KILLED - NEW LIMITED SERIES: Three

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

After midnight on July 6th, 2012, three teenage girls walked into the thick Appalachian woods somewhere along the Mason-Dixon county line. Hours later, under the glow of a nearly full moon, only two walked out.The very last time Dave and Mary Neese saw their only child Skylar was in a grainy black-and-white video. In it, she's sneaking out of her ground-floor bedroom in the middle of the night, her purse over her shoulder, her brown hair swinging as she hurries across the small parking lot to a waiting car.What happened to Skylar Neese has become gothic American lore: the odd girl out in a vicious teenage triangle. But in the ten years since that fateful night beneath the West Virginia stars, a fuller portrait of what happened has emerged. From award-winning journalists Justine Harman and Holly Millea comes a gripping 10-part series featuring Skylar's family, closest friends, and law enforcement who lived the case—and are still living it. 

Hey, killed listeners, Justine here. I know it's been a minute since I dropped into your feeds, but it's because I've been working on something really special that I'm so excited to tell you about. In 2014, my friend Holly Millay wrote a brilliant piece for Elle Magazine, but unlike most of what you've heard here, her story, Trial by Twitter, exploded. Trial by Twitter covered the case of Skyler Niece, who in 2012 walked into the thick Appalachian woods of West Virginia one summer night with two friends. And while the two friends made it back out, Skyler didn't. What happened to Skyler has become gothic American lore about three teens, social media, and a pact to kill.

In the decade since Skylar was last seen in a grainy black and white surveillance video sneaking out of her bedroom window, a fuller portrait of what happened that night in the woods has emerged, and Holly and I are bringing you that story. A story you've never heard before in the form of our podcast called Three, featuring Skyler's family, closest friends,

and law enforcement, who knew Skyler and her case best. Listen to this trailer for Three, and then follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts. After midnight on July 6, 2012, three teenage girls walked into the thick Appalachian woods somewhere along the Mason-Dixon County line. Hours later, under the glow of a nearly full moon, only two walked out. The surrounding forest had muffled the sounds of the sudden, unthinkable violence. Where there was laughing, then screaming, there is now silence. Where there was struggle and carnage, there is now stillness. For months, Skyler Nieces' body lay decomposing, hidden

beneath a canopy of pine and oak trees, first absorbing humidity, then freezing over with ice. For months, she waited for someone to find her, but no one knew she was there. No one could imagine what had actually happened. You may have heard about the Skyler-Nees case of three teenage girls, a pact to kill, and one violent night under the stars deep in the West Virginia Woods. A young teen classified as a runaway only to be found murdered months later. But for one young girl, a midnight joyride was just the start of a mystery that devastated a small community. What happened to Skyler Neese?

So why did they do it? Why kill Skyler? The reason Rachel's given is simple and sickening. But you've never heard it like this. And that's where she met the little sick psychopath, Sheila Eddy. Now Sheila like sideswiped the pole on this wreck. I swear we probably on this side a hundred times that night. Do you remember the blood everywhere like this?

And Rachel laughed. I'm Holly Millay. Ten years ago I wrote about this case for Elle Magazine, and I never lost touch with the people in Morgantown, West Virginia. And I'm Justine Harmon. This is the story of how a triangle of teenage friendship culminated in murder.

You'll hear from the family, friends, and law enforcement who lived it and are still living it. I'm telling you, that's serial killer stuff right there. Who kills somebody and then goes to church camp? Rachel looked at her and she goes, they know. She was like, what do you mean they know? And she said, they know. They did not understand the consequences of killing someone.

Nothing unusual. Right. But it is unusual for your friends to kill you. You're somebody that young to be that evil. Are you born with it? From Waveland, this is 3. Would you guys rather suffocate or get shot? Get shot.

Shot. Wait, depends on where. In the head. Shot.