Texas Monthly True Crime: Shane and Sally Texas Monthly
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- True Crime
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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.
For more Texas Monthly productions, visit texasmonthly.com/podcasts
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Shane and Sally | 1. A Long, Hot Summer
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
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Shane and Sally | 2. Lost Horizons
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
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Shane and Sally | 3. An Open Investigation
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.
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Shane and Sally | Bonus Videos
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 -
Shane and Sally | 4. The Devil and the Lost Boy
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.
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Shane and Sally | 5. The Man on the Moon
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.
Customer Reviews
Excellent
I could listen to Skip Hollandworth give the marine forecast- except It would not lull me to sleep-I would be engaged by every word.
Fantastic journalism & storytelling, focused and compassionate toward the people who’s lives have been affected by this terrible tragedy without being sensational.
I will remember Tom Brown, his family and the people of Canadian Texas.
Captivating Storytelling
I live in Vancouver, BC Canada and came across a story written by Skip Hollandsworth years ago. I then subscribed to Texas Monthly and have kept that subscription solely for his stories. He is an incredible writer and storyteller.
This podcast is incredibly well done. I can’t listen to No Hard Feelings without a tear coming to my eyes anymore. I feel for Tom and the secrets that rest with him. I feel for the family as my best friends sister was murdered when she was 14 years old in the small town of Welland, Ontario Canada where I grew up. The emotional toll was staggering to say the least. In an even sadder turn of event Chuck was murdered years later in Indonesia.
The community started locking their doors and lost their innocence for evermore after MaryJane’s death. A sadness fell upon the region and lasted for so long.
In this podcast I did not trust the sheriff in the least. I only wished Skip had asked the ADA when he interviewed her why Nathan’s disaster of a polygraph didn’t bother them. Also the family’s investigator is a conman and a blowhard. To much of an egomanic.
Corrupt from top to bottom
Ugly ugly ugly. Corruption plus fear = Small town mentality and evil. I do not for one moment believe it was not pre-meditated. Anywhere on earth. We live in such an evil world. My sincerest empathy for the family 💐. Change the name of this rotten little town🤬 ... BC CANADA 🇨🇦