Through court documents and interviews, authorities said Wednesday morning that Neal, charged in the March 13 second-degree murder of his common law wife, received help from a trio of women over a period of days after he was last seen running into the woods off Highway 32 in Roby following the shooting. Facing charges of hindering prosecution are Evelyn Lansdown, 32; Mary E. Thomas, 37; and Erica Moore, 31. All three are being held at the Texas County Jail on $25,000 bond each.
“We want anyone who may be harboring him, to know that consequences for helping Neal are substantial,” Texas County Sheriff Carl Watson said early Wednesday morning.
According to authorities, Neal showed up at Lansdown’s trailer in Evening Shade – about four miles from the shooting scene – four days after allegedly killing Judy Lewis. There he showered and gathered a variety of items including food, a backpack, bible, bottled water and clothes. Thomas and Moore, who also lives there, were at the trailer.
Moore said she then drove Neal to the woods – in extreme northwest Texas County along Sainte Anna Road. – near where authorities from multiple agencies were combing the Mark Twain National Forest as part of the largest manhunt in modern Texas County history.
Moore, who once lived in Houston, has children with Neldon Neal’s son, Nalin. She once resided in the trailer where the murder occurred. Lansdown and Thomas are sisters.
While Neal hid in a hollowed log, the women, many times accompanied by their children, brought him food and other supplies. One of those charged, Lansdown, in a telephone interview, said Wednesday afternoon that children were never taken to Neal’s location – until they were sure he already gone. Those familiar with the inquiry – which surfaced publicly Wednesday morning through court documents obtained by the Houston Herald – said Thomas, who is Lansdown’s sister and lives less than a mile from the shooting scene, drove to Bass Pro Shops in Springfield around March 25 to buy Neal a tent and sleeping bag.
Investigators said seven children belonging to Moore and Lansdown were taken into custody by juvenile authorities Tuesday as details of the women’s involvement unfolded. Authorities were drawn to the children after they set fire to an outbuilding Monday on Evening Shade Road in an attempt to stay warm. Officers interviewed them the following day.
“We want others who may be aiding him to know that they face prosecution,” said Watson, whose department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are leading the investigation into the murder and finding Neal, who is nursing a wound from an altercation late last year with his wife’s son. Earlier this year Lewis’ son was fatally shot in a standoff with police in Texas.
In interviews with investigators on Tuesday, the women told officers they don’t believe that Neal’s injury or reported health conditions are serious. In fact, Neal concocted his health issues to draw a medical disability, the women told officers.
At presstime, officers were scouring the woods where Neal was last seen March 29. The women say they arrived to his hiding spot only to find Neal vanished.