Killer Sally: Why did Sally McNeil kill her husband?

Netflix's Killer Sally is all set to chronicle the infamous murder of Ray McNeil, a professional bodybuilder, at the hands of his wife, Sally McNeil, better known as Killer Sally, who shot him to death after a fight, claiming that her husband was physically abusive to her and she acted in self-defense. This claim is fraught with controversy, with prosecutors claiming that the murder was premeditated and that Sally acted on her steroid-fueled rage and jealousy.

Although Sally McNeil was eventually sentenced to second-degree murder, her husband had physically abused her for years, as confirmed by many sources, including her two children, Shantina and John. Sally was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder and was released on parole in 2020. This case was one of the most prolific ones of its time.

Killer Sally will cover the events that led to the brutal murder and the circumstances surrounding it, including a look at the bodybuilding world and its dark secrets. Read on to find out why Sally McNeil murdered her husband ahead of Killer Sally's premiere on November 2, 2022.

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Killer Sally: Why did Sally McNeil shoot her husband?

Sally McNeil and Ray McNeil married in 1987 after they met in the Marine Corps. After Sally was discharged, she engaged in alternative forms of income that helped her run the family. It also allowed Ray to quit the Marines and pursue bodybuilding. Sally engaged in "muscle worship," a form of muscle fetish where men paid her to wrestle with them. Some of these sessions were also recorded.

Despite Sally providing for the family and paying for Ray's various steroids, their marriage quickly grew rocky. According to Ray's friends, he was also having several extra-marital affairs, including one serious one.

A particularly violent altercation on the evening of Valentine's Day 1995 led to the brutal murder of Ray. He allegedly returned home late and got into a violent argument with Sally, who claimed that he strangled and choked her. She responded with a gunshot to his abdomen, followed by another to his face, immediately killing the bodybuilder. Sally McNeil immediately called the authorities and claimed that she acted in self-defense.

She claimed that her reaction was a product of years of systematic abuse, something psychologists term "Battered Woman Syndrome." Ray had time and again allegedly assaulted and abused her during their marriage. Some of this was also a reaction to his frequent overuse of steroids. She said:

"He threw me across the room when he saw me talking to another guy when I was at work... He broke my coccyx bone in my back tailbone,...One of those times was because I would not write a list of all the men I had dated. ... Ray choked me three times. On the third time, I had spasms."

Sally also revealed that Ray often blamed this on steroids, saying:

"He said he had no idea what he did to me. So that was my introduction to steroids. I was so new to the sport at that time that I did not know about steroids."

Despite these claims, she was eventually charged with second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Killer Sally will cover this case in detail when it airs on November 2, 2022.