Texas Monthly True Crime: Shane and Sally

In this episode, we explore the last of four suspects investigators have named in their investigation into Shane Stewart and Sally McNelly’s murders. In the eighties, Heath Davis was a violent drug dealer with a tough reputation around town, who associated with other main suspects in this case. Davis says he’s turned his life around today and that he has been unfairly targeted by investigators. But a witness in the investigation tells us there’s more about Heath’s past that he hasn’t answered for, and she says it’s time for the truth to come out.

Get 18 Free Meals, plus Free Shipping on your first box, and Free Dessert for Life, at HomeChef.com/TEXASCRIME.  Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert.

The investigation continues with a look at a third suspect, Jimmy Burnett, who appears to have written his own notes as he tried to solve the murders of Shane Stewart and Sally McNelly. But his ex-girlfriend Laura says he knew more than he let on. In this episode, we take our investigation halfway around the world to track down Burnett, who, according to the authorities, moved to the Philippines and then faked his own death.

Get 18 Free Meals, plus Free Shipping on your first box, and Free Dessert for Life, at HomeChef.com/TEXASCRIME.  Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert.

In this episode, we take a closer look at two of the investigators’ suspects: Steve Schafer and John Gilbreath. Witnesses told authorities that Schafer was the leader of a local Satanic group whose members included Shane and Sally, though Schafer says he was never part of the group. Gilbreath is the man who, in 2017, was found to have suspicious evidence in his home, including a lock of hair, a fingernail, and notes about Shane and Sally's murders. While authorities have since found that the DNA from this evidence doesn’t match Shane or Sally, Sheriff Nick Hanna says Gilbreath's behavior after the murders—repeatedly claiming to know details about the killings—still arouses suspicion.


Get 20% off any new SimpliSafe system when you sign up for Fast Protect Monitoring. SIMPLISAFE.com/texascrime.

Rob D’Amico and Karen Jacobs, hosts of "Shane and Sally," reconvene in the podcast studio to dive deeper into questions surrounding the 1988 cold case murder of two West Texas teenagers. With every new episode of the podcast, Rob and Karen give additional commentary in bonus videos, examining exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, images, and interviews with subjects involved in the case.

For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/shaneandsally

In this episode, investigators Larry Counts and David Jones detail their initial steps in trying to solve the case—and share the story of how Shane and Sally started speaking with the authorities just months before they were killed. Then, officials at the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office today share their frustrations with the initial investigation, and detail the surviving evidence from the crime scene.

On July 4, 1988, sixteen-year-old Shane Stewart and eighteen-year-old Sally McNelly went out for the night in their West Texas hometown of San Angelo. They watched the fireworks, stopped for burgers, and drove out to the lake outside of town. They were never seen alive again. That summer, as their parents waited for news from the authorities, Shane’s father Marshall began an investigation of his own, discovering the teens may have been swept up in the town’s darkest of undercurrents.



For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/shaneandsally 



Get 18 Free Meals, plus Free Shipping on your first box, and Free Dessert for Life, at HomeChef.com/TEXASCRIME.  Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert.

In the fall of 1987, Shane Stewart and Sally McNelly met through mutual friends and began dating. Shane was tall and confident. Sally loved to be the center of attention and moved easily between groups of friends.  Later that year, the two began spending more time with a group of teenagers who met up to practice occult rituals. Some friends say the group's activities were just games, but by the summer of 1988, something had changed. Sally told one friend that she and Shane were leaving San Angelo to get away from the group. That was just before the two of them disappeared.


For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/shaneandsally 



Get 18 Free Meals, plus Free Shipping on your first box, and Free Dessert for Life, at HomeChef.com/TEXASCRIME.  Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert.

On July 4, 1988, 16-year-old Shane Stewart and 18-year-old Sally McNelly went out for the night in the West Texas town of San Angelo. They watched the fireworks, stopped for burgers, and drove to the lake outside of town. They were never seen alive again.

For 35 years, their murders have haunted their family and friends, and frustrated generations of investigators from the local police to the FBI. Hosts Rob D’Amico and Karen Jacobs take listeners behind the scenes of the cold case investigation, interviewing witnesses and following the twists and turns that have confounded authorities—including accusations about corruption, occult rituals, and a hunt for one suspect halfway around the world—tracking down new leads in the hope that someone may come forward to finally help solve the case.

From the Texas Monthly team behind “Tom Brown’s Body” and “Stephenville” comes another true story of crime, suspicion, and life and death in small-town Texas. Coming March 19.

For more Texas Monthly productions, visit texasmonthly.com/podcasts

In the series finale, Scott Hatley’s journal tells the story of how he built a new life on the run from police. And when the truth comes out, people in Stephenville must confront how little they knew about the man who killed Susan Woods.

For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/stephenville

Lt. Don Miller discovers the hand-written life story of the man who killed Susan Woods. The murderer, it turns out, wasn't a stranger or an outsider to Stephenville, but a local boy nobody suspected.

For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/stephenville

In 1988, Shannon Myers survived a brutal attack by Joseph Scott Hatley, the man whose fingerprints were also present at the scene of Susan Woods’s murder. Her statement to police—which included his chilling confession—created an opportunity to put Hatley behind bars for both crimes.

For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/stephenville

Nearly twenty years after Susan Woods's murder, Stephenville Police Lieutenant Don Miller takes up the case. And with Michael Woods's cooperation, and help from new technology, Don finally makes a break in the case. But what he uncovers raises even more questions about why Susan was killed—and how her killer evaded justice for so long.

For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/stephenville

After Susan Woods was killed, just about everyone in Stephenville—including the police—figured they knew who’d done it. Her estranged husband, Michael Woods, was a long-haired biker who smoked pot and played rock music—a complete misfit in the “Cowboy Capital of the World.” For more on this and every episode, visit texasmonthly.com/stephenville

From the moment Susan Woods was found dead at home in the summer of 1987, everyone in Stephenville, Texas—including the police—was certain she’d been killed by her estranged husband.

That left the real culprit free to prey on others. In "Stephenville," best-selling author Bryan Burrough returns to his small-town Texas roots to explore a murder case that went cold for nearly two decades. Only now, after discovering a voice from beyond the grave, can the whole story finally be told—a story about the secrets that got buried, and how some folks in this town helped keep them that way.

From the Texas Monthly team behind "Tom Brown’s Body" comes another true story of crime, suspicion, and life in small-town Texas. Coming June 20.

"I'll never lose that hope. It could be five years from today. The door is always open at our office for anything that will bring resolution to this case."

There have finally been a couple of developments in the case. But will they lead to the truth about what happened to Tom?

"I'm definitely more paranoid wherever I go. I definitely watch my back more and pay attention to what's going on around me."

"The people of the town are calling us and saying, 'Do we have a monster that lives in our community?' I wish I could give them Solace."

"I'm like, 'What the heck is that?' So, I walk around some shrubs, and as I get closer I can see that it kind of looks like bone."

“It's kind of strange that your investigator calls this search, and lo and behold, right after he starts the search, a cell phone is found.”

"I'm sitting there thinking, 'Oh God, I'm so scared right now.' I couldn't convince them. And so I just let them hammer me."

"Makes you want to go to the church, get on your knees and say a few words, right?

"My gut tells me he hasn't left Hemphill County. I think he's here somewhere, and I don't know if he intends to come out in the next day or two."

“Someone is lying. And it’s hard to know who’s lying and who’s not.”