Kevin Janson Neal wife found buried under the home floorboards, after shooting her dead, with shooter calling mother day before mass shootings, ‘I can’t do it anymore’.
Tehama County, California investigators have told of Kevin Janson Neal, the Rancho Tehama shooter having murdered his wife, before going on his shooting rampage on Tuesday.
The woman’s body was found underneath the home floorboards revealed Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston during a press conference Wednesday.
Authorities declined to release the woman’s name, pending contact of the next of kin.
The discovery comes after Kevin Neal went on a shooting rampage early Tuesday morning, where over the course of seven crime scenes, now eight, the man gunned down four individuals, along with injuring nine others before being fatally gunned down by police.
Addressing press corps, Johnston said investigators believed Neal killing his wife on Monday, a day before Tuesday’s carnage.
‘We believe that’s probably what started this whole event,’ Johnston said, while mentioning it was ‘obvious the woman had been gunned down.’
It’s not clear what happened in the hours between when officials say Neal murdered his wife and began his shooting spree at 7:54 a.m. Tuesday, but Johnston said Neal’s attempt to cover up his wife’s body was apparent.
‘There was a hole cut in the floor….we’re confident that he murdered her, shot her at some point on Monday, and just put her body in the hole in the floor and just covered it up,’ Johnston said.
Why? Kevin Janson Neal i’d as Rancho Tehama Shooting suspect
Kevin Janson Neal wife dead: Start of shooting rampage begins.
The shooting rampage spanned seven scenes. The first two people Neal shot and killed were neighbors before he stole their truck and sought seemingly random victims elsewhere, including an elementary school, where he was locked out. It was only after stealing another automobile and shooting at oncoming police that Neal was brought down.
‘This individual was driving down the road choosing targets. He chased people in the vehicle, shooting at them,’ Johnston said.
Next to Neal’s body, police found a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns that the man had used during his murder spree.
The early week carnage came after Neal had been charged with stabbing one of the slain neighbors in January, with Neal’s mother telling the Associated Press she posted the $160,000 bail for him along with having spent over $10,000 on lawyer’s fees. Neal had been involved in a long-running dispute with his neighbors, the woman said.
The mother, who spoke on condition she be named only as Anne because she fears for her safety, said her son told her the neighbor was slightly cut after Neal grabbed a steak knife out of the hand of the neighbor who was threatening him with it.
The head of the area’s homeowners association said neighbors had been complaining about Neal firing guns excessively on the property, which sits at the end of a dirt road.
Update: Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston says investigators found the body of Kevin Janson Neal’s wife hidden under the floor. Investigators believe the killing of his wife was the start of the rampage. pic.twitter.com/vKEu8oHDWY
— Sara Stinson (@SaraStinsonNews) November 15, 2017
Here is part of an interview with the man who says his truck was stolen and his roommate was shot and killed by the alleged shooter who is described as a known felon in his 50’s named Kevin. #RanchoTehamashooting pic.twitter.com/ZNdwmdOwU7
— Sara Stinson (@SaraStinsonNews) November 14, 2017
Kevin Janson Neal wife murder leads to shooter calling his mother, ‘I can’t do it anymore’.
It now appears Neal may have murdered his wife either before or shortly after having spoken with his mother on Monday, with the mother recalling her 43 year old son telling her at the time, ‘Mom it’s all over now.’
Added the woman’s son, ‘I have done everything I could do and I am fighting against everyone who lives in this area.’
Neal’s mother said her son, ‘sounded desperate’ and despairing over his relationship with his neighbors, who he said were cooking meth and creating fumes that were harming his nine dogs.
‘All of a sudden, now I’m on a cliff and there’s nowhere to go,’ the shooter son said. ‘No matter where I go for help here I get nobody who will help me. All they are doing is trying to execute me here.’
Speaking to the latimes, Neal’s sister, Sheridan Orr of Raleigh, N.C. said that her brother had long struggled with mental illness and that he would get paranoid and speak of government conspiracies. She said he was also known to have sudden episodes of unwarranted anger.
Reiterated Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston, ‘I think the motive of getting even with his neighbors and when it went that far – he just went on a rampage.’
Three people have died after a shooting in Rancho Tehama, California which ended at a school. Girl, 6, believed to be among children hurt. pic.twitter.com/Q2FVIuJJpH
— Global’s Newsroom (@GlobalsNewsroom) November 14, 2017
