May 16, 2009 9:12 PM
Did a brother and sister conspire to murder their stepfather? In a case of he said she said, it is up to two juries in one courtroom to decide. Tracy Smith has their stories.
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See all 21 CommentsI personally don't think Nathan is guilty. Why would he leave his life in Arizona to murder someone he had no connection to? He was an honor student, could speak different languages, had a girlfriend that loved him,it just doesn't make sense.
On the other hand,he did not have gun powder residue on his hands.Many neighbors that saw a man run out of the house, could not identify him or his truck at the crime scene. A long hair was found on the gun that belonged to Brae, the gun was found placed in a way,that would have been a natural way for a right handed person to drop-but Nathan is left handed, whereas Brae is right handed. There is no physical evidence that shows that he was in Tim's house.
He may have well confessed in that video that we saw, because the cops are telling him that his sister is going to fry, his poor little sister. Maybe he felt he had to stand up for her, and thus say what he said on that video. The video doesn't clearly show that he actually knew what had happened.
When the sister slipped and said his name, it was when one of the detectives was asking her again, to state what had happened in the murder house.(The Macneil's brother said, that at gun point Tim would not have refused to give the combination of the safe, he thought there had to be more to the story and asked the detective to interrogate brae one more time) She said, she was zip tied, and then "since her dad wanted to go to the bathroom" Nathan unzipped her hands so she could take off her dad's pants, and then zip tied her again.
¬¬...I think she took down his pants to humiliate him,it makes no sense that someone at gun point would ask to go to the bathroom. It also makes no sense that nathan would take the time, to unzip her, then zip her up again, just so she could take off her dad's pants. she had to explain why her fingerprints were on her dad's belt, and she may have panicked and started making that part up, and since she usually blamed her brother for everything she said his name...
The father was a loving individual and one who gave so much of himself--including his life. HE DIDN'T DESERVE IT AND THOSE TWO INDIVIDUALS MUST TAKE RESPONSIBLITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS. The fact is they're murders and it's good the young man has been taken out of society--as for Brae--she is cold and will do well in prison.
It's a terrible story. "serafim".. you say there was no evidence.. please.. they both admitted to it. They are definitely guilty. You didn't hear OJ admitting to anything, did you? And, "marblestone", why do you bring sexual abuse into it? There was never any mention of it. Don't you think if the girl was abused in that manner she would've used it to her defense?? Yeah.. she would've.
Children are allowed to be tried for murder in the first degree in the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." Disgusting. Murder trials in the United States of America are, by nature and without regard to prior circumstances, vindictive and punitive by nature. Prisons in the USA are hell houses, not "penitentiaries" or houses of healing or rehabilitation.
I do not believe that either this young man or this young woman have been truly presented before a court of law. Who so turned them against each other? What REAL evidence is there that either of them killed their father? The abusive mother kills herself; the perfect father is murdered by his son and daughter? Maybe so. BUT also, MAYBE NOT.
Who is to say how people react to tragedy? Some weep, scream and continue to express their grief with real intensity. Others freeze and are unable to vent the sorrow and pain they feel inside. Some turn into fire; some turn into ice. There is NO ONE WAY OF EXPRESSING GRIEF.
OJ Simpson was declared not guilty in his criminal trial. Everyone assumes that he did murder his former wife and the young waiter who dropped by from a restaurant to return her eyeglasses. What if he, too, is actually innocent. What if the murderer of his former wife and the waiter is still walking free and laughing at a nation ravenous for revenge, just or unjust? Who knows. As Shakespeare wrote, "something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
Guns, guns, guns everywhere. The NRA and the late Charlton Heston fighting to let anyone possess weapons designed to kill human beings in spite of tragedies like Columbine Highschool, Virginia Tech and now "Daddy's Little Girl," to mention but a smidgen of similar "murders in the first degree." What a great nation in so many ways. What a monstrous, vindictive, cruel state in so many other ways...shades of Abu-Ghraib!
Nobody should be murdered. Nobody should be convicted of crimes without the absence of a reasonable doubt.
I don't care if that girl was 17 at the time. She had sense to plot a murder like an adult. She spoke so eloquently and calm. Her brother was just a plain Liar. A rapist, murderous Liar.
What's wrong with our kids today? We try to give them all that we can out of love and caring. I guess it just isn't enough, ever. To the stepfather Tim McNeal. Rest In Peace.
It is obvious that he raised a lovely and compassionate daughter and they were the stepchildren from hell.
You hear that half sentence about "he left me for another woman" and make a whole story out of it.
I also heard the sentence at the end: "we all get mad about our parents at times." Why can't you take up this and say that some stupid teenage ideas went too far. Perhaps because they were both harmed psychologically at some time in the past?
Yes, the reason could be a sexual one, but if you hear the step son's words, he just wanted to "be taken seriously for once."
My conclusion: There are so many possible motives that accusing a dead man of sex crimes is not appropriate here. And it wouldn't justify this cold-blooded planning, anyway.
"There are always other things to be considered when something this tragic happens.
That doesn't mean anything. So many murders have no good excuse, and neither does this one. They should be tried as adults, and sentenced as adults. Life in prison, or the death penalty.
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