The latest addition to Netflix’s true crime roster is Killer Sally, a gripping three-episode story of how former US marine and female bodybuilder Sally McNeil, aka Killer Sally, shot and killed her bodybuilding husband Ray McNeil on Valentine’s Day 1995.
It features detailed interviews with Sally herself, as well as with her two grown-up children, Shantina and John, who were just 11 and nine at the time of the shooting.
But despite spending 25 years in prison for second-degree murder — at one stage Sally still insists she shot Ray in self-defense after years of physical abuse. As she says in the series, "it’s not like I woke up and decided to kill my husband".
So who is Killer Sally [one at one stage had her conviction overturned before it was reinstated], what’s the truth behind her story, and where is she now? Here are all your questions about Killer Sally answered…
What is Killer Sally about on Netflix?
Killer Sally is a true story that focuses on Sally McNeil, who shot dead her husband Ray McNeil on Valentine’s Day 1995. From the very start of the series, Sally admits to killing Ray — she even dialed 911 herself after pulling the trigger.
However, what’s still not clear-cut is whether she shot him in self-defense. The dark series involves domestic violence, steroid abuse, affairs, jealousy, the strange world of bodybuilding and dives into Sally’s side of the story for the very first time.
Who is Killer Sally and what did she do?
Killer Sally, aka Sally McNeil, was born in 1960 in Allerton, Pennsylvania. She was raised in a violent household, and in the docu-series, she explains how she believed domestic abuse was sadly par for the course.
She eventually became a US Marine, had two children, Shantina and John, with her first husband, Anthony Lowden, and also began to make her name in the amateur bodybuilding world.
In a bizarre twist of fate, she went on to have a wrestling career, earning a living wrestling men on video for cash, and adopted the name Killer Sally long before shooting her husband.
But it was a nickname that would later become eerily accurate.
How did Killer Sally meet her husband Ray McNeil?
Sally and bodybuilder Ray met in 1987 when they were both sergeants in the Marine Corps, stationed at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.
They bonded quickly over a shared love of bodybuilding and, as Sally admits in the film, it was "lust at first sight". They married just two months later, with Ray becoming stepfather to Sally’s two children, Shantina and John.
But from the off, it was reportedly a tempestuous relationship, with Ray first hitting Sally just three days after their wedding. The couple also suffered serious money worries, while Ray reportedly had numerous affairs.
He also took several different types of steroids as his professional bodybuilding career took off, which caused violent mood swings. He even hit John with a belt on his first day of school, tried to choke Sally numerous times, and allegedly broke her nose in front of the children.
What happened on the night of the murder in Killer Sally?
On Valentine’s Day 1995, Ray came home late to their apartment in Oceanside, California, and the couple had yet another furious and violent row.
But this time, fearing for her life, Sally got a gun from the bedroom and shot Ray twice, once in the abdomen and once in the face, even though her children were in the house at the time. "I just shot my husband because he beat me up," she’s heard saying in the 911 call.
Ray was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries and Sally was immediately charged with his murder.
What happened at the trial of Killer Sally?
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".
Despite the fact that she’d suffered eight years of abuse, including choking and rape, the prosecution also focussed on the fact that Sally had several violent outbursts over the years.
In 1990, she was suspended 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.
Because of her bodybuilding physique, prosecutor Dan Goldstein also tried to make Sally look like the aggressor and that the murder was premeditated because, according to forensics, she’d shot Ray in the abdomen before reloading and shooting him in the face.
In March 1996 Sally was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 19 years to life in jail.
What happened to Killer Sally’s children?
Sally’s children, Shantina and John, also appear in the Killer Sally docu-series. They were just 11 and nine at the time of the murder.
After their mum was convicted they spent time in a care home before being raised by their maternal grandparents. Although they used to visit Sally once a year in prison, they eventually stopped contact.
They both ended up joining the military, with Shantina serving in Iraq, and John in Afghanistan, which has caused them both to suffer from PTSD.
Is Killer Sally in jail?
Sally is now 62. After serving 25 years, she was released from Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California, in June 2020 following a parole hearing.
She now lives in Northern California and has a job in a warehouse. She’s also a grandmother and has since married for the third time, with her son, John, even walking her down the aisle.
Although she didn’t see her children, Shantina and John, for many years they’re now in regular contact. Meanwhile, Sally also continues to maintain that she shot Ray in self-defense, alleging that he was strangling her at the time of his death.
Where can I watch Killer Sally?
Killer Sally is a three-part documentary and all three episodes are currently available to watch exclusively on Netflix worldwide. It features interviews with Sally McNeil herself, as well as friends, family, members of the bodybuilding community, prosecutors and defence lawyers, and Sally’s grown up children, Shantina and John.
