New Netflix docuseries ‘Killer Sally’ examines ‘bodybuilding’s most notorious crime’
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An upcoming Netflix documentary series will focus on “bodybuilding’s most infamous crime,” revealing a tale of violence, steroids, and “muscle worship.”
Killer Sally, a three-part series airing in the UK from November 2, will look at the Valentine’s Day 1995 murder of national bodybuilding champion Ray McNeil in 1995.
He was shot by his wife Sally, herself a bodybuilder who twice won the U.S. Armed Forces physique championship in the 1980s, who said the murder was self-defense, citing her husband’s history of domestic violence.
According to Netflix, “This complex true crime story explores domestic violence, gender roles and the world of bodybuilding…directed by award-winning filmmaker Nanette Burstein.”
The Netflix synopsis says Ray was “strangling his bodybuilder wife, Sally, when she grabbed a gun and shot him twice.”
It adds: “With a documented history of domestic violence, Sally claimed it was self-defense, a split-second decision to save her life.
Sally McNeil (pictured), known as ‘Killer Sally’, is the subject of a new Netflix true crime documentary to air in November
She is currently serving a 19-year sentence for murdering her husband Ray McNeil, a national bodybuilding champion (pictured)
According to Sally, it was ‘lust at first sight’ for the couple (pictured here on their wedding day), though the relationship became very volatile
“The prosecution claimed it was premeditated murder, the revenge of a jealous and aggressive woman. They called her a “thug”, a “bully”, a “monster”.
The media called her the ‘muscled bride’ and the ‘pumped-up princess’.
“Sally says she spent her whole life doing whatever it took to survive, caught in a cycle of violence that started in childhood and ended with Ray’s death.”
The series features interviews with friends and family of Sally, including her son.
It also features Sally herself, who is candid about the relationship with Ray, describing his physique as “beautiful” and saying the match was “lust at first sight,” with the couple getting married in 1997.
However, the relationship was volatile and in the trailer, her son confirms the abuse his father inflicted on the family.
After shooting Ray (pictured) on Valentine’s Day in 1995, Sally called 911 and told the operator, ‘I just shot my husband for beating me up’
He says, “I remember how twisted it was to sit there and watch him mistreat my sister and know I was next.”
According to reports, after both Sally and Ray left the military, she became a professional wrestler under the name “Killer Sally” while becoming a full-time bodybuilder.
Sally also made money through “muscle worship,” where men pay to wrestle muscular women.
In the trailer, she shows how lucrative this can be, saying, “If I wrestle with 10, that’s $3,000.”
She adds, “Made Ray happy to pay for his steroids, then he hit me.”
According to Sally (pictured), she made a significant amount of money from men who paid to wrestle muscular women
Speaking in the documentary, Sally (pictured) says she had a ‘right to defend herself’ against her husband, who she says was violent
It was on Valentine’s Day in 1995 that she fatally shot him, with a 911 call in the Netflix trailer revealing how she told the operator, “I just shot my husband for beating me up.”
Despite her self-defense claim, the prosecutor said the murder was premeditated.
After being found guilty of first degree murder in 1996, Sally was sentenced to 19 years, which she is currently serving.
Sally says, ‘I have a right to defend myself. I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to die.’
Killer Sally will be available on Netflix in the UK from November 2.