Heartbroken father of Skylar Neese rips killers as he speaks out about new podcast 'Three' recounting murder of his daughter by her teenage best friends: 'They took my soul'

The father of a murdered 16-year-old has spoken out about a new podcast that recounts the depraved murder of his only daughter by her teenage 'best friends.' 

'It strikes a nerve every time I tell the story, it makes me hate again' Dave Neese exclusively told DailyMail.com about reliving the killing of his daughter, Skylar.

In 2011, Skylar was stabbed to death on July 6, 2012, while out with close friends - Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy. They left her remains in the woods along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania state line and went back home to later lead searches for their best friend. It was only after one of them confessed that the case was exposed and the teenage killers were sent to jail. 

Now, the popular podcast 'Three' - which has a celebrity following - has brought Skylar's story back into the limelight, just when it had started to fade and take attention off the Neese family. 

'I wouldn't put the hell I've been through on the two girls that put me through it, they took my soul and they had no right to do that,' Dave Neese said. 

While some grieving families might be upset to have the story told again more than decade later, Neese said he has embraced the podcast and thanked its creators for accurately telling Skylar's story. 

'This is very accurate and its important the story is out there as we come up to Shoaf's next parole hearing on May 1,' he said. 

Dave and Mary Neese hold a picture of their daughter Skylar, who was murdered by her best friends in 2012. A new podcast, 'Three' recounts the killing, and Dave spoke out to DailyMail.com about his reaction

Rachel Shoaf (left) and Shelia Eddy (center) with friends with Skylar (right) and frequently posted on social media. But Shoaf and Eddy plotted and then killed Skylar afraid she would expose their relationship

Three, a ten-part podcast created by award-winning journalists Justine Harman and Holly Millea, has once more shocked the nation with the brutality of the young girls' crimes and brought in celebrity listeners such as Billy Bob Thornton

Three, a ten-part podcast created by award-winning journalists Justine Harman and Holly Millea, has once more shocked the nation with the brutality of the young girls' crimes and brought in celebrity listeners such as Billy Bob Thornton. 

Neese, who is interviewed on the podcast, said: 'In a way it helps me to tell Skylar's story.'

The podcast also features DailyMail.com editor Alex Lang, who covered the story on the ground for years.  

Skylar's devoted father told DailyMail.com he has been 'blown away' by the podcast and listeners' reaction to his daughter's story. 

'They didn't argue or have conversations back and forth, they just put out the facts,' Neese said. 

'I've done lots of other podcasts, but they've always had so many mistakes in them, sometimes 30 or 40.' 

While prosecutors have never specifically given a motive for the killing, the common belief is that Skylar was stabbed to death after Shoaf and Eddy feared the 16-year-old student at University High School in Morgantown, West Virginia, would expose their lesbian relationship. 

'I hope the parents that listen to the podcast learn that if things change with your child find out why. It could be something deeper,' Neese said. 

'I hope that for the teens that listen learn that it's a really important lesson to know who your friends are' he said. 

'Trust is given out way too easy. Don't give out trust until it is earned.' 

The two teenage killers lured Skylar from her apartment and murdered her in the woods along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania state line. They left her remains covered in debris. The two killers returned home and helped in searches despite knowing the truth

It wasn't until six months after the killing when Shoaf randomly confessed leading to the arrest of the killers and justice for the Neese family

On July 6, 2012, Skylar snuck out of her second-story apartment to meet Shoaf and Eddy. The trio were close, frequently sharing pictures on social media and spending endless nights together as schoolgirls. 

What Skylar didn't know, is the girls had a sinister plot already in the works. 

They concealed knives under the clothes and planned to attack Skylar - even having a pre-planned word they would say to launch the melee. 

Skylar met to two girls under the cover of night and jumped into Eddy's car not knowing what was planned. The three drove around for a bit in the community that serves as the home for West Virginia University and smoked marijuana. 

They eventually drove out to a rural area known as Blacksville and crossed feet into Pennsylvania. 

There, the three got out of the car and after speaking for a few moments, the killers unleashed their brutal attack along a dirt road. 

The pair planned to bury Skylar's body, bringing a shovel with them, but authorities said they were not strong enough to break the ground. So they dragged her body away from the road and covered her in debris.

Shoaf and Eddy returned home and pretended as if they knew nothing. 

When news of Skylar's disappearance went out, Shoaf and Eddy played the role of concerned friends. They cried with Dave and his wife, Mary. They attended vigils. They helped in searches. All while knowing what they did.

Shoaf tweeted: 'Where @ highastheSky?' - the name Skylar used on Twitter, and both teenagers continued to post chilling messages on social media in the months following the murder.

Shoaf was allegedly pictured on a boat at the beach, smiling and posing in a bikini the day after the murder. 

While there were reported sightings of Skylar across the nation, none turned out to be true and the case eventually went cold. 

Shoaf initially told investigators she and Eddy murdered Skylar because they no longer wanted to be friends with her. Pictured: The site where Skylar's remains were found months after her killing

It wasn't until six months after the murder, on a cold January 2013 day inside a lawyer's office that Shoaf confessed to police about what the two did and led investigators to Skylar's remains. 

Eddy was then quickly arrested outside of the city's Cracker Barrell restaurant. 

Shoaf initially told investigators she and Eddy murdered Skylar because they no longer wanted to be friends with her. 

The two killers eventually pleaded guilty to murder. Shoaf was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with parole eligibility after 10 years. Eddy was sentenced to life in prison, with mercy, meaning she could be paroled after 15 years. 

Shoaf first came up for parole last year, but it was denied. She will remain parole eligible every year with new hearings until she is either freed or serves her time. 

Neese has vowed to attend every parole hearing and argue against his daughter's killers being released. 

'The punishment did not fit the crime,' Neese stated. 

'Whatever you dish out, you should get. If you take another life you deserve to spend your life in prison.' 

At her parole hearing last year, Shoaf apologized for the murder, telling the court: 'I can't express how sorry I am for what I have done and for the pain I have caused'.   

'I loved her. I know what we did was terrible and there's no words to describe the pain that we caused'. 

'After things became known with the relationship, there was tension between us,' Shoaf said.

'It was hostile and violent, in our teenage minds we didn't know how to handle the conflict and we just wanted it to stop.' 

Shoaf's co-killer Eddy will first become eligible for parole in 2028. Neese has also vowed to be there to be a voice for his daughter. 

At the 2013 sentencing hearing, Neese recalls, Eddy told the court she 'made one mistake but that doesn't make me a bad person'. 

'That grinds my teeth still,' Neese said. 'She didn't make a mistake, she made a choice to take someone else's life'.

'The Eddy girl has no soul, she is sick and sick dangerous animals belong in cages,' he added.

Rachel Shoaf (left) and Shelia Eddy (right) are pictured in their most recent mugshots inside a West Virginia prison

Shoaf cries as she speaks during her sentencing hearing, where she was ordered to spend 30 years in prison for killing Skylar

Eddy is pictured in court soon after her indictment in 2013 for killing Skylar

In the wake of the first parole hearings, recording began for the new podcast. 

Dave Neese admitted he was left angry in the years that followed the murder. But his mood has changed over time.

'I had to learn how to channel hate, to make it come out positively,' he said.  'I let it consume me for four years. People couldn't be around me, I was just full of hate.

'But then I realized you can ball up and die or you can make things better.

'Skylar's story is now at an all-time high for awareness thanks to this podcast.

'My wife and I are so grateful to the journalists that made this, they were so kind and thoughtful in the way they did it'. 

In addition to filming the podcast, Neese has channeled his energy to pass and implement Skylar's Law in West Virginia, making it easier to issue an AMBER alert for a missing child. 

Traditionally, alerts are only issued when there is a concern for a child's safety. Skylar was initially considered a runaway. 

In addition to filming the podcast, Neese has channeled his energy to pass and implement Skylar's Law in West Virginia, making it easier to issue an AMBER alert for a missing child. Pictured: Dave and his wife, Mary, with a young Skylar

'Skylar was a good kid, no one has the right to decide who lives and who dies especially a 16 year old girl,' Dave Neese said

He has also worked on Skylar's Promise, which encourages anyone who hears something that doesn't sound quite right to tell someone about it. 

'If people had done their job, like the high school principal, it might not have happened but they didn't and she's dead,' Neese told DailyMail.com. 

'Mary and I want no one have to go through the hell we've been,' Neese said of his hope the impact of the podcast will have. 

Although Neese is finding ways to cope with his grief and keep his daughter's story alive, his wife, Mary, continues to struggle deeply.  

'Her mother is not doing very good,' Neese said. 'When Skylar was murdered, it killed us too. Mary has had some health problems and she doesn't care anymore.

'We lost the only thing we really loved besides each other. When you lose something like that there's no way to prepare for it. 

'Skylar was a good kid, no one has the right to decide who lives and who dies especially a 16 year old girl.'