The latest addition to Netflix’s true-crime documentary roster focuses in on the world of bodybuilding, and in particular, the murder of one of the most famous American names in the sport, who was killed by his bodybuilding wife.
Killer Sally – or Killer McNeil, the name Sally McNeil went by at her peak of her on-stage career – revisits the 1995 case, when McNeil admitted to shooting her husband, Ray McNeil, on Valentine’s Day.
But it’s far from a clear-cut series of events. As the three-part documentary by Oscar nominee, Nanette Burstein, explores, this was a case involving alleged domestic violence, steroid abuse and other dark happenings in the competitive sport world, including something referred to in the series as ‘muscle prostitution’. Interviewing friends and family members of the McNeils, and McNeil herself from prison, the court case hinged on whether, as the synopsis states: “it was self-defence, a split-second decision to save her life… or a premeditated murder, the revenge of a jealous and aggressive wife.”
What happened in the murder of Ray McNeil?
In 1987, 23-year-old Ray McNeil and 27-year-old Sally Lowden were sergeants in the Marine Corps, stationed at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego. The two had been in a relationship and married the same year, but from the off, it was reportedly a tempestuous relationship, with rumours of infidelity from Ray.
By 1990, Sally had been demoted and left the Marines and focused on her bodybuilding and doing ‘private wrestling sessions’ with men. However, the money paid well and it was this underground practice that enabled Ray to also leave the Marines to focus on bodybuilding full time.
The couple both started placing well in regional and national bodybuilding competitions, but the scene impacted negatively on their relationship. Ray was said to continue to play away from home, while Sally had several violent outbursts in public; in 1990, she was suspended for a year from the National Physique Committee after she attacked a woman who was allegedly having an affair with Ray, and in 1993, she kicked a bouncer in the face in a bar in her hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The pair were also said to have been at odds about the lack of money in their household.
Netflix
On Valentine’s Day, 1995, after Ray came home from the gym, Sally shot him in the abdomen and then fired a second shot at his head. Their children, 11-year-old Shantina and 9-year-old John were in the house, and Sally rang 911 and told them (as you can hear on the trailer): “I just shot my husband because he beat me up.”
Ray was lifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, but he died several hours later, and Sally was arrested for murder.
Tests were done on Ray and various steroids were found in his bloodstream, and as Sally later revealed to RxMuscle: “Anabolic steroid use was the root of Ray's violence towards me. When Ray and I first got married in 1987, I had no idea that he was on steroids. So I did not know that he was suffering from ‘roid rage' when he'd fly off the handle and beat the holy hell out of me.”
In the same interview, Sally revealed the extent of domestic abuse that she claims took place in their marriage: “He threw me across the room when he saw me talking to another guy when I was at work. He picked me up like a rag doll the minute we got home and just threw me across the room… Over in Okinawa, Japan where we lived off base, Ray beat me over 52 times in that year over there because he was having roid rages. One of those times was because I would not write a list of all the men I had dated... Ray choked me three times, on the third time I had spasms.”
Netflix
Sally went to court a year later (on Valentine’s Day, again) where she explained that on that night, Ray had been beating her up and choking her, which is why she used the gun in self-defence. The prosecution argued that the murder was premeditated by Sally, as Ray was planning on leaving her and she wanted the life insurance money.
Sally’s lawyers couldn’t match any DNA evidence that Ray had been attacking her, and the prosecution zoned in on the fact that a shell was found in the bedroom, suggesting she had returned to the bedroom to reload the gun.
In March 1996, Sally was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 19 years in prison. She appealed her sentence, and had it overturned, however the state of California then took the case to the Supreme Court, which reversed the appeal, reinstating the original conviction. She is still in prison now, with a potential parole hearing this year.
Sally explains her side of the events in the documentary - and makes the case once again: “I have a right to defend myself. I couldn’t take it any more. I didn’t want to die.”
Killer Sally streams on Netflix now.
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