Jan. 14, 2025

Chapter 90: Frenemies to Fatalities-The Murders of Missy Avila & Skylar Neese feat. Beyond the Rainbow Podcast

Chapter 90: Frenemies to Fatalities-The Murders of Missy Avila & Skylar Neese feat. Beyond the Rainbow Podcast

Together with C.J., host of Beyond the Rainbow: True Crimes of the LGBTQ, we dive into two heart-wrenching cases where friendships turned deadly. The murders of Missy Avila and Skylar Neese are the ultimate betrayal, each one a tragic tale of trust...

Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

Together with C.J., host of Beyond the Rainbow: True Crimes of the LGBTQ, we dive into two heart-wrenching cases where friendships turned deadly. The murders of Missy Avila and Skylar Neese are the ultimate betrayal, each one a tragic tale of trust shattered by jealousy, deceit, and revenge.

Missy Avila, a bright and promising teenager, was brutally murdered by two supposed friends—victims of a toxic friendship gone horribly wrong. Her case remains a disturbing reminder of how close-knit bonds can unravel in an instant, ending in violence.

Skylar Neese’s story is equally harrowing. Lured into a deadly trap by her best friends, Skylar’s brutal murder stunned a community and left behind an endless trail of unanswered questions. As the truth slowly came to light, it was revealed that betrayal had been festering beneath the surface, ultimately culminating in Skylar's tragic death.

Join us as we explore the dark side of "frenemy" relationships, unraveling the motives behind these heinous acts and the lasting consequences they left on the families and communities involved. These are not just stories of murder—they are stories of friendship turned fatal

Thanks to CJ from Beyond the Rainbow for collaborating with us to tell Missy and Skylar's stories! Find CJ and more information about her podcast here

Connect with us on Social Media!
You can find us at:
Instagram: @bookofthedeadpod
X: @bkofthedeadpod
Facebook: The Book of the Dead Podcast
TikTok: Bookofthedeadpod
Or visit our website at www.botdpod.com




https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-01-me-1651-story.html
https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/best-friends-who-killed-together
https://vocal.media/criminal/karen-severson-and-laura-doylehttps://www.amazon.com/Missys-Murder-Betrayal-Southern-California-ebook/dp/B07NMHXD58
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-29-me-785-story.html

https://allthatsinteresting.com/skylar-neese
https://thecinemaholic.com/shelia-eddy-rachel-shoaf-relationship/
https://www.brownstonelaw.com/blog/bff-killers/
https://www.celebsagewiki.com/skylar-neese

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:04.000
Hi guys. I'm Courtney and I'm Lisa, and welcome to

2
00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:06.599
the next chapter in the Book of the Dead. Brought

3
00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:10.400
to you by Dark Cast Network indie Podcasts with a Twist.

4
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:34.079
The Dictionary definition of a frenemy is a person who

5
00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:37.159
is or pretends to be a friend, but who is

6
00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.200
also in some ways an enemy or rival. According to

7
00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:45.640
Psychology Today magazine, there are three types of frenemies. The

8
00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:50.039
ambivalent relationship where you feel competitive with your friend, or

9
00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:52.520
your friend has hurt you in the past and you've

10
00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:57.920
lost trust. The second type is the involuntary friendship. This

11
00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.399
would be someone who is part of your circle of friends,

12
00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.359
but you don't really like this person and would break

13
00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:07.519
the friendship off if you could. Unfortunately, by doing so,

14
00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:12.799
it would impact your friendships with others in your circle. Lastly,

15
00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:15.760
there is the long term front of me. This is

16
00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:17.959
someone you've been in a friendship with for a very

17
00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.560
long time and don't want to give it up, purely

18
00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.200
due to the length of history between the two of you.

19
00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:27.079
For those listening, perhaps you can relate to one or

20
00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:31.120
all of these categorizations, or maybe you've never had a

21
00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:35.239
front of me. However, the two young ladies in this episode,

22
00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:38.079
both were involved in front of me relationships that had

23
00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:43.120
deadly results. Now with that brief teaser, let's get into

24
00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:49.519
this episode's collaboration. The two men in their fifties had

25
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:53.640
bodies of teenage boys. They were fit and definitely in

26
00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.400
good shape. Now. They have gone hiking together several times

27
00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.439
a year and had been friends since they were in

28
00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.840
grade school in the San Fernando Valley in California. Many

29
00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.519
of their hikes were in the Angelus National Forest, and

30
00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:12.599
early on they had found a hiking area called Camp Colby. Now,

31
00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:14.800
this land had been owned by a family with the

32
00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.520
last name Colby, and it was a beautiful nature retreat.

33
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:23.680
During camping season, it was a family camp where families

34
00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.759
could go and participate in arts and crafts, archery, ping pong,

35
00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:34.120
and councilors, let hikes. All sorts of fun activities happened here.

36
00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:39.479
During the off season, the camp was closed, but for

37
00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.599
the few hikers lucky enough to find it, it was

38
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:48.639
a sacred gem of becoming one with the outdoors. Camp

39
00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:50.599
Colby was a bit of a drive and it was

40
00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.879
very remote, which is what made it such aprise for

41
00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:58.840
avid outdoors men and women. However, By the mid eighties,

42
00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.360
teenagers have been encroaching upon the camp to party with

43
00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:07.479
drugs and alcohol, purely because these kids knew police wouldn't

44
00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:11.280
be venturing out there to break up their parties. It

45
00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:14.000
is true that there was a nearby ranger station, but

46
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.520
they never really did anything about the rowdy teens during

47
00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:21.360
the off season, which we'll see was a very serious

48
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:27.039
lapse in safety protocols. Soon these two male hikers enjoyed

49
00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:31.479
their quiet time hiking the trails near the camp. On

50
00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.879
October fourth, nineteen eighty five, they met up and ate

51
00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:37.240
a hearty breakfast, and then they took their drive to

52
00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:42.319
Camp Colby for another day of hiking. Once at the camp,

53
00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:44.319
the men got out of the car they drove up in,

54
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.759
grabbed the backpacks that contained everything they needed to sustain

55
00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:50.840
them out in the wild for days if necessary, and

56
00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:54.439
they began their journey. The easiest part of the trail

57
00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.319
they were taking was first. It took them to a

58
00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:00.479
footbridge over a creek, and the men felt for that

59
00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:02.479
the rains of fall had not moved in yet and

60
00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:06.080
the ground was still pretty dry. Even the creek was

61
00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:09.199
moderately more shallow than it usually was for that time.

62
00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:13.680
Of year. The men knew this trail very well, and

63
00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.319
bolt noticed one part of the bridge, where normally a

64
00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:20.759
large tree trunk lay in the creek, was empty. For

65
00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:25.399
some reason, the downtree log was no longer there. Now.

66
00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:28.480
Both men thought that that was strange, so the hiker

67
00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.480
and the lead looked around in the water for the

68
00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:35.000
missing log when something caught his eye. He turned to

69
00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:38.040
his friend and said, I see the missing tree, but

70
00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:41.680
I think there's a body under it. His friend looked

71
00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:43.759
in the direction of the missing tree and he told

72
00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:47.600
his friend, no, that's just some random clothing. You know,

73
00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.319
how these kids come up here are with their drugs

74
00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:53.480
and alcohol. They probably got high and forgot to put

75
00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:57.279
their clothes back on. Still, the two men moved in

76
00:04:57.399 --> 00:05:02.040
for a closer look. To their horror, what they had

77
00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:05.399
discovered was a body, face down in the water with

78
00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:08.839
the log on top. The body appeared to be that

79
00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:12.680
of a girl. Petite, maybe she was even a small child.

80
00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:19.040
She looked so tiny. Holding back the nausea that overcame them,

81
00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:23.160
the two men headed for the ranger's shack. Panicked, they

82
00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:25.759
flew inside and started to tell the ranger on duty

83
00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.319
what they had found. The ranger asked the men if

84
00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.160
they could go back to where the body was and

85
00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.160
wait for law enforcement, so the men said they would,

86
00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:38.000
and then the ranger called for help. He first called

87
00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.360
for another ranger who was on duty to go wait

88
00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:43.120
with the men, and then he called the sheriff's department.

89
00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:50.160
Days earlier, on October one, nineteen eighty five, Irene a

90
00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:53.279
Villa's seventeen year old daughter, Missy, had just come into

91
00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:57.560
the house after being dropped off by her boyfriend. The

92
00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:00.480
two had a very close bond that often seemed more

93
00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:03.600
like gray friends than mother and daughter, and Missy told

94
00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:05.439
her mom she was going to jump in the shower

95
00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:08.600
and wash her hair because Laura was on her way

96
00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:13.439
over to pick her up. Irene wasn't thrill. She thought

97
00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:16.079
that Missy and Laura had a falling out, but Missy

98
00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:19.759
said they had talked the day before and everything was fine. Now,

99
00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.120
Laura and her boyfriend Vic had just broken up, and

100
00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:25.720
the truth of the matter was Vic broke up with

101
00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:30.759
Laura because Laura was too possessive. At first, Laura had

102
00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:33.439
blamed Missy for the breakup. She thought Missy and Vick

103
00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:37.519
were missing around together, but Missy and Vick were just friends.

104
00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:41.319
Missy now wanted to make sure that she was there

105
00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.560
for her plain looking, red headed friend Laura. Should Laura

106
00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.399
need an ear, maybe she could even help Laura get

107
00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:54.160
back together with Vic. Missy was a petite and very

108
00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:57.839
pretty girl. She was popular at school, and she also

109
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:02.839
attracted many boys. This fact alone could go either way

110
00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:06.600
with her friends. It either made them happy because that

111
00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:09.759
meant with more boys around, surely one of them would

112
00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:13.079
be interested in one of the other girls. Or it

113
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:17.560
made them mad and jealous because Missy always got attention.

114
00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:23.920
Missy and her friends lived in Arleta, California, which is

115
00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.680
a neighborhood in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley region, and

116
00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:33.839
around three pm, Irene's daughter Michelle Yvette Evella, who went

117
00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:36.759
by Missy, was still in her bedroom when her friend

118
00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:40.519
Laura Doyle showed up in a Bolkswagen bug. The two

119
00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:43.600
teenagers were going to go to the park. They also

120
00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:45.879
intended to meet up with some other friends and do

121
00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:49.720
some lines of cocaine. For Missy, the drugs were not

122
00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:53.639
something she was hooked on, but more experimental if anything.

123
00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.759
For Laura, drugs meant more they were temporary escape from

124
00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.319
life problems. Missy had told her mom she loved her

125
00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:05.079
and would be back home no later than six pm,

126
00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.560
and if she was going to be late, she'd call.

127
00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:10.759
She gave her mom a big hug and then left

128
00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:15.240
with Laura. Irene had recently become a single mom with

129
00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:18.399
three sons and a daughter. The eldest son was named

130
00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:21.600
after his dad, Ernie, who no longer lives with Irene,

131
00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:23.839
but her twenty year old son Mark and twelve year

132
00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:27.959
old son Chris still did. The boys were great, but

133
00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:32.840
Irene needed her daughter, Missy. Missy shared a lot of

134
00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.799
her life with her mom, and Irene believed Missy shared

135
00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:41.960
everything with her, but there were limits to what Missy shared.

136
00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:46.159
Irene might not have been thrilled with everything Missy told her,

137
00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:50.440
like about sexual experiences she had in smoking marijuana, but

138
00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:53.960
Irene understood she did the same things as a kid,

139
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.600
and she wasn't about to lose the trust she had

140
00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:02.159
gained by getting angry with Missy over the situations. Of course,

141
00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:06.639
as I said, Missy didn't tell her everything. She kept

142
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:10.600
some things to herself because Irene would not have been

143
00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.240
happy to know about snorting cocaine at the park A

144
00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:18.120
little before six pm, Irene's house Von rang and it

145
00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:21.799
was Laura Doyle. She asked Irene if Missy was home.

146
00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:26.279
Of course, Irene laughed and said, no, she's with you,

147
00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:30.679
but Laura said that she wasn't. They had gone to

148
00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.679
the park, but Laura needed to go get gas, and

149
00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.840
Missy had seen some boys in a blue Camaro and

150
00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:40.120
wanted to go talk to them. Laura told her she'd

151
00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:43.639
be right back, but when she returned, Missy and the

152
00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:48.039
boys were gone. Irene asked who the boys were, but

153
00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:51.600
Laura said she had never seen them before. However, Missy

154
00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:56.120
seemed to know them. Irene hung up the phone very

155
00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:02.559
worried about Missy, and then six o'clock came, and six

156
00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:07.080
o'clock went and Missy still had not come back home.

157
00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:14.879
Then seven o'clock, eight o'clock, nine o'clock, no Missy, no

158
00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:19.200
phone call, and not even Irene's sons, Mark and Chris

159
00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:24.559
were home yet. At eleven pm, Irene urged herself to

160
00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:28.240
just calm down, to stop worrying, and to just go

161
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:32.240
to sleep. Missy probably was staying over a friend's house

162
00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.399
and forgot to call. She was also sure the boys

163
00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:39.080
were okay. Now a little after midnight, Mark and Chris

164
00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:42.320
rolled up into the house, and Mark did feel a

165
00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:44.759
little bit bad forgetting his twelve year old brother home

166
00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:49.080
so late on a school night, but Chris loved hanging

167
00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:52.879
out with his older brother. They played sports with friends

168
00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:55.159
during the day, and then they hung out with Mark's

169
00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:57.960
friends and they had a barbecue well into the evening.

170
00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:02.039
When they walked into the house, the lights were on,

171
00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:05.720
which was beard to the boys, and then they walked

172
00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.519
in and found their mom asleep on the couch, so

173
00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:11.240
Mark covered Irene with a blanket and the two boys

174
00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:16.360
went to bed. At around three am, Irene sat bolt

175
00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.120
upright on the couch, shaking herself awake, and then going

176
00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.519
to check on her children. She could hear the boys

177
00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.759
snoring down the hall, and when she went into Missy's room,

178
00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:32.039
Missy was still not home. More worry and grief flooded

179
00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:36.080
Irene's thoughts. At around six am, Mark bounced into the

180
00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:38.879
kitchen while his little brother got ready for school. He

181
00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:41.200
said good morning to his mom and poured cereal in

182
00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.960
a bowl, and then his mother broke down, crying that

183
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.279
Missy had not come home the night before and hadn't called.

184
00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.799
Mark tried to console his mother and remind her that

185
00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:55.200
Missy was most likely over at a friend's and would

186
00:11:55.240 --> 00:12:00.240
be home soon. But by ten am, Missy was still

187
00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:04.919
not home. So Irene called Missy's boyfriend and his mother

188
00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:06.600
said that he had met up with some of his

189
00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:09.480
guy friends the night before, but he was home early

190
00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.679
and Missy was not with him. Irene then called Christy,

191
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:17.799
one of Missy's best friends. Christie didn't know where Missy

192
00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:20.360
was either, but she said she'd drive over and pick

193
00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:23.080
up Irene and they could check some spots Missy might

194
00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:26.519
be at together. Irene was pleased to have the company.

195
00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:30.200
Christy and Irene checked a few of Missy's usual haunts,

196
00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:35.399
but Missy wasn't there. Irene then asked Christy if she

197
00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:38.000
dropped her off at the police department so that she

198
00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:42.440
could file a missing person's report. Irene had actually called

199
00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:46.120
the previous evening inquiring about a missing person's report, but

200
00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:49.360
she was given the usual BS statement that a report

201
00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:54.200
couldn't be filed for twenty four hours. Once at the station,

202
00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:58.039
Irene was greeted by a very bored looking officer manning

203
00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:01.480
the front desk. She told him it had been twenty

204
00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:04.200
four hours since her seventeen year old daughter went missing

205
00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:08.639
and she wanted to file a missing person's report. Of course,

206
00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:11.279
the officer told Irene her daughter was probably off with

207
00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:16.759
her boyfriend somewhere, which at that Irene became very agitated,

208
00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:20.399
and the officer finally handed over the paperwork to be

209
00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:25.840
filled out. Christie then drove Irene back home, and Irene

210
00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:29.919
contacted another best friend of Missy's, Karen Severson, to see

211
00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:34.279
if Missy was by chance with her. Missy and Karen

212
00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.360
had met when they were eight years old in the

213
00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.919
very early days of grade school. Karen had just moved

214
00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:42.120
in down the street and started at the same school

215
00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:46.200
as Missy. Now, Karen was chubby and kids didn't want

216
00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:49.000
to hang out with her because children can be very cruel,

217
00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:52.840
but Missy quickly befriended her, and the two little girls

218
00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.679
would walk to their homes hand in hand. After school.

219
00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.480
Karen would often come over to Missy's house to play

220
00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:03.519
and seeing how much Missy's brothers loved and doted over her.

221
00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:06.919
Karen told Missy and Irene that she had two families

222
00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.480
because her parents are divorced. Karen continued on saying that

223
00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.919
she's mostly at the house of the parents she lives

224
00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.559
with in Arletta, but sometimes she goes to her other

225
00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.399
parents' house, where she has three brothers that love her

226
00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:25.200
even more than Missy's brothers loved Missy. Now weeks later,

227
00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.440
when Irene made a point to go over to Karen's

228
00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:30.639
home and introduce herself to Karen's parents, Irene found the

229
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:34.480
second set of parents tale was a lie Karen didn't

230
00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:37.840
have any siblings. Irene wrote it off as a child

231
00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:42.080
with an overactive imagination, and since Karen had no siblings,

232
00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.360
Irene thought the girl maybe a little bit jealous that

233
00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:50.960
Missy had. Several Over the years, Missy and Karen's friendship blossomed.

234
00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:55.080
At the age of fourteen, Karen had gotten her set pregnant,

235
00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:58.000
but Missy saw her through it because Karen wanted to

236
00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:01.639
keep the baby. Fo of. Karen's baby was also a

237
00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:06.200
teenager who wanted nothing to do with Karen her fatherhood,

238
00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:12.000
so he quickly left Karen and his baby's life. Now

239
00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:14.799
in her fifth month, Karen dropped that to school and

240
00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:17.679
this made Missy sad, but she still tried to be

241
00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:21.919
around for Karen. This is also when Missy started hanging

242
00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.600
out with a new friend, Laura Doyle, but Missy still

243
00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.440
saw Karen as much as possible while still trying to

244
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:34.159
live a teenage life. Karen eventually ended up giving birth

245
00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:38.120
to a daughter. Now, Karen became interested in another boy.

246
00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:43.440
This boy, we will call Teddy, actually really liked Missy,

247
00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:47.240
but Missy only wanted to be friends with him. Besides,

248
00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:51.759
Missy had a boyfriend now. One day, Karen had invited

249
00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.919
Missy over to her apartment to hang out with her

250
00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:57.879
and her baby girl. Missy accepted, and when Karen went

251
00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:01.399
into use the restroom, Missy had been over the small

252
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.240
child to pick her up when she was grabbed from behind.

253
00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:09.120
Teddy had quietly let himself into the apartment without being seen,

254
00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.919
and when he grabbed Missy, they fell back into a chair,

255
00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:17.080
with Missy landing on his lap. Teddy quietly said in

256
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.000
Missy's ear, come on, Missy, you know how I feel

257
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:26.559
about you. Karen means nothing to me. Of course, Karen

258
00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:29.320
walked back into the room at that moment and became

259
00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:34.360
enraged with Missy. She called Missy a slut and grabbed

260
00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:36.679
her by the arm, leading her to the door and

261
00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:40.799
telling Missy to get out of her home. She then

262
00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:43.919
turned her anger on Teddy and slapped him, leaving a

263
00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.519
welt on his cheek. She told him that she was

264
00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.919
taking the baby and going to the store, and when

265
00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:55.320
she got back she wanted him and his things gone.

266
00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:59.720
Of course, Karen was heartbroken. He was the first guy

267
00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:02.960
that to make her feel subconscious about her weight. He

268
00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:07.079
made Karen feel special, but now finding out she meant

269
00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:11.400
nothing to him really hurd And what was worse, he

270
00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:15.400
loved Missy more than her, because of course he did.

271
00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:21.640
Everyone loved Missy more than they loved Karen. Now, Irene

272
00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:23.839
was on the phone with Karen, wondering if she knew

273
00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:27.279
where Missy was, but Karen claimed she hadn't seen her.

274
00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:32.039
This heart end, Irene hung up the phone. What Irene

275
00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:36.759
did know was that Karen was lying about things. Days

276
00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:40.480
before Missy's disappearance, Karen had started a rumor amongst high

277
00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:43.759
school friends that Missy was sleeping with multiple boys that

278
00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:52.799
had girlfriends, including Laura's boyfriend Vic. Sadly, this vindictive, vicious

279
00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:56.000
game of Karen's was nothing new. She had made up

280
00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:59.400
rumors before about Missy, which had actually gotten Missy beaten

281
00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:03.680
up in the past, but Missy always refused to believe

282
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.559
her friend, Karen was behind the rumors in spite of

283
00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:09.920
what people told her. It was like it was Karen's

284
00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:13.640
life goal to make people hate Missy so that she'd

285
00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:18.119
be Missy's only friend. But Karen was still holding onto

286
00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.519
a grudge from a situation that happened the year prior,

287
00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.440
when the girls were juniors in high school. Missy had

288
00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.880
dated a boy named Randy for a month and then

289
00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.400
broke up with him. That same boy then got together

290
00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:36.920
with Karen. They even moved in together. At a party,

291
00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:41.480
Randy pulled Missy onto his lap. Now, Missy was disgusted

292
00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.079
with Randy and tried to do the honorable thing as

293
00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:47.599
a friend to Karen. She told Karen what happened and

294
00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:52.559
then told her she should dump Randy instead. Karen turned

295
00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.759
on Missy. Now they would eventually patch things up and

296
00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:59.480
become friends again when Randy was no longer in the picture,

297
00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:05.359
but Karen was still angry about it. About ten days

298
00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:10.359
before Missy's disappearance, Missy and Karen had another altercation, this

299
00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.720
time at the park. Karen even pushed and slapped Missy

300
00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:19.079
and then threatened Missy with a broken bottle. Now, nothing

301
00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:21.400
more seemed to come from that fight. At the time,

302
00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.559
Karen had always been jealous of the attention Missy got,

303
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:27.440
and since Missy had been well liked, she got good

304
00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:31.720
grades and was always complimented by teachers. Adding in the

305
00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:35.079
fact that Missy was pretty, she was outgoing, and so

306
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.519
many boys liked her was enough to turn Karen green.

307
00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:43.240
With all of the envies, she felt she really wanted

308
00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:47.839
to be Missy, but she couldn't. She could only be herself,

309
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:53.119
that Karen that harbored grudges. Now, at the time of

310
00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:55.599
the discovery, the girl's body in the creek was being

311
00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:59.759
examined by detectives and a coroner made his initial preliminary

312
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.079
findings at the scene before an official autopsy could be

313
00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.960
determined in his office. The girl appeared to have defensive wounds.

314
00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.319
She looked to have had quite a bit of head

315
00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:13.359
and face trauma before she was held under water and drowned.

316
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.160
The victim only weighed ninety seven pounds, and the tree

317
00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:20.000
trunk that held her body under shallow water was well

318
00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.160
over one hundred pounds more than the poor girl weighed.

319
00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:26.519
There was a dunim purse in the water near where

320
00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:30.319
the girl lay, and inside the purse, detectives would find

321
00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:34.880
a wallet with the girl's school identification. The name said

322
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.240
Michelle Yvette a Villa born February eighth, nineteen sixty eight.

323
00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:43.960
When investigators at the scene radioed the victim's information in,

324
00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:47.559
they discovered that Michelle Missy a Villa had been reported

325
00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:50.359
missing just a couple of days before, on October second,

326
00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:54.319
nineteen eighty five, by her mother, Irene. The lead detective

327
00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.880
radio back, we have her, but don't release any information

328
00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:02.000
until her next of kin can be notified. Upon hearing

329
00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:05.319
the news of her only daughter's death, Irene was crushed,

330
00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:08.440
to say the least. In fact, the whole community of

331
00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:11.000
Arletta was reeling with what had happened to this young

332
00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:14.960
member of their neighborhood. Laura would reach out occasionally to

333
00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:17.799
check on Irene, but she wouldn't come around too often,

334
00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:21.839
and Karen, along with her baby, actually moved in with Irene,

335
00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:26.319
becoming another daughter of swords to the grieving mother. Karen

336
00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:29.079
would tell Irene that she wouldn't rest until Missy's killer

337
00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:33.000
or killers were captured, and it actually seemed like Karen

338
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:37.359
became quite obsessed over Missy's murder. She hung articles related

339
00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:39.119
to the murder up on the wall in the room

340
00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:44.400
she was given in Irene's house. She thought about it constantly. However,

341
00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:49.960
police really had nothing to go on. Years went by,

342
00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:54.920
nearly three before finally some movement on Missy's case would happen.

343
00:21:56.920 --> 00:21:59.920
In July of nineteen eighty eight, another friend of Missy

344
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.920
would come forward with the story of what happened to Missy.

345
00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:08.680
Her name is Eva Cherimbolo. Eva admitted she was with

346
00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:11.720
two of Missy's other friends, Laura and Karen, and with

347
00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.880
Missy the night Missy had been murdered. She said she

348
00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:18.559
took the forty five minute drive with Laura, Karen and

349
00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:22.400
Missy up into the forest where Camp Colby was now.

350
00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:25.039
Eva claimed she never got out of the car when

351
00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:28.119
they reached Camp Colby, but the other three girls went

352
00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:32.759
into the woods, but only two Laura and Karen, came

353
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:37.680
back to the car. Now, according to court records, Karen

354
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:43.400
and Laura were considerably larger than Missy. In fact, between

355
00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:45.039
the two of them, they had around one hundred and

356
00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:48.640
forty pounds on Missy, who was only four feet ten

357
00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:53.480
and ninety seven pounds. They drove to Camp Colby and

358
00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:57.640
Karen and Laura actually had a pretend fight the whole way,

359
00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:02.200
screaming at each other, driving rack clessly before pulling into

360
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:04.680
Camp Colby and getting out of the car to continue

361
00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:08.200
screaming at each other. Missy had gotten out of the

362
00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:11.359
car to try and create peace between the two girls

363
00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:14.640
and stop the fighting, when all of a sudden, they

364
00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:19.119
stopped screaming and turned around to stare at Missy, telling

365
00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:21.519
her that the fight was a lie and they weren't

366
00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:24.519
really angry with each other. They were angry at her.

367
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.839
They accused Missy of sexual promiscuity and then forced her

368
00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:31.920
onto the trail. When they got deeper into the forest,

369
00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:36.359
Laura stopped and turned to Missy, who was crying she's terrified,

370
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:39.119
scared of what these girls were going to do to her,

371
00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:44.119
and punched Missy in the face. As soon as Laura

372
00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:47.960
launched the first punch, Karen joined in and within seconds

373
00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:51.519
they had Missy on the ground and they stomped on her.

374
00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:55.240
And they continued punching at her, and Laura started cutting

375
00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:58.559
her hair, with Karen just ripping it out by the

376
00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:02.400
fistful because they knew Missy was very proud of her

377
00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:06.799
beautiful long hair. Finally, they tied Missy's arms behind her

378
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:10.079
back and gagged her before pushing her over to the creek.

379
00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:14.759
They shoved her in and pushed her face down into

380
00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:18.400
the water to drown her. They finished their attack by

381
00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:21.359
bringing over the log and dropping it on top of

382
00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:24.119
Missy to keep her in the water, before walking back

383
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:28.279
to the car and driving home. At the time of

384
00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:31.160
their arrest, Karen said that all she wanted to do

385
00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:37.400
was torment Missy. She never intended to kill her. In

386
00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.759
nineteen ninety five, years after murdering Missy, Karen and Laura

387
00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:46.079
were tried together for first degree murder. However, several members

388
00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.599
of the jury didn't believe the young women had pre

389
00:24:48.759 --> 00:24:51.559
planned the murder of Missy, so the charge was reduced

390
00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:56.160
to second degree murder and the trial carried on. Now

391
00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.279
At least one juror didn't find a prosecution star witness,

392
00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:03.799
Eva term a completely credible either. They felt that Eva

393
00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:07.880
was holding something back, most likely something that could incriminate herself,

394
00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.559
which is possible because the only word that we have

395
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:17.519
that Eva wasn't there and didn't participate is hers. Karen

396
00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:20.759
and Laura never said anything about her. At the conclusion

397
00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:24.400
of trial, after four hours of deliberation, the jury came

398
00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:28.480
back with a guilty verdict. Karen and Laura were both

399
00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:32.279
found guilty of second degree murder, and Missy's family were

400
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:37.079
not pleased the charges had been reduced to second degree now.

401
00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:40.039
When the judge's sentence came in, it was a mere

402
00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:44.359
fifteen years to life with the possibility of parole, and

403
00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:50.359
the family was understandably furious. Now both Karen and Laura

404
00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.960
have since been paroled, Karen in December of twenty eleven

405
00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:56.839
after serving twenty one and a half years, and Laura

406
00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:01.759
in December of twenty twelve after serving twenty two years. Laura,

407
00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.920
for her part, has been extremely quiet since her release,

408
00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:09.200
but not Karen. Karen has appeared on talk shows like

409
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:13.039
Doctor philp She's blogged, wrote a book, and was even

410
00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:17.359
talks about a possible movie, which one was made based

411
00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:20.279
on this story in nineteen ninety two, starring Patti Duke

412
00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:23.680
as the mom and Tiffany Ambertheeson as the daughter who

413
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.359
was a victim to her friends, and that movie is

414
00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:31.359
called A Killer among Friends. Karen also tore schools to

415
00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:36.839
warn kids about the dangers of friends like herself, but sadly,

416
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:40.079
Karen never really shows remorse for what she did to Missy,

417
00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:45.640
but she certainly got what she wanted all along the attention,

418
00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:49.640
although I will say Karen was barred from making any

419
00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:53.880
money on the sale of her book. With that, let's

420
00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:57.359
hear from CJ, host of Beyond the Rainbow, True Crimes

421
00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:01.319
of the LGBTQ and fellow Dark House Network host with

422
00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:02.759
her frenemy case.

423
00:27:04.519 --> 00:27:09.279
Hey, thanks Courtney. You know the movie Mean Girls, written

424
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:12.400
by Tina Fey, is a comical look at just how

425
00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:16.839
shitty teenage girls can be to each other in real life.

426
00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:19.519
The stories Book of the Dead and I are bringing

427
00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:23.839
you this episode look like mean Girls on steroids, as

428
00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:27.200
you just heard in the case of Missy Avola. The

429
00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:29.839
story I would like to tell you about is a

430
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:32.799
pretty well known case that's been covered a lot on

431
00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:37.680
true crime podcasts and on YouTube shows. I typically like

432
00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:41.480
sticking with lesser known cases, but the reason I'm covering

433
00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:43.920
this one is because I needed a case that fit

434
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:49.039
the frenemi's theme and a case with undertones of LGBTQ vibes.

435
00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:52.720
If you're not sure what case I'm referring to, it

436
00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:56.839
would be the murder of Skuyler Nice in West Virginia.

437
00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:00.359
There are quite a few similarities to Missy's murder and

438
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:04.359
Skuyler's murder, first being that each case would be a

439
00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:08.920
nightmare for any mother and father of a teenage daughter. Second,

440
00:28:09.319 --> 00:28:12.200
both girls were thought to be missing, and both were

441
00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:16.039
reported as missing by their parents. Third, both sets of

442
00:28:16.119 --> 00:28:19.960
killers in these cases would insert themselves either in the

443
00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:23.839
investigation or they'd get involved with the victim's family to

444
00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:28.519
comfort them somehow, playing a huge charade at pretending they

445
00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:32.480
knew nothing of what happened to their friend. The victims

446
00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:36.839
were both pretty, sweet, petite young girls with bright futures

447
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.720
ahead of them. Both of the victims had a hard

448
00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:43.440
time believing that their writer die friends could betray them.

449
00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:48.880
One noticeable difference in Skuyler's case, Skuyler wasn't the only

450
00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:53.920
pretty girl. Her besties were pretty girls too. This inspired

451
00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:57.160
a book about her murder called Pretty Little Killers, written

452
00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:01.400
by Dayleen Berry and Jeffrey Fuller. I used this book

453
00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:05.200
as a resource for this episode. In Missy's case, she

454
00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:08.960
was the only one described as pretty. Her friends were

455
00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:13.000
considered by most people as plain, so it seemed that

456
00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:17.119
jealousy was a huge factor in Missy's death. Fear of

457
00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:21.720
exposure is what seemed to be the cause of Skuyler's death. Okay,

458
00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:25.279
with that, let's get into the case of Skuyler Niece.

459
00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:31.039
Skuyler Annette Niece was born February tenth, nineteen ninety six.

460
00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:35.920
This would have made Skyler an Aquarius. Her parents, Dave

461
00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:41.000
and Mary, provided unconditional love for their only child. In return,

462
00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:45.599
Skuyler grew up to be a thoughtful, mostly responsible young lady.

463
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:50.440
She had dreams of some day being a lawyer. Skuyler

464
00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:55.799
was also a proponent for environmental challenges and for underdogs

465
00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:59.599
and those who were picked on. She didn't mind voicing

466
00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:02.920
her opinions if she felt somebody was just being mean

467
00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.640
to be mean about someone else's lifestyle choice with their ethnicity.

468
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:12.319
For example, one of Skyler's good friends in high school

469
00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:17.119
was a boy named Daniel. Daniel is gay. Skyler's dad

470
00:30:17.240 --> 00:30:21.119
once made an off color remark about gaze, and Skyler

471
00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:25.000
set him straight. Maybe that was a poor word choice.

472
00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:28.880
Skyler told her dad he shouldn't say things like that

473
00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:32.599
because gays are people with feelings too, and a person's

474
00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:37.440
sexual orientation shouldn't define who they are as a human. Yes,

475
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:41.599
Skyler kept people on their toes thinking about their biases,

476
00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:46.480
and that was a really good thing. At sixteen years

477
00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:49.799
old in twenty twelve, Skyler had a four point zero

478
00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:53.480
grade point average. She was an honor student, and she

479
00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:57.359
loved to read. It would seem that her family were

480
00:30:57.400 --> 00:31:02.200
always struggling financially and live paycheck to paycheck. They were

481
00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:06.200
not as wealthy as many of Skyler's friend's families, but

482
00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:09.759
Skyler held no resentments toward her friends who had more,

483
00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:13.720
or towards her parents who couldn't give her more. Skyler

484
00:31:13.960 --> 00:31:16.960
never squawked about not having a lot of toys or

485
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:20.759
clothes or the latest electronics like many of her friends had.

486
00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:24.039
There was even a point where she decided to get

487
00:31:24.039 --> 00:31:27.039
a job of her own, so she went out and

488
00:31:27.079 --> 00:31:29.960
she was hired at the fast food chain Wendy's to

489
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.599
make a little extra cash, and as an added perk,

490
00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:38.079
she was able to work alongside her friend Daniel. One

491
00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:43.000
of Skuyler's childhood friends and besties was Sheila Eddie. Skyler

492
00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:45.559
and Sheila had been joined at the hip pretty much

493
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:48.079
since they met when they were seven or eight years old.

494
00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:52.079
Sheila was also an only child with a single mom

495
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:55.799
named Tara, and Tara doted on her daughter pretty much

496
00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:59.720
to a fault. Sheila could be very stubborn and very

497
00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:03.559
misch manipulative. Her mom, though, seemed to let her get

498
00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:07.799
away with a lot of shit without any consequences. This

499
00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:10.319
would be what those of us who were in the

500
00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:14.640
childcare business would call a queen of denial mom, a

501
00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:16.920
mom who let the kid call the shots and run

502
00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:22.119
the family dynamics with no boundaries. Usually, a child raised

503
00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:25.559
like this is spoiled and used to getting everything they want.

504
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:30.240
This to me is what Sheila sounds like. The niece

505
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:33.839
family and Tara, along with their daughter Sheila, all became

506
00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:38.279
pretty close with one another. The Nieces felt in many ways,

507
00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:42.200
Sheila was another daughter to them and to Skuyler. Sheila

508
00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:46.240
was the sister she never had. Skyler and her family

509
00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:50.400
lived in Star City, West Virginia. The high school she attended,

510
00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:54.799
University High School, was only about four miles away in Morgantown,

511
00:32:55.240 --> 00:32:59.440
also in West Virginia. While the girls were in high school,

512
00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:04.279
Sheila's Tara would remarry a man named Jim. Sheila wasn't

513
00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:07.880
all that crazy about Jim, but Jim was really good

514
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:10.759
to Sheila and he'd buy her gifts all the time,

515
00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:14.680
even bought Sheila a car that he put in Tara's name,

516
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:17.960
but Sheila was free to take the car whenever she wanted.

517
00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:22.920
Sheila could be kind of an asshole at others around her,

518
00:33:23.160 --> 00:33:27.680
even to her closest friends. It's thought because Sheila did

519
00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:30.480
have a car, that's why her friends put up with

520
00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:35.880
her rough exterior and her manipulative ways. For Skyler, this

521
00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:39.079
happened a lot with Sheila. It was almost like any

522
00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:43.079
time it was Skuyler, Sheila, and some other friend, Sheila

523
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:46.559
would always gravitate towards the other friend, and then she'd

524
00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:49.920
push Skyler away like she was a pesky younger sibling.

525
00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:55.599
It truly did hurt Skyler's feelings. Another best friend both

526
00:33:55.640 --> 00:33:58.359
Sheila and Skuyler had met when they started high school

527
00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:01.759
in twenty ten. It was a girl named Rachel Chauff.

528
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:05.839
Rachel was also an only child, and she was a

529
00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:10.000
natural at many things. Rachel had a mane of beautiful

530
00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:13.559
red hair, and the girl could sing and act, which

531
00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:17.599
delighted their high school drama teacher. Rachel kind of reminds

532
00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:22.280
me of a young Lindsay Lohan. The trio and sometimes

533
00:34:22.360 --> 00:34:25.199
other friends would go out for what they called joy

534
00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:30.440
writing Essentially, joy writing was just driving around aimlessly, smoking

535
00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:33.719
weed and talking. It was something that was fun for

536
00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:38.400
them to do in their small town. In twenty twelve,

537
00:34:38.599 --> 00:34:42.199
things started to get extra weird between the three besties.

538
00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:45.760
They played a lot of drinking games and they would

539
00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:49.599
sometimes kiss each other on dares, but for Skuyler, the

540
00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:53.159
kisses were as far as it went. The three girls

541
00:34:53.159 --> 00:34:56.760
spent a lot of time together and engaged in sleepovers.

542
00:34:57.320 --> 00:34:59.840
There were an awful lot of times though when Skyler

543
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.679
it felt like the third will around Sheila and Rachel.

544
00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:07.719
One night, while having a sleepover at Rachel's, Skyler became

545
00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:13.360
increasingly uncomfortable, and that's because Sheila and Rachel undressed and

546
00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:17.960
began to perform oral sex on one another. Skyler would

547
00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:20.880
write about this in her diary that she kept at home.

548
00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:25.039
When Rachel and Sheila got dressed again in their pajamas,

549
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:28.960
the three girls climbed into Rachel's bed to sleep, but

550
00:35:29.079 --> 00:35:32.400
Sheila wanted Skyler to move aside so she could cuddle

551
00:35:32.440 --> 00:35:37.960
with Rachel. After that night, things between the three friends

552
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:41.880
seemed to take a noticeable turn for the worst. Sheila

553
00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:46.119
and Rachel became more distant to Skyler. They excluded her

554
00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:48.960
from a lot of activities that normally all three of

555
00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:53.000
them would do. Skyler honestly didn't know why they were

556
00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:56.840
giving her the odd girl out treatment. A war on

557
00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:01.840
Twitter with hashtags and subtweets started. Skyler began to allude

558
00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:04.400
to the fact that she could out the two girls

559
00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:07.039
that she really wanted to, and if they kept up

560
00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:11.400
their crap, she just might. It was at this time

561
00:36:11.559 --> 00:36:14.840
Sheila and Rachel started to talk mess about Skyler and

562
00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:19.079
their biology class. Biology was the only class that they

563
00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:22.840
didn't have Skyler in. In their class, the two girls

564
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:25.880
asked the teacher questions like what would be the best

565
00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:29.039
way to dispose of a dead body? Would acid work?

566
00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:33.280
While the teacher just got frustrated with the odd questions.

567
00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:36.920
It wasn't long before other students in that class got

568
00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:40.519
the idea that these two girls really hated Skyler niece.

569
00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:44.599
A couple days later, a boy in the biology class

570
00:36:44.679 --> 00:36:48.159
told Skyler that Sheila and Rachel were talking about killing her.

571
00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:52.840
Skyler defended her best season said, Oh, it's no, biggie,

572
00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:55.920
they were just playing around. We always play that game,

573
00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:59.639
would you rather? They didn't mean anything by it, but

574
00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:05.360
secretly seething inside, Skyler confronted Sheila and Rachel, and she

575
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:09.079
asked if they were talking about killing her in biology class.

576
00:37:10.039 --> 00:37:14.480
Sheila had a rare silent moment, but always the actress,

577
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:18.400
Rachel giggled and said, whoever said that must have been stoned.

578
00:37:18.599 --> 00:37:22.800
We'd never say anything like that. This brought comfort to Skyler.

579
00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:27.639
In the meantime, Sheila and Rachel would both find boyfriends.

580
00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:31.480
Even though the sexual energy the two girls had when

581
00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:35.679
they were together it was explosive, they were still worried

582
00:37:35.719 --> 00:37:40.119
that Skuyler would out them to their classmates. Although some

583
00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:43.400
of the classmates noticed on their own how intimately close

584
00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:47.480
Sheila and Rachel had become. Having boyfriends helped some with

585
00:37:47.599 --> 00:37:52.159
hiding their lesbian relationship and throwing anyone who might suspect

586
00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:57.199
it off the trail. Verbal altercations between Sheila and Skyler

587
00:37:57.239 --> 00:38:01.760
would become more frequent, as well as Twitter fights with subtweets.

588
00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:05.880
Skyler was just damn sick of the way Sheila was

589
00:38:05.960 --> 00:38:09.840
treating her, so again, Skyler toyed with the idea of

590
00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:14.639
spilling the girl's secrets on her Twitter account. As Skyler

591
00:38:14.760 --> 00:38:17.760
struggled with what felt like the end of her friendship

592
00:38:17.800 --> 00:38:21.719
with her besties, Sheila and Rachel started to plot the

593
00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:26.239
end of Skyler. It was summer break, now between their

594
00:38:26.280 --> 00:38:30.039
sophomore and junior years of high school. Skyler was keeping

595
00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.559
busy with work and trying to hang out with more

596
00:38:32.599 --> 00:38:37.840
of her other friends. The evening of July sixth, twenty twelve,

597
00:38:38.360 --> 00:38:42.280
Sheila and Rachel texted Skyler and even though she was

598
00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:45.320
still sore with the both of them, they convinced her

599
00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:48.519
to come out and go joy riding with them. It

600
00:38:48.599 --> 00:38:52.079
was almost midnight as the little figure of Skyler could

601
00:38:52.119 --> 00:38:54.800
be seen on a surveillance camera sneaking out of her

602
00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:59.239
family's apartment and then running a short distance. Then Skyler

603
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:03.960
would hop and Sheila's silver Toyota Camry. The girls drove

604
00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:06.840
around and chit chatted, almost as if there was no

605
00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:10.440
bad blood between them at all. They drove a short

606
00:39:10.519 --> 00:39:14.480
ways across the state line into Pennsylvania. I want to

607
00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:17.679
say that according to the book Pretty Little Killers, they

608
00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:20.559
were in a town where Sheila's mother, Tara worked, in

609
00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:25.159
Wayne's Township, Pennsylvania, But according to another source, it's an

610
00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:27.880
area that the girls had driven to before to go

611
00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:31.800
and smoke weed in the trunk of Sheila's car was

612
00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:34.920
a large shovel, a change of clothes for each Sheila

613
00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:38.679
and Rachel, and cleaning supplies like old towels and bleach.

614
00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:42.480
Sheila stopped the car and the girls got out in

615
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:46.400
a secluded area to go smoke their weed. They sat

616
00:39:46.480 --> 00:39:49.440
down and tried to light up a joint, but Sheila's

617
00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:53.320
lighter was out. Skuyla remembered she left her lighter in

618
00:39:53.400 --> 00:39:55.920
the car, and she jumped up and said, oh, I

619
00:39:55.960 --> 00:39:58.400
got this, and she started to head back to the

620
00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:01.960
car to get hers. And that's when Sheila and Rachel

621
00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:05.440
counted to three and each produced a knife that they

622
00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:09.079
had been carrying in their jacket pockets. They proceeded to

623
00:40:09.199 --> 00:40:13.840
jump Skyler and stabber. For her tiny frame, Skyler was

624
00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:17.719
no sitting duck. She fought back, and she even tried

625
00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:21.840
to run until Rachel tackled her. At one point, Skyler

626
00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:25.960
disarmed Rachel and slash Rachel near her ankle, but Rachel

627
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:29.679
got the upper hand and retrieved her knife back. Both

628
00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:34.239
Rachel and Sheila continued assaulting Skyler with their knives until

629
00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:38.000
Skyler could no longer fight or breathe, and she finally

630
00:40:38.039 --> 00:40:43.239
fell silent. In all Skyler had been stabbed at least

631
00:40:43.320 --> 00:40:46.679
fifty times by both the girls she had once considered

632
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:50.800
her very best friends in the whole world. Sheila and

633
00:40:50.920 --> 00:40:54.400
Rachel walked back to Sheila's car. They got the shovel,

634
00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:58.079
and they attempted to dig into the hard ground. Giving

635
00:40:58.159 --> 00:41:02.719
up on the shovel idea, they shallowly buried Skyler under dirt,

636
00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:06.920
fallen tree branches in brush before they drove back home

637
00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:13.639
to Morgantown, West Virginia. The morning of July seventh, Skyler's dad, Dave,

638
00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:16.760
knocked on Skyler's door, and he told her through the

639
00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:19.079
door to get ready. She was going to use his

640
00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:21.360
car to drive him to work and then she could

641
00:41:21.400 --> 00:41:24.599
take his car to her job at Wendy's, thinking Skyler

642
00:41:24.719 --> 00:41:28.079
would love this as she usually did. There was no

643
00:41:28.159 --> 00:41:33.639
response that came from Skuyler's room. Dave questioned Mary, Skuyler's mom,

644
00:41:33.719 --> 00:41:37.599
about when did Skyler leave their apartment that morning. Mary

645
00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:41.480
said she didn't know because she hadn't seen Skyler. It

646
00:41:41.639 --> 00:41:45.599
wasn't until Skyler missed her shift at Wendy's restaurant that

647
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:50.079
Dave and Mary began to worry. They contacted Sheila to

648
00:41:50.159 --> 00:41:53.559
ask if Skyler was with her, but Sheila lied and

649
00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:58.519
she said she hadn't seen Skyler. Days later, Sheila retracted

650
00:41:58.519 --> 00:42:02.039
the statement to Dave and Mary, saying, yeah, she did

651
00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:05.320
talk to Skyler by phone around midnight. On July sixth,

652
00:42:06.159 --> 00:42:09.559
David Mary reported Skyler as a missing person, in which

653
00:42:09.639 --> 00:42:13.400
the police believed that Skyler was most likely a runaway.

654
00:42:13.960 --> 00:42:17.559
This is so very annoying when law enforcement doesn't take

655
00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:21.400
a missing report seriously, and it happens far too often.

656
00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:27.519
Sheila and Rachel became huge advocates on finding their missing

657
00:42:27.599 --> 00:42:32.159
friend Skyler, and they participated in putting up missing flyers.

658
00:42:33.159 --> 00:42:37.000
When flyers started being ripped down and disappearing, it was

659
00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:40.840
later thought that these girls had been doing that too.

660
00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:44.719
More time passed and Sheila again retracted what she told

661
00:42:44.800 --> 00:42:48.960
David Mary, saying that yes, Skuyler had been with her

662
00:42:48.960 --> 00:42:52.280
and Rachel the night she went missing. She told Skyler's

663
00:42:52.320 --> 00:42:55.239
parents that Skyler had sneaked out of Dave and Mary's

664
00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:57.920
apartment on July sixth to go joy riding with her

665
00:42:57.920 --> 00:43:01.039
and Rachel, and when they were done, they dropped her

666
00:43:01.079 --> 00:43:03.599
off down the street because Skuyler didn't want to wake

667
00:43:03.639 --> 00:43:09.880
her parents up. Sheila's story continually changing became a huge

668
00:43:09.920 --> 00:43:14.239
red flag for law enforcement in their small West Virginia community.

669
00:43:15.079 --> 00:43:19.480
Even though they figured Skuyler ran away, they did suspect

670
00:43:19.480 --> 00:43:22.039
that the girls that she was with that night that

671
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:26.679
they knew something about her vanishing. Soon, the FBI would

672
00:43:26.719 --> 00:43:29.400
be called in to help with the investigation of the

673
00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:34.440
missing teenager. The FBI and the police spent a lot

674
00:43:34.440 --> 00:43:37.960
of time watching Sheila, Eddie and Rachel's chauff as well

675
00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:42.000
as questioning them. It got to a point where Sheila's mother, Tara,

676
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:44.679
began to coach the two girls on what they should

677
00:43:45.119 --> 00:43:49.920
and shouldn't say to law enforcement. Rachel's parents didn't like

678
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:53.599
that Tara was feeding ideas into their daughter's head, so

679
00:43:53.719 --> 00:43:57.719
they did their best to limit time between Rachel and Sheila.

680
00:43:58.280 --> 00:44:01.239
Tips would come and go with the sightings of Skuyler

681
00:44:01.360 --> 00:44:05.639
in different cities and different states, reinforcing the idea that

682
00:44:05.679 --> 00:44:09.440
Skuyler was a runaway, but nothing would come of these

683
00:44:09.480 --> 00:44:15.440
potential leads. Several months later, Rachel would have a mental

684
00:44:15.480 --> 00:44:19.079
breakdown because of the secret her and Sheila had been harboring.

685
00:44:20.079 --> 00:44:24.639
Rachel would be institutionalized briefly due to the breakdown, she

686
00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:29.880
remained in the hospital for six days. After Rachel's stint

687
00:44:29.960 --> 00:44:35.079
in the mental facility, without Sheila's knowledge, Rachel decided to

688
00:44:35.079 --> 00:44:39.159
come clean to the police and the FBI. No one's

689
00:44:39.239 --> 00:44:41.719
quite sure if it was the guilt of murdering her

690
00:44:41.760 --> 00:44:46.280
friend or the relentless shadowing of her by law enforcement

691
00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:50.480
that eventually made her break, but Rachel told them exactly

692
00:44:50.679 --> 00:44:54.719
what happened to Skuyler the night of July sixth, twenty twelve.

693
00:44:55.320 --> 00:45:00.119
She even led the authorities to Skyler's remains. When tell

694
00:45:00.159 --> 00:45:03.719
us why they did what they did, Rachel simply replied,

695
00:45:04.159 --> 00:45:07.800
we just didn't like her anymore, and please put a

696
00:45:07.840 --> 00:45:12.679
pin in that we just didn't like her anymore. In

697
00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:16.239
May of twenty thirteen, Rachel would take a plea deal

698
00:45:16.320 --> 00:45:19.519
of second degree murder, and she'd turn on her one

699
00:45:19.559 --> 00:45:24.760
time friend and lover, Sheila. Over a year after Schuyler's murder,

700
00:45:24.800 --> 00:45:30.280
in September of twenty thirteen, prosecutors in West Virginia would

701
00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:34.400
announce Sheila Eddie as the second alleged murderer of skuyler niece.

702
00:45:35.159 --> 00:45:38.480
There'd be no plea deals for Sheila. She was charged

703
00:45:38.519 --> 00:45:44.159
with first degree premeditated murder. Both Rachel and Sheila would

704
00:45:44.159 --> 00:45:48.480
be tried as adults. At Rachel's trial, with her plea deal,

705
00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:52.760
she was convicted of second degree murder. Prosecutors asked for

706
00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:57.039
a twenty year sentence because of the plea deal. The judge, however,

707
00:45:57.119 --> 00:46:02.000
gave Rachel a thirty year sentence. She was eligible for

708
00:46:02.039 --> 00:46:05.280
parole in twenty twenty three, and she had her first

709
00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:09.199
parole hearing, but she was denied. She applied for parole

710
00:46:09.239 --> 00:46:12.840
again in twenty twenty four, and that too was shot down,

711
00:46:13.039 --> 00:46:17.280
much to the happiness of Skyler's family and friends. Rachel

712
00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:20.280
will once again be up for parole in June of

713
00:46:20.400 --> 00:46:25.360
twenty twenty five. She's currently twenty eight years old, and

714
00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:28.480
remember asked she to put a pin in what Rachel

715
00:46:28.679 --> 00:46:32.719
used as her excuse for why they killed Skyler. After

716
00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:37.280
the first parole hearing, Schuyler's family found out and they

717
00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:40.639
were able to confirm the real reason their baby girl

718
00:46:40.760 --> 00:46:45.480
was murdered, and that's because Rachel and Sheila were in

719
00:46:45.559 --> 00:46:51.039
a lesbian relationship together and Skuyler was threatening to expose

720
00:46:51.159 --> 00:46:55.000
them when they were being mean to her. Sheila was

721
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:58.519
also found guilty and because she did not have a

722
00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:01.920
plea deal in place. She was given a life sentence

723
00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:06.880
with the possibility of parole, which is about thirty years.

724
00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:10.119
She will be eligible to apply for parole in twenty

725
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:14.760
twenty five. It seems to me the Pretty Little Killers

726
00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:18.159
have only served out twelve years since they were arrested.

727
00:47:18.840 --> 00:47:22.159
I'm not really sure why their thirty year sentences are

728
00:47:22.239 --> 00:47:25.599
not being carried out before they're even considered for parole.

729
00:47:26.039 --> 00:47:29.920
They haven't even served half of their sentences yet. Sounds

730
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:36.360
kind of ridiculous to me. Rest in Power, Skuyler and Missy, thank.

731
00:47:36.199 --> 00:47:38.800
You so much for listening to this chapter of the

732
00:47:38.800 --> 00:47:42.280
Book of the Dead, and don't forget that you can

733
00:47:42.280 --> 00:47:46.039
always connect with us on Instagram, you can connect with

734
00:47:46.119 --> 00:47:49.199
us on Twitter, and you can absolutely connect with us

735
00:47:49.280 --> 00:47:53.760
on Patreon. We also have a marchore as well that

736
00:47:53.800 --> 00:47:56.800
we have frequent discount codes coming out for so that

737
00:47:56.840 --> 00:48:00.639
you guys can get March hand drawn by myself at

738
00:48:00.679 --> 00:48:03.559
a better cost. We hope you have a lovely rest

739
00:48:03.599 --> 00:48:07.639
of your week, and just remember, please be kind and

740
00:48:07.840 --> 00:48:13.480
don't forget to always stay safe, stay curious, and stay vigilant.

741
00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:17.280
Bye guys, Bye by