In a quiet, wooded area in Arm, Mississippi, a family outing on January 24, 1981, took a dark and tragic turn, ending in the death of 41-year-old Bobby Clifford Neal. That day, Bobby was in a car with his half-brother, Howard Monteville Neal, his 13-year-old daughter Amanda, and her 12-year-old cousin, Melanie Sue Polk. An argument broke out after one of the girls complained about Howard's inappropriate behavior towards her, angering Bobby.
Under the guise of taking a walk to cool off,
Howard led his half-brother into the woods. There, he tied Bobby's hands behind his back and shot him once in the chest, leaving him for dead. For a time, Bobby himself was considered the primary suspect in the disappearance of the two young girls who had been with them. This theory was tragically disproven when his own body was discovered on March 1, 1981.
The investigation soon turned towards Howard Neal. After the discovery of his half-brother's body, Howard was arrested in Stockton, California, on an unrelated shoplifting charge. A search of his vehicle revealed a. 22-caliber pistol, a. 44 Magnum, and two sets of handcuffs. Coupled with his criminal record, his relationship to the victims, and testimony from his wife, the focus of the investigation solidified. Howard was charged with Amanda's murder, and eventually also charged with the murder of his half-brother in August of that same year.
Howard Monteville Neal was convicted of the murders. He was initially sentenced to death for the killing of his niece, Amanda. However, this sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment after it was determined that he was intellectually disabled. He was given an automatic life sentence for the murder of Bobby Clifford Neal as the jury was not unanimous in their decision for punishment. Years later, in 2017, Howard would confess to a 1980 double murder in California, further revealing the depth of his violent history.
