Sally McNeil was a former American bodybuilder convicted of second-degree murder on the 19th March 1996. She was sentenced to nineteen years in prison.

Military career

Sally served in the US Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, reaching the rank of Sergeant., She also won the US armed services physique championship twice in the 1980s.

In 1987 she met Ray, a fellow marine; she was twenty-seven he was twenty-three. After a short romance, they got married. But, unfortunately, the marriage was always volatile, with countless arguments and infidelity on Ray’s part.

In 1990 Sally was demoted within the army and was refused re-enlistment. So instead, she became a professional wrestler, ironically calling herself Killer Sally. Her earnings allowed Ray to leave the marines; he followed her into wrestling.

A violent past

In 1993, Sally had an altercation in a bar with two bouncers; the police were called; it took three of them to subdue her.

In 1994, Ray wanted a career change and started to become a stand-up comedian. Unfortunately, this meant that money was tight for the family as they were living off Sally’s wages only. However, Sally loved her husband, forgiving his many affairs and irresponsible financial decisions.

During one wrestling fight, she was confronted by one of Ray’s mistresses. She attacked the woman hitting her repeatedly in the head. As a result, she lost her wrestling licence. Money then became tighter; it is thought this was what the couple argued about on the fateful night.

Valentine’s day

On 14th February 1995, Sally finished work at the gym and drove home. Forty minutes later, her husband Ray McNeil returned home; they had been married seven years. She shared the house with him and two children from a previous relationship. The couple argued; Ray went into the kitchen to cook dinner. She walked into the bedroom, loaded a shotgun and shot him in the abdomen. She returned to the bedroom, reloaded the gun and went back into the kitchen, hitting him in the head.

Ray’s two children ran from the house screaming, whilst Sally phoned 911 and covered her dying husband with a blanket. She then went outside and handed the shotgun to the neighbour, telling him that Ray had been beating her and she killed him in self-defence. Finally, she sat down and waited for the police to arrive.

Ray was rushed to the hospital but died once he arrived there. Both of the couple were tested and found to be using steroids; the case earned the reputation of being the roid rage killing.

Trial 

During the trial, the prosecution proposed that Sally kill her husband for the insurance money as he planned to leave her. She admitted later that he had mentioned leaving. They also stated that the murder was premeditated as she had returned to the bedroom to reload the gun.

Sally denied this and said that the shell was kicked into the bedroom by accident. The police stated the house was too cluttered for a bullet to make it into the bedroom. Sally also noted that the killing was self-defence as Ray was hitting and choking her at the time. Ray disproved this as he overheard her talking, whilst he lay dying and denied it. The DNA evidence also did not support this theory.

Sally was found guilty and sentenced to detention in California. She appealed her sentence, which saw it overturned. The state of California then took the case to the supreme court, which reversed the appeal, reinstating the original conviction.

Records show that she will be eligible for parole again in 2022 when she is sixty-one. One report states that she has already been paroled; however, I can find nothing to substantiate this.