William Lee Neal: The Charmin' Billy Killer
Overview
William Lee "Cody" Neal was a charismatic con artist whose long history of manipulating women for financial gain escalated into a horrific, week-long spree of violence in the summer of 1998. In a Lakewood, Colorado, townhouse, Neal bludgeoned three women to death with a splitting maul, brutally raped a fourth woman, and held her captive, forcing her to witness one of the murders. Known for his cowboy persona and smooth-talking charm, Neal had a pattern of seducing intelligent, independent women, draining their finances with promises of a fictional trust fund, and then abandoning them. His crimes came to a shocking end when he confessed over the phone before surrendering to police. He pleaded guilty to the murders and was initially sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Early Life and Background
William Lee Neal was born on October 7, 1955, in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. His father was a chief warrant officer in the Air Force, and Neal described his upbringing as that of an "all-American family" with a disciplinarian father. The family, which included an older brother and three sisters, eventually settled in San Antonio, Texas. As a youth, Neal considered becoming an FBI agent or a minister. He joined the army at seventeen.
Beneath the surface of a normal upbringing, however, were troubling signs. Neal's family recalled incidents of animal cruelty, including killing a cat with a fork and beating another to death with nunchucks. He also admitted to molesting a young girl in his early teens. Throughout his adult life, Neal married four times, leaving a trail of debt, emotional abuse, and broken relationships. His ex-wives described him as controlling, prone to rage, and physically violent, often choking them or slamming them against walls. He was a practiced manipulator, using his charm to gain women's trust before exploiting them financially. By 1996, after his third divorce, he was unemployed and more than $50,000 in debt. It was then that he moved in with Rebecca Holberton, who would become his first murder victim.
The Murders
In late June 1998, Neal purchased a 7.5-pound splitting maul, nylon rope, and duct tape. His spree began on June 30 in the Lakewood townhouse he shared with 44-year-old Rebecca Holberton. Holberton had reportedly been planning to end her relationship with Neal, from whom he had stolen approximately $60,000. He lured her with a promise of a surprise, had her consent to being covered with a blanket, and then struck her multiple times in the head with the maul.
Two days later, on July 2, Neal targeted 48-year-old Candace Walters, whom he had met in late 1997. He used a similar ruse, telling her to close her eyes for a surprise before bludgeoning her to death with the same weapon. After killing her, he urinated on her body and placed it near Holberton's, covering them both with a sheet. Hours later, Neal went out socializing.
The final, and most sadistic, phase of his crimes began on the night of July 5. Neal abducted a 22-year-old woman, identified in court documents only as Suzanne, whom he had recently met. He took her to Holberton's townhouse, where the bodies of his first two victims lay decomposing. He blindfolded and gagged her, tied her to a mattress, and terrorized her by making her feel a piece of one of the victim's skulls. He then brought his next victim, 28-year-old Angela Fite, to the house. In front of the bound and horrified Suzanne, Neal raped Fite and then murdered her with the splitting maul. Afterward, he untied Suzanne and raped her at gunpoint.
The Victims
- Rebecca Lynn Holberton, 44 — Killed on June 30, 1998, in her Lakewood townhouse. She had been in a two-year relationship with Neal, who lived with her and systematically stole her money.
- Candace Walters, 48 — Murdered on July 2, 1998. She was a friend of Neal's whom he had also manipulated financially. Her daughter, Holly, later spoke of the family's relief at his death sentence.
- Angela Fite, 28 — Bludgeoned to death on July 5, 1998. She was a business associate of Neal's who was murdered in front of a captive witness. Her father, Wayne, expressed the family's enduring pain following the trial.
Investigation and Capture
Neal held Suzanne and her two roommates hostage in their Denver apartment for three days following the final murder. He eventually left, but not before giving Suzanne instructions on how to contact the police. On July 8, after receiving a call from Suzanne and a separate welfare check request from Rebecca Holberton's concerned coworkers, Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies went to Holberton's home. An officer looked through a window and saw a body wrapped in a plastic bag, leading to the discovery of all three victims.
A manhunt for Neal began. While at large, he made a series of phone calls, including one to a television news director he knew, confessing to the crimes. In a controversial move to secure a peaceful surrender, Deputy District Attorney Mark Pautler posed as a defense attorney during a phone call to convince Neal to give himself up. The tactic worked, and Neal was arrested in a parking lot on July 9, 1998. He provided a full confession to detectives on September 14, 1998.
Trial and Sentence
In a surprising move, William Lee Neal fired his public defenders and chose to represent himself. On February 25, 1999, he pleaded guilty to all charges against him: three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, felony theft, and menacing. He told the judge he was "guilty without a doubt."
His sentencing hearing began on September 20, 1999. The prosecution presented chilling evidence, including Neal's hours-long videotaped confession and harrowing testimony from Suzanne, the surviving victim. She recounted being tied to a mattress and forced to watch as Neal crushed Angela Fite's skull. Prosecutors argued that Neal's motive was to steal from the women and then kill them to cover his crimes. Neal offered a bizarre defense, claiming he had found God and wanted a life sentence so he could minister to other inmates.
On September 29, 1999, a three-judge panel sentenced Neal to death for each of the three murders. The presiding judge called the slayings "brutal, needless killings" and noted Neal's complete lack of conscience, pointing out how he went out socializing and shopping immediately after the murders.
Aftermath and Legal Appeals
William Lee Neal was sent to Colorado's death row. However, his death sentence was not the final chapter. In 2003, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the state's death penalty sentencing system, which used a three-judge panel instead of a jury, was unconstitutional. As a result of this ruling, Neal's death sentence was automatically commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole on February 24, 2003.
The prosecutor whose deception led to Neal's surrender, Mark Pautler, faced a disciplinary hearing for his actions. He was found to have acted outside the bounds of professional conduct by misrepresenting himself as a defense attorney and was given a three-month suspension of his law license.
Neal remains incarcerated at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City. The families of his victims, though denied the finality of an execution, have continued to support one another in the decades since the murders.
