Rebecca Lynn Holberton was a dedicated employee with a bright smile who, at age 44, was looking forward to a new chapter in her career. A 25-year employee of US West, she had moved to Lakewood, Colorado, from Oregon in 1995. Her colleagues described her as an exemplary worker who arrived each day with a positive attitude. In the summer of 1998, she had July 5th circled on her calendar to mark the start of a new job within the company. Tragically, it was a day she would never see.
For two years, Rebecca had been in a relationship with a man named William Lee Neal, a charismatic con artist who went by "Cody" or "Wild Bill Cody." He lived with her in her townhouse, all the while systematically stealing her money and exploiting her trust.
In early June 1998, Rebecca had decided to end the relationship and made plans to ask Neal to move out of her home. At the end of that month, Neal purchased a splitting maul, nylon rope, and duct tape. On June 30, 1998, inside the perceived safety of her own Lakewood townhouse, Rebecca became the first victim in Neal's week-long killing spree. He bludgeoned the 44-year-old woman to death with the maul. After killing her, he wrapped her body in a black plastic bag, sealed it with duct tape, and left her inside the home.
Days later, Rebecca’s concerned co-workers contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office when she failed to show up for work. On July 8, a deputy was dispatched to her home on West Chenango Drive for a welfare check. Peering through a sliding glass door, the deputy saw a body. Once inside, investigators made a horrifying discovery: the bodies of three women. Along with Rebecca, they found Candace Walters, 48, and Angela Fite, 28. All had been brutally murdered with the same splitting maul.
The investigation quickly led to William Lee Neal. The case unfolded with a chilling story from a fourth woman who had been held hostage by Neal. He had lured her to Rebecca's townhouse on July 5, tied her to a bed, and showed her the bodies of Rebecca and Candace. He callously kicked the plastic bag containing Rebecca's body as he pointed it out. The woman was then forced to watch as Neal murdered Angela Fite before he sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. After holding the woman and her roommates hostage for several days, Neal left. The woman then contacted the police, providing the crucial information that led to his capture. Neal himself confessed to the murders in a phone call to police shortly before he was arrested in a parking lot on July 9, 1998.
William "Cody" Neal, then 43, pleaded guilty in February 1999 to all 13 counts against him, including three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, menacing, and felony theft. Prosecutors argued that Neal stole from the women and then killed them to cover up his crimes. During the sentencing phase, the court heard how Neal went out socializing, dining, and shopping after each murder, completely unaffected by the brutal acts he had just committed.
In September 1999, a three-judge panel sentenced Neal to death, calling the murders "brutal, needless killings." The victims' families, who had supported each other through the horrific ordeal, let out a collective "Yes!" as the sentence was read. However, in 2003, Neal's death sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a Colorado Supreme Court ruling found that death sentences handed down by judicial panels, rather than juries, were unconstitutional.
William Lee Neal remains incarcerated, serving a life sentence for his crimes. The families of Rebecca Holberton, Candace Walters, and Angela Fite were left with immeasurable grief. Rebecca's mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was never told of her daughter's murder, left only to wonder why Rebecca no longer called or visited. The case serves as a dark reminder of a predator who used charm and manipulation to prey on vulnerable women, ending three lives and devastating countless others.
