctional Center in Mason County, West Virginia.

Trivia edit