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The morning of May 1, 2013, just hours before Sheila Eddie was arrested by FBI agent Morgan Spurlock in the cracker barrel parking lot, Rachel Shoaff was allowed one final act of freedom. She was permitted to drive herself downtown to surrender to authorities.

Skyler's close friend, 16 year old Rachel Shoaf, has admitted to planning the murder and stabbing the victim in a remote part of Wayne Township, Pennsylvania.

Her next door neighbor, Kim Keener, who for so many months had been in denial about the teen's involvement in Skyler's disappearance, watched Rachel leave the cul de sac one last time.

The last I saw of her, it was the day she was going to court, the day they were taking her. She had finally gotten her license for kids. I just love when the kids get their license and learn to drive. I was always sad for her that she didn't drive. So anyway, and she drove herself to court. She's in a pretty white church. Backed out and gave me a wave in the rearview mirror as she drove herself into court to be taken away from murder. I thought I was going to toke, and I just stood there, but that's the last time I've seen her. It was sad.

16 year old Rachel Shoafe, seen here.

In this picture from the examiner, smiling along with her friend, Skyler, admitted she.

Killed her, but she said she did.

Not do it alone. From wavelength. I'm Holly Malay.

And I'm Justine Harmon. This is three, episode seven, sweat, blood, tears, and all.

So you talked about. You've represented child pornographers and murders and rapists.

You name it, I've done it.

Back in September 2023, our producer, Jason Hoke sat down with attorney Mike Beninger in his Morgantown law office to talk about the role of a criminal defense.

Attorney over hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of clients who have committed serious crimes. I'm talking about felony level crimes, imprisonable crimes. Those people have demonstrated and said to me, I did not feel or I did not believe or I did not understand that those rules applied to me. And if they did, I don't care because I had an emotional state that I wanted to intentionally do something. Every one of them have conveyed to me, in words or actions or otherwise, that they didn't believe the rules of good public policy legislated upon them in governing. All of us in a civilized society applied to them, and if it did, they didn't care.

Benninger is a big guy with black hair, dark eyes, and a booming voice. Super smart and grandly self effacing. He's a real character right out of a movie. His wife, Barbara, is his partner in Benninger law firm, which specializes in personal injury and medical malpractice and defendants in deep trouble, which is why Sheila Eddie hired him.

Well, I was engaged well before she was charged. I was her lawyer when she was being investigated, she and others were being investigated. I don't remember how many months, but it would have been months to a year before, and I have worked with her since her sentencing in confinement. Once you're someone's lawyer, you're always their lawyer, because if something comes up that's related to that particular case, they usually.

Call back in January 2014, when I first landed in Morgantown, West Virginia, it was like dropping into a snow globe. The woods all around were covered in white, surrounding a picturesque downtown below. It was freezing, the packed snow crunching underfoot in the historic district was the beautiful, abandoned art Deco Warner theater, where the movie marquee was still showing the last film, the kids are all right. It was just down the street from the Moningale courthouse, this imposing red brick and stone structure built in 1891. Back then, the courtyard had a public whipping post, stalks and pillaries. The time on the clock tower was close to 01:00 p.m. And people were filing in to watch Sheila Eddie's murder trial begin. Inside the courtroom of Judge Russell Clodges. The benches were filled with spectators wearing purple, Skylar's favorite color. Mary nice, was sitting in the gallery, a box of tissues at her feet. Dave sat next to her, gripping her hand. On the other side sat Tara Eddie and her husband, Jim Clenndin, both pale, looking shocked, staring straight ahead. The audio system, rigged to accommodate the press room down the hall, was picking up a staticy radio station so that Stevie wonder sang isn't she lovely?

As Sheila entered the room, she was shackled at the waist, wearing a short sleeved orange prison jumpsuit with a long sleeved black t shirt underneath and white socks and sandals. Her hair was pulled back in a low, loose ponytail. She wore rectangular reading glasses, just like the one skylar would sometimes wear. I was struck by how small Sheila was and how young she looked without makeup.

She was not the teen in all those selfies, smiling and posing and full of herself. She was not even the teen who had appeared four months earlier at her arraignment with her long hair down, parted on the side, looking self assured and pleading not guilty, then smiling towards the gallery and flipping her hair over her shoulder as she sat back down. And while the following month, at her pretrial hearing, she appeared more somber, here today, she was so average. Everyone in the room had been eager to watch a trial, to hear Sheila speak, to hear what she could possibly say to defend herself against the charge of first degree murder. Everyone also wanted to watch Sheila face off against her co conspirator and former best friend, Rachel Chauve, who, as part of her plea deal, was now the state's star witness. But for once, Sheila decided not to fight. She would own up to killing Skylar. She had to. As Benninger stated at the beginning of.

The proceedings, we have thoughtfully, carefully, and in unison with Sheila, Eddie and her family have evaluated every piece of paper, literally every piece of paper, every video, every audio recording provided to us in discovery, pretrial proceedings. And I have found negligible, if any, factual basis upon which to develop a defense in this murder and conspiracy case.

With the exception of yes, sir, and guilty. The girl who'd sent 4374 tweets had nothing to say for herself. Her attorney spoke for her.

I can state without hesitation or reservation that all concern must know and understand that Sheila, Eddie, my client and her family recognize that the niece family is in a constant state of despair, loneliness, and sadness as a result of Skylar's death. For that, Sheila Eddie and her family are and will be eternally sorry.

Sheila, Eddie, how do you plead to the offense of murder in the first degree of the felony charged in count three of the indictment in this case?

Guilty.

Record will reflect that the defendant has entered a plea of guilty to the offense of murder in the first degree of the felony charged in count three of the indictment in this case. What would the state have expected to prove in this case if it had gone to trial?

Your Honor, on the night of July 5 and six, 2012, Skyler Nice disappeared and was never seen alive again.

Prosecuting attorney Marcia Ashdown continued at a trial.

The state's evidence would prove that Skyler's disappearance and death were the result of a conspiracy between Sheila, Eddie and Rachel Shofe to rid themselves of their friend Skylar by killing her. We have also recently received a report from the FBI laboratory that shows that a vertebrae of Skyler that was collected from the scene of the murder shows evidence of injury that is consistent with having been caused by a knife blade.

Judge Clodges, stoic, handsome, silver haired, and bearded, turned his attention to Sheila Bizetti.

Have you heard what the prosecutor said the state's evidence would be?

Yes, sir.

Is that substantially correct?

Yes, sir.

Is that what happened? Yes, sir, is Eddie, are you entering a plea of guilty to the offense of murder in the first degree, the felony charged in count three of this indictment because you are, in fact, guilty of this offense?

Yes, sir.

Eddie, at this time, I would advise you of your right to allocation, that is, your right to make any statement that you might wish the court to consider before it passes sentence in this matter. Do you have anything that you wish to say at this.

Client? She asked that she be permitted to remain silent.

Then Skyler's aunt Carol spoke of all the hopes and dreams Sheila had taken away from her sister Mary, from Skylar's prom to graduation, having a wedding, being a grandmother. Many in the gallery were crying. Next, Dave Nees walked up and stood at the prosecutor's table, where prosecuting attorney Marcia Ashdown and assistant prosecuting attorney Perry Joe de Christopher were both seated.

My name is David Neese, mom's collar father. I'm here today with my wife Mary. I'm speaking on the behalf of my daughter because she can't be here. On July 6, she made a decision to leave our house, go through a window, and supposedly go with two friends. And I use that term. I'm sure you know what I mean. When we learned that she was missing, we immediately went to the Star city police, who couldn't do anything with us, so they just list her as a runaway. Since that date, my life, my wife's life has drastically altered. We are no longer a family. The person said, you can be for you. Scott, her so called friend, took her away from us without any remorse or feelings. You can look into the eyes of those who are responsible, but you can never hear what they heard as they were taking her life. You can see the faces of the killer, but you can't see Skylar's face. You can never understand the fear that she must have had as they took a knife and ended her life. You cannot imagine the pain that Scott must have felt and the pain that Mary and I now feel.

Your honor to be here today.

Alex Lang recalls being there, reporting for the Dominion post.

The way she acted just seemed devoid of most human emotions. I never saw any remorse. Sheila is a psychopath. I have no doubt of it in my mind, if she didn't kill Skylar, she would have killed somebody else in her life. I say that because I always viewed Rachel as more of a follower. I think Sheila was the one that came up with the idea, and Rachel kind of went along with it.

Today, what we do know is that Sheila Eddie pleaded to the first degree murder of the girl that she once called her best friend Skylar nice. The judge took it all in and made his determination.

Sheila, Eddie, for your conviction of the offense of murder in the first degree, upon your plea of guilty, it is the sentence of the court that you've been prisoned in the West Virginia state Penitentiary for the rest of your natural life, consistent with the requirements of the Constitution of the United States. That sentence is technically with mercy, which makes you eligible for parole after you have served 15 years.

The morning of May 1, after surrendering to law enforcement, Rachel Shofe, in the presence of her lawyer, John Angati, and prosecuting attorney Marcia Ashtown, signed a simple two page guilty plea to murder in the second degree. A month after Sheila was sentenced, I was back in the same courtroom for Rachel's sentencing. She faced up to 40 years in prison. But regardless, given her plea deal and the fact that she was only 16 at the time of the murder, Rachel, at most, would serve only 15 years. There were those in town who found the sentence too light, given the nature of the crime. But Marcia Ashdown and Perry Joe de Christopher had their reasons.

We had to take into account the fact that Rachel had been the first one to come forward. The belief at that time was that if she hadn't caved in, the case would have gone on and on unsolved, potentially. After so much time passes, even in a terrible incident like that or a child gone missing, people move on. And it's not on the front of people's minds anymore. It takes a backseat. And then more and more time passes, and then maybe people begin to forget about it. The case goes cold. The investigation has reached a point where it can't continue. And so that was the deal that was made with Rachel. Show for her cooperation.

If she hadn't given that statement, if the whole prosecution had taken place beginning to end, without her giving a statement, without her testifying at trial, there would have been no way for us or law enforcement to know the details of the murder. But for that statement, that prosecution could have gone without any detail from her. It would have only had to been put together by evidence that we had, which was super limited as to why.

She blurted out that we stabbed her, as opposed to coming up with a milder version of what happened. They know they just need to come clean. And whoever comes in first to come clean might be in a better position than the one who didn't come in from the cold. So that's really how that happened.

Those sitting in the gallery were familiar, as we'd all seen each other at Sheila's sentencing in January, people chatted, waiting for the proceedings to begin. When judge Clodges came in and delivered a scolding lecture. It has come to my attention from a reliable source. People in the courtroom were tweeting or texting photographs during the proceedings. Was there anybody texting or tweeting or taking any photographs? Head swiveled. Not a hand was raised. With that settled, the back door opened, and Rachel Shoaf, shackled and outfitted in orange like Sheila, entered and walked up the center aisle. She was also nearly unrecognizable, having gained weight. Her face was doughy, and her beautiful long red hair had been cut to her shoulders. Her mother, Patricia, and father, Rusty, sat just behind her, clearly distressed.

We are here this morning in the case of state of West Virginia versus Rachel Shove's defendant. It's case number 13 F 88. This matter is set for sentencing. The record will reflect the presence of the state of West Virginia by Marshall Ashdown, prosecuting attorney married to Christopher, assistant.

Prosecuting attorney Rachel's lawyer, John Angotti, stood and addressed the judge.

Rachel would like to speak to the.

Court first, and then I would like to follow up after she finished her statement. Okay, very well. Ms. Chauffei would advise you at this time of your right.

Rachel stood and turned and locked eyes with Mary and Dave, then read to them what she'd written.

I'm so sorry. I don't know if there's a proper way to make this apology because there are not even words to describe the guilt and remorse that I feel each day for what I've done.

Turning back, she faced the judge and kept going.

The person that did that was not the real me. Not the person I am, not what I'm made of, and not what I believe in. I don't think I ever thought this would actually happen.

A subtle, squirmy energy filled the room. You could see people side eye one another, press elbows with their neighbors, and steal glances over to Mary and Dave.

I became scared and caught up in something that I did not want to do. I never realized the gravity of my actions and how many people I've hurt. I hurt the niece family, and those who love Skyler. I hurt my parents and shamed my family. I hurt my extended family and all of my friends who loved me. I hurt my teachers and those who believed in me. I hurt my church family, my community, and those who trusted me. And I hurt my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. May God bring eternal peace to Skylar and the entire niece family again. I'm so sorry. And I pray each day for everyone involved. And I pray each day for forgiveness.

As Rachel was reading, Dave stared at her, his face tight as a fist. Mary, looking down, wept. Quietly.

With that, Rachel sat down and wiped away tears with the Kleenex as her lawyer spoke of her, quote, genuine remorse and empathy for the niece family, noting that it would be, quote, detrimental to Rachel's health to place her in a prison with Sheila Eddie at the next table, assistant prosecuting attorney Perry Joe de Christopher sat stone faced with her arms folded across her chest. Next to her, lead prosecutor Marcia Ashdown looked locked and loaded, ready to speak, armed with the details of Rachel's confession and law enforcement evidence. But first, members of Skyler's family would give victim impact statements. Two sheriff's deputies quietly appeared between where Rachel was sitting and Dave Nice stood. He was brief, saying how their lives had been a living hell since Skyler disappeared. And he asked judge Clodges to sentence Rachel to 40 years plus.

Lastly, Dave Nice's younger brother, Michael, approached the lectern. He spoke for over ten minutes about how he'd xeroxed 200 missing persons flyers and handed them out in the Kroger parking lot and tucked them under windshield wipers on cars. He didn't know that tears were rolling down his cheeks until a shopper stopped and asked him if he was okay. He said every time he was driving, his wife would tell him to look for Skyler. She could be walking on the side of the road and that he still looks for her. He spoke of the only time he went to Skyler's sight and how Dave and Mary stood by the oak tree where she was found. He could hear them sniffling. Mary, talking to Skylar, said, I always told you to never sneak out. And Dave, so sad, said, you see where that got you? Michael was crying hard now, barely able to speak. Then he recalled the last time he saw Skylar was at his mother's funeral. And she ran over to him and hugged him so hard she put a kink in his neck. Mary was weeping. Many in the courtroom were crying, including Rachel, who covered her face in her hands.

I know in my heart Skyler fought that night for her life. And now she's gone. Your honor, I'm here today to fight for her as hard as she did to stay alive. The admitted murder sitting here today has nothing but blatant disregard for human life and deserves the mackets of the sentence for her role, and I quote, this extremely horrific and vile crime she committed on my niece. She may have admitted to murder but at what cost, your honor, showing no emotion for caring the world for six months should be dealt with with no compassion towards her because she never gave Skylar 1oz of mercy.

He concluded with a single quote.

Those given to harming others bear within themselves the seeds of their own destruction. Thank you very much.

The last to speak for Skylar was prosecutor Marcia Ashdown. She wore a black suit, white button down shirt, and black and white scarf. The courtroom fell silent as she stood and walked to the lectern.

This is what Rachel Chauffe finally told police on January 3, 2013, and this is information from the documentation of her statement to police on that day. She said, we stabbed her, referring to herself and Sheila. Eddie, they killed Skylar because the girls always fought with Skyler, and she was, quote, in the way of the friendship between Rachel and Sheila.

In an even tone, Ashtown recounted the events starting in the spring of 2012, when Sheila and Rachel sat in science class complaining about Skyler and Rachel joked, we should kill her, and how at that moment, the decision was made. Rachel and Sheila discussed methods of murdering Skylar. Without access to firearms, they decided on knives, as reflected in their tweets during the last months of school. The conflict intensified, and the idea took hold. That first week of June when Sheila and Skylar were on vacation in Myrtle beach, their fighting escalated, and once again they came to physical blows. Back in Morgantown, Sheila told Rachel, and the two decided to kill Skylar before Rachel left for church camp in July. Having set the stage, Marcia Ashdown then detailed what happened the night of the crime. Those in the gallery who'd attended Sheila's sentencing were braced for what they'd heard then, but still couldn't believe those hearing the facts for the first time sat stunned. The temperature on that terrible night, July 5, 2012, was in the 90s, dropping to 80 degrees after midnight. Hot as it was, Rachel and Sheila wore hoodies under which they had knives Sheila brought from her mother's house.

In the car trunk were a change of clothes, cleaning supplies, and the shovel Rachel took from her father's garage. Once in Brave, Pennsylvania, they were walking into the woods to get high when Skylar turned to go back to the car for her lighter. Rachel initiated the violence with their practiced on three command, one, two, three. At one point during the frenzy, Skylar got away, but Rachel tackled her. In the struggle, Skylar managed to take Rachel's knife and cut her below the knee. But Sheila caught up with them, and Skyler could not escape them both. Then Marcia Ashtown added a detail no one had heard before, the image of which is unshakable Rachel Shofe described the.

Scene as having lots of blood and it was never cleaned up following the attack, and blood remained on the gravel road. Rachel Shove estimated that Skyler was stabbed ten times before she died. And she explained that during the attack, Skyler niece's neck made weird sounds and they both continued to stab her until those noises stopped.

Ashdown said that during the commission of that murder, Eddie and Rachel Schof stabbed Skylar with kitchen knives that they'd hidden on their bodies and that the two girls stood over Skylar's body until the very last breath.

As horrific and exact as Rachel's confession had been, she did not admit to the actual number of times they'd assaulted Skylar. That was determined by the FBI's forensic pathologist, who examined the nick marks on her bones. Chris Berry.

Again, stuff against Marsha. She's going to base on Rachel. But we learned it was over 50 times. That was from the medical examiner himself. Even quit counting because her assignment, she goes, we know we're at 50. But he goes, it could be more. I couldn't figure that out, why we couldn't find the knives. What, the girls want to tell us where the knives were. Honey and I, we looked and looked, but it got to the point he's like, fuck it, we got the confession.

After the FBI seized Sheila's car on January 9, they sprayed the trunk with luminol. And there, inside, Skyler's blood, DNA lit up in fluorescent blue. That was the ultimate evidence of the murder and who had committed it. Skyler's DNA, unseen by the naked eye, had survived not only the July, August, and September heat, but also Sheila and Rachel's rigorous cleanup job after the crime.

Leaders are sloppy about it. Blood transfer will go a long, long way. Our crime scene. I could prick my thumb, go over and put on that post right by that plate. In five years from now, you can go test it and still prove it's me about my DNA. So blood goes for a long way. If they don't wipe this table, this fingerprint will stay here for another two years, and you can still lift it. You could actually use the sweat, the DNA off of it, prove it's me. Sweat, blood, tears and all.

While Rachel's lawyer, John Angotti, had argued that Rachel should be sentenced to a juvenile detention facility until she turned 18, setting that her confession had solved the case, Marcia Ashdown countered that argument. She ended her statement to the judge with these words.

Rachel Shoaf began to understand how she needed to and how she might be able to reduce her exposure. That's when she came in from the cold alone. And first, that's when she confessed for a price. She sold her confession to police for the ultimate bargain of her plea to second degree murder in West Virginia. That's what happens to solve some criminal cases. And to the extent that Rachel Schope's confession, for which she extracted this benefit, assisted the investigation, she has been compensated by the agreement for her plea to second degree murder, and therewith her sentence of substantially less than a life term. That is her reward. And it is more than sufficient, surely, for this oh so adult crime of cold blooded, planned, premeditated murder. There is no proper sentence other than an adult sentence.

Judge Clodges agreed. For her conviction of murder in the second degree. He sentenced Rachel Shoaff to 30 years in an adult prison, which would make her eligible for parole in ten.

Marcia Ashdown stood in the back of the room with the niece family, surrounded by reporters, and answered questions in the.

Catalog of cases that cross your desk. How would you characterize this one?

Well, murders are murders, and every murder is a loss to a family. It's a tragedy. This has been definitely up a few more notches because of the youthfulness of Skylar, our victim, and the youthfulness of these girls and the evil character of it that really, I'd say, once again, I cannot understand. No one can understand that. And it's hard to look at. It's hard to think about. I don't know what to say beyond that. I think everyone agrees that it's a horror.

Kelly Kearns, who'd written a character reference on behalf of Rachel to the judge, recalls seeing Alex Lang's overnight coverage in the dominion Post.

I had to go to school the next day, and I took the newspaper with me, and I was subbing, and I opened it, and there, across our newspaper, with giant, bold letters, it said, guilty, and had Rachel's picture. And I pretty much dropped to the ground. And they had to get a sub for the sub because I could not wrap my head around I. Till that I saw those words. I just could not believe that she actually did this.

At the end of the day, the big question was still unanswered. Why did Sheila and Rachel go to the extreme of killing Skyler? As Ronnie Gaskins told me in 2014.

That'S something that I asked Rachel on the day of her confession, and her only response was, we didn't like her. I knew there was more to it than just that. But to this day, I can't give you an actual and honest answer as to why.

What bothers me the most is she was very verbal. I mean, if she didn't agree with something, she was very verbal about it. So why was she not that way with those two? It's like she let them run over her and guide her. Just like them having their little tet and having Skyler locked in the room with them. And why I cannot see Skylar allowing that. That blows my mind that it doesn't seem like Skylar to. And even the night she snuck out, if they were truly having those issues that all the kids are saying they would, school and all this, why in the world would she go with them?

Next time on three.

Every day they see each other all day. They're on the yard together all the time. When Rachel first got there, she lacussed her out for telling on her publicly.

Like there were a lot of people who witnessed.

There is no secrets in prison.

We're coming to you through Google Meets through video, to the lake and correctional Center. Ma'am, are you Rachel Shoaf with the doc number 357-3506 and a date of birth of. Date of birth of June 10, 1996?

Yes, sir.

And may my records indicate this is your first time up in front of the pro board on these charges, on this charge. Is that correct?

Yes, sir.

Three is an original production of wavelength. The series is created and written by Holly Malay 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 wildwoods picture and sound in Los Angeles. Special thanks to Dave and Mary Nice and the city of Morgantown, West Virginia. If you love this 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.