Perpetrator of Klickitat murders re-sentenced to 40 years to life

A recent Washington Supreme Court decision allowed for youthful offenders under the age of 21 to request the court to consider mitigating circumstances of their youth when the crime was committed. Neal was 19 years old at the time of the offense.

Neal pled guilty in 2001 to aggravated murder in the first degree in the 1998 stabbing deaths of Dionna Gomez and Carlos Mendoza, and to first degree murder in the death of Juan Olmos. The deaths also resulted in the loss of Gomez’s unborn child, although Neal was not charged with the additional loss of life. He was sentenced in 2001 to mandatory life without parole and 344 months concurrent to his life sentence for the deaths.

Much of the facts surrounding the circumstances preceding the events are unconfirmed or contested.

Chief Prosecuting Attorney David Wall argued on behalf of the state. He told the court that the killings, in which both Neal and his father, Billy Jean Neal Sr., participated, was an act of revenge after a confrontation that resulted from a drug deal done by Neal in which Olmos fronted him drugs that were later stolen by a party who took off without paying.

Family seeks justice

In the third floor courtroom of the Klickitat County Superior Courthouse in Goldendale, the family of the victims wore blue ribbons as a commemoration to the victims. Blue was Dionna’s favorite color.

Deliciae Gomez was the sole survivor of the assault. She was just 18 months old when Neal and his father entered Gomez’s apartment and stabbed the victims, 143 times, to death. Deliciae, who was in the apartment with her parents at the time, was spared — a trauma that has lasted throughout her life.

Deliciae, one of many family members of the victims who stood before Neal to provide statements to the court, spoke first, explaining how she first learned in middle school of the tragedy.

“I didn’t really understand death or understand what I was hearing,” she said. “All I knew is that I just wanted to be with my mother and father. I wanted nothing more than to be with them.

“I was just a confused child hunting for answers. Why did this monster take my family? Why did I survive?” she continued.

Deliciae told the court that nothing in her life has been normal or ordinary due to the tragedy, yet, “I stand here before you all today, still fighting. My grandmother raised a warrior. These monsters left a warrior, and I won’t stop fighting for my family’s justice.”

Deliciae was joined by her grandmother who raised her, Linda Gomez, best friend Lisa Shoaf, and another mother figure to her, Brandi Kelly, along with and her siblings, Juan and Yaque.

Family members questioned whether Neal had changed, and voiced their opinion that he should remain in prison for the remainder of his life. “If anything, he should be getting more time,” said Shoaf.

Dionna’s mother, Linda Gomez, said she was concerned that Neal has “never shown any remorse or regret.”

Isadora Cruz, the mother of three of Olmo’s children, spoke through a translator, telling the court Juan is missing birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas mornings with his children because of Neal and his father. “It was a hard day for me and my children. I didn’t know how to take care of myself or my children, but time has passed.”

Cruz added that Neal took the life of Mendoza, who had no family present in the courtroom. “He died unjustly, just because he was in the same house as Juan.”

Yaque Olmos, Juan’s daughter, said Neal deserves a life in prison. Juan told the court that he and his sibling’s lives were changed because of Neal. His family lost another sibling that day, and “I thank God every day that she (Deliciae) survived.”

‘Functionally adrift’

Wall argued the decision was made out of a life of criminality. Neal’s first encounter with the criminal justice system occurred when he was 12 and living in California. After a stint in rehab, he was sent to live with his biological father in Klickitat, where he began selling drugs, including meth and cannabis. He was involved in gangs, leading to him getting kicked out of school at a young age.

His criminality escalated to burglaries and assault. He began using methamphetamines, and was in and out of juvenile hall and a disciplinary boot camp between the ages of 12-18.

His youth was marked by domestic violence at the hands of his father, who abused his mother, and he himself was the victim of abuse at the hands of his father and stepfather, including instances where he was handcuffed to his bed, beaten, and locked in his room.

Dr. Christen Carson, an expert witness speaking on behalf of the defense, told the court that adverse childhood experiences, including his experiences with abuse and neglect, increased his risk for criminality and reduced his capacity for development.

His early interactions with illicit substances and record of learning disabilities reduced Neal’s capacity for maturity. He couldn’t hold a job nor form a plan for himself, she said.

“He was functionally sort of adrift,” she said. “A mature 19-year-old is moving towards independence and stability, but this is the exact opposite of stability at this point.”

Carson added that influence from his father and his impulsivity made him more vulnerable to criminal behavior. Added with what she determined to be potential reactive impulsivity, which she described as spontaneous and immediate response to provocation, as well as little to no appreciation of being identified as the perpetrator, she said Neal was acting with a diminished moral culpability.

Wall confronted Carson on the idea that she can define morality, to which she responded that moral culpability is the sum of all material that someone is bringing to their decision making.

“It’s not really morality, like an idiosyncratic morality. It’s about what somebody brings to bear when they make that decision,” she said.

Time in prison

Neal’s re-sentencing hearing began with the attorneys discussing a last-minute filing with the court, which revealed that Neal had been involved with a white supremacist prison gang since at least 2005.

His involvement with the “Aryan Family” was a point of debate among Wall and Lanz, with Lanz arguing that the court should not consider the filing in its determination given that it could be unduly prejudicial to Neal since he is “not involved in that lifestyle anymore.”

The judge ultimately allowed for consideration of the evidence during the hearing.

The evidence, a 14-page report compiled by the Security Threat Group of the Washington Department of Corrections, lists several anonymous sources within the corrections system identifying Neal as either a leader or an underling of the prison gang.

The document indicates Neal was moved to serve his sentence in Colorado after being “debriefed” from the gang in 2017.

Not much has been reported on the Aryan Family, but a report filed by the Anti-Defamation League lists the gang as having been founded in 1993 in Washington’s correctional system.

According to the report, “White supremacist prison gangs use race and white supremacist ideology as ways to bond members together. To this, such gangs will often add the notion of a racial ‘family’ of sorts, with references to ‘our white family’ or ‘our Aryan family,’ and encouraging members to call each other brothers (and, where applicable, sisters).”

Since entering prison in 2001, Neal has had 44 violations, including at least one instance of aggravated assault and multiple assaults.

Path for rehabilitation

Lanz told the court that his behavior improved over the past six years. He has earned his GED, and completed courses in cognitive behavioral change and thinking for change, as well as anger and stress management.

Carson echoed Lanz’s argument, that Neal has shown signs of rehabilitation. He has not had an infraction since 2017. “It’s looking like he’s heading in a good trajectory,” Carson said.

She interviewed Neal for six hours. She said he benefits from positive role models, and his mother says he has become a good reader, and has matured over recent years.

“He described that he looks at things differently. He said, in his words, ‘It’s like night and day. I see more options. I try to avoid situations. I see more options available and understand consequences more thoroughly now and my reactions on that,’” she said, noting maturity plays a role in his thinking on how his actions have consequences.

His housing situation, if he were to get out of prison, is up in the air. Carson said he had housing through a third party who resides outside of the county, to which Wall refuted that Neal would be required to live within Klickitat County following release from prison.

Neal’s mother, Ellen Thorne, addressed the court following Lanz’s closing statements. She said she sees a developed maturity in her son. “Since he has gone to Colorado, they have a lot more to offer there, and I can see the growth in him,” she said.

Neal was the last to speak, addressing the family directly. He said he understands now that the law is what binds society together, and if released, will never commit another crime.

“I want to tell you all I’m sorry. The pain I’ve caused you can’t be put into words,” Neal said. “At the time I felt trapped. That doesn’t negate the fact that I participated in the heinous murders of three individuals.”

At that point, the family spoke up to add that four lives were actually extinguished that night. Dionna was nearly four months pregnant.

Judge’s summation

Following the closure of arguments, Judge Randall Krog spoke, summing up facts about the case. He noted Neal’s tough upbringing, his early interactions with the criminal justice system, and the lack of positive influence throughout his life. He said he was bound by the state Supreme Court’s decision to consider Neal’s youthfulness as a mitigating factor that could lessen the state’s view of the crime’s severity.

“The question really is whether this is an offender whose crime reflects unfortunate, but yet transient maturity or an offender whose crime reflects irreparable corruption and permanent incorrigibility,” Krog said.

His ruling, he said, does not excuse Neal’s wrongful behavior, but must be juxtaposed with his clean record for the past six years.

“Your actions shocked the family and the whole community,” Krog said, adding that the court now view life without parole sentences for juveniles as “based on retribution alone.”

Krog cited work reports stating Neal shows respect as a prison worker, and demonstrates that he is willing to continue behavioral treatment. Additionally, he said the Department of Corrections submitted a risk assessment report that noted Neal remains sincere with not wanting to continue with the Aryan Family.

He added that the evidence shows that Neal was not permanently corrupt, or incorrigible as a youth.

Neal’s father died while in custody in 2005. Neal was the sole remaining offender from Klickitat County elligible for resentencing under the court’s recent outlook on youthful offenders. Jeremiah Gilbert, who was 15 who he killed two men near Centerville in 1992, was resentenced to 25 years to life in 2019 for his aggravated murder charge.