Who was Ray McNeil and what happened to him?

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

RAY McNeil's name first made national headlines more than two decades ago.

And, in late 2022, a true crime Netflix docuseries saw the spotlight land on him again.

Who was Ray McNeil?

Ray McNeil was a champion bodybuilder who served in the United States Marine Corps.

He was also a father, and a husband - but his widow Sally claims he was abusive.

The pair met while they were both serving in the Navy.

They found a mutual love for fitness and married in 1987.

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In the years that followed, Sally got into "muscle worship" which involves recorded sessions where she was paid to wrestle men into the ground.

She made enough money for Ray to leave the Marines and become a full-time bodybuilder.

However, Sally claimed that this wasn't enough, and their marriage turned volatile.

She said: "Made Ray happy that it was paying for his steroids, then he hit me."

Most read in The US Sun

In the docuseries, Sally talks about the abuse she claims she endured over the years.

What happened to Ray McNeil?

In 1994, tensions between the couple came to a head when she was confronted by one of Ray's mistresses.

On February 14, 1995, the two engaged in a massive fight that turned fatal.

Sally, who was 27 at the time, shot Ray twice with a shotgun, once in the abdomen and then in the head.

She immediately called 911 and claimed that she killed him out of self-defence and that he had been beating her.

What happened to Sally McNeil?

Despite Sally's efforts to claim self-defense, she was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1996.

Prosecutors managed to challenge her story of abuse as investigators found the couple were both using steroids, leading people to dub the murder the "roid rage killing."

They successfully argued that the killing was premeditated, and Sally was sentenced to 19 years to life.

Read More on The US Sun

Read More on The US Sun

She is serving her sentence at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California.

Netflix's three-episode docuseries - entitled Killer Sally - about her years with Ray, is set to premiere on November 9, 2022.

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