Killers Who Tweeted Before, During, And After Their Crimes

In July 2012, 16-year-old Skylar Neese vanished from her West Virginia home. Six months later, her friend Rachel Shoaf admitted she and Sheila Eddy stabbed Neese and left her body in the woods.

While Neese was missing, Sheila Eddy remained active on Twitter, posting birthday messages and tweeting about her daily life.After Skylar's body surfaced, Sheila posted a photo collage of herself and Skylar with this caption: "rest easy, Skylar. You'll ALWAYS be my best friend. i miss you more than you could ever know."Sheila posted a photo collage of herself and Skylar after Skylar's body was found. Sheila captioned it: "rest easy, Skylar. You'll ALWAYS be my best friend. i miss you more than you could ever know." She posted birthday messages to friends and tweeted about her daily life on Twitter.

Rachel Shoaf told police Sheila and she planned the murder in science class. They lured Skylar into the woods, planning to stab her on the count of three. About a month before her arrest, Shelia tweeted, "We really did go on three."

Rachel Shoaf got a 30-year prison sentence. Sheila received a life sentence.

In 2016, Trenton Forster allegedly shot and killed St. Louis County Police officer Blake Snyder. A woman called the police because Forster repeatedly knocked on her door looking for her daughter. Forster opened fire on Snyder when he arrived.

Snyder's Twitter account showed many things in the weeks before the murder.Despite a past of violence, Forster pleaded not guilty to killing Blake Snyder. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, and he got a life sentence without parole.Forster wrote, "I'ma kill em all, just watch." Regarding a gun, he said, "The compact .40 cal send all my enemies to hell."

Forster pled not guilty to Blake Snyder's murder despite a history of violence. However, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, and he received a sentence.Penton wrote in June 2016 that buying a gun was simple. Just days before the shooting, he tweeted, "I need two boxes of 9mm stat." Penton received a 12-year sentence for the murder.Jacqueline Vandagriff's burned and dismembered body appeared in a Texas park on September 14, 2016. The day after, her killer tweeted from her account, "Never knew I could feel like this."

In 2016, Zachary Penton tweeted threats, stating he needed to move out of his apartment before he "viciously murder[ed]" his roommate. On August 22, he called 911 and confessed to killing his roommate, Daniel Garofalo, who had lived with him for about two months. Penton claimed self-defense, saying he shot Garofalo after being threatened to leave the house.

A look at Penton's Twitter history shows an obvious obsession with guns, possibly self-defense.Zachary Penton showed an obsession with guns.In June 2016, Penton wrote that buying a gun was easy. Just days before the shooting, he tweeted, "I need two boxes of 9mm stat." Penton received a 12-year sentence for the murder.Penton received a 12-year sentence for the murder.Penton received a 12-year sentence for the murder.

Jacqueline Vandagriff's burned and dismembered body appeared in a Texas park on September 14, 2016. The killer tweeted from her account the day after.The killer tweeted from her account."Never knew I could feel like this," said the mysterious message.

On September 13, Vandagriff met Charles Dean Bryant at a bar; the pair left together. Employees gave police Bryant's name, and evidence against him quickly grew. Cell phone records showed her phone near Bryant's home around 1:00 a.m., and her purse appeared in a trash can nearby. Video caught Bryant buying a shovel, and evidence showed he tried digging a hole in his yard before giving up and bringing her body to the park.

Police arrested him a few days after he posted the strange tweet on Vandagriff's account.

In 2014,a womanFelina called herself that name and fought drug cartels in Tamaulipas, a Mexican state. Cartels stopped reporting major local crimes, so people used social media to share facts.

Felina ran Valor por Tamaulipas, the most popular citizen news group. She posted emergency phone numbers and urged people to speak out about crimes, which drew the cartels' attention. Cartels began sending threats as they tried to find her real identity.

On October 16, amessageFelina posted from her Twitter account: "Friends and family, my real name is Maria Del Rosario Fuentes Rubio. I am a doctor. Today my life has come to an end." Other tweets warned friends not to repeat her mistakes, and then a photo of Felina's body appeared. The cartel shot her; they tweeted messages from her phone to scare her followers.

On the morning of April 15, 2013, two bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon finish line.three peopleand injured at least 260. Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were later identified as suspects and police captured them in a shootout. Tamerlan died; Dzhokhar was arrested.

Before he was captured,Dzhokhar tweeted a message of support to the city of Boston.He wrote, "Ain't no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people."

The court convicted him and sent him to death.

Leading up to Vester Lee Flanagan II's rampage, he made several posts to Twitter and Facebook complaining about his coworkers. In March 2019, he recorded himself approaching coworkers, reporter Alison Parker and camera operator Adam Ward, during an interview with local official Vicki Gardner. He shot all three, killing Parker and Ward. He then He posted the shocking video to his Twitter account..

FlanaganHe killed himself.when police confronted him, but his motive for the crime was retaliation. He claimed Parker made racist comments about him and Ward reported him to human resources, but no proof supported his claims. He had been fired before the crime.

In November 2016, a gunshot killed 16-year-old Emma Walker while she slept. The shot came from outside her bedroom window. After her death, her ex-boyfriend, William Riley Gaul, posted something.William Riley Gaul posted a loving tribute.He posted the tribute to her on Twitter.

"To think that every memory we have, every happy special moment we shared, can't ever be relived. I love you Emma Jane Walker," said he.He wrote this.His Twitter bio also honored Emma, stating, "I love you beautiful and I know you're in a better place now."

Emma's family says Emma broke up with Gaul, but he would not accept it. They placed him under surveillance and arrested him soon after. Charges included first-degree murder, aggravated stalking, and theft of a firearm.Charges included first-degree murder, aggravated stalking, and theft of a firearm.In 2018, he wassentenced to life in prison.He received a life sentence in 2018, with parole possible after 51 years served.