to kill him. you heard him say that? many, many times. neil said he have would kill gary triano. hundreds of times. he was obsessed with him. that was the case the defense made to the jury. they argued neil mcneice had the means, the mmotive, and the stated desire to kill triano. any evidence that investigators looked at this guy as a possible suspect? no. they ignored this whole line of investigation completely. completely. the defense even connected neil to a potential bomb-maker. his close friend jerry capuano happened to be a master wood-worker and handyman. one of jerry s hobbies was, he was an avid radio control airplane operator, and he would build his planes from scratch. he would do it using the same types of components found in the bomb that killed gary triano.
had heard the name neil mcneice. the bureau received a tip that neil mcneice had experience with high explosives and that he had access to them. and that he had a foul temper. and that he had a lot of money. but that was not the end of it. the bureau was also told that neil mcneice carried a profound hatred of gary triano. detective james gamber supervisor back then was keith st. john. and you had his name from two different sources. one of which was the fbi? yes. and you never talk to him? no. it would be years before investigators realize how significant an omission that was. but there is no disputing that the neil mcneice tip was never followed up. and so investigators changed focus. and looked away from gary triano s business relationships. you do two things. let s follow the evidence. and you say follow the money. always follow the money in a
extorting money from a man who d been his friend. mcneice ultimately pleaded guilty to receiving the proceeds of extortion and was sentenced to two years probation. why was any of this relevant in the murder trial of pam phillips? because, says dr. dantonio, his frightening acquaintance, neil mcneice, had a history of bad blood with none other than gary triano. it started, the doctor says, after mcneice and triano agreed to purchase an item together at a charity auction. gary didn t have any money to pay, so neil paid and he was supposed to pay neil 50% later and of course he didn t pay him. and then some years later, around 1991, gary tried to get neil to go into business with a high-flying real estate mogul. and their meetings were held not in a boardroom, but in a series of limousines. they could keep neil captive
this friend of gary triano told detective keith st. john about neil mcneice not long after the murder. did you tell them about a person by the name of neil mcneice? yes. they asked you about a lead, and you gave hem a lead. is that correct? a friend of mine, something he had said. so why didn t the detective at least go talk with neil mcneice? it s just something that fell through the cracks, or because you were so focused on pam phillips? that s what the defense would have you believe, that we were focused on pam phillips. i would say there were eight to ten, what i felt, were viable leads in addition to pam phillips. and neil mcneice wasn t one of them? no. in hindsight, do you wish you had dragged him in a room and asked him some questions? of course. and if you d done that, what do you think you would have found? based on the evidence that i ve seen, both from our investigation and from the defense investigation, we would have cleared him in some way. it w
m-16s, militarized shot guns and hand grenades on the ground. and his use of dynamite for sport. he throws dynamite like fire crackers. and then there was the company he kept. dr. dantonio said that in the early 90s neil was hanging around with anti-government militia types in montana. after the oklahoma city bombing in 1995, neil s girlfriend showed up at dantonio s house. and she swore up and down that she felt he was involved in those financially. so at this point neil s girlfriend told you that she thought neil had bank rolled the oklahoma city bombing? yes. dr. dantonio even called a fbi hotline to report neil. there s no ind case indication the bureau found any link between neil and the bombing. the fbi did eventually contact dantonio when they were investigating mcneice for something else. mcneice found himself a defendant in a federal wire tapping case, accused of