Michele Neurauter (pictured left) was brutally murdered by her ex-husband Lloyd Neurauter (pictured top right) in August 2017. Lloyd was assisted by their 19-year-old daughter Karrie Neurauter (pictured bottom right).
The Neurauters lived in Corning, New York. Lloyd was allegedly abusive, which was a main contributing factor to their split. After Michele and Lloyd divorced, Michele remained in the home with their children, while Lloyd moved out. In 2014, their oldest daughter Karrie moved to Syracuse to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Over time, Lloyd grew tired of having to pay Michele alimony and child support for their 14-year-old daughter. He wanted to stop these payments and gain custody of the 14-year-old. In early August 2017, he contacted Karrie to enlist her help in killing Michele. According to Karrie, her father gave her an ultimatum. He said that if Karrie did not help him kill her mother, he would kill himself. Karrie then agreed to help, and the two put a plan together.
On August 28th, 2017, Karrie and Lloyd executed their plan. The two entered Michele’s home and unplugged all electronic devices to hide their presence in the house. Then, Karrie distracted her 14-year-old sister while Lloyd entered Michele’s bedroom and strangled her to death. Karrie then helped Lloyd stage the scene to make it look like Michele had hung herself.
Police did not believe that Michele’s death was a suicide from the beginning. Both Karrie and Lloyd lied to the police and denied that foul play was involved in Michele’s death. Over the next few months, police continued to investigate. Eventually, the chilling truth was revealed.
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The investigation.
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The investigation.
While trying to piece together the events leading to Michele's death, police decided to wiretap Karrie’s phone. Very shortly thereafter, they recorded a phone conversation between Lloyd and Karrie that was quite incriminating. Karrie knew she was going to be questioned by the police about Michele’s death, and Lloyd gave Karrie instructions on what to say.
Lloyd was heard saying, “Tell them ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got a counseling appointment back in New Jersey tonight, I’ve gotta get to my counseling appointment. And tell them this had been really hard on you.” Then, with a laugh, Lloyd asked Karrie: “Could you cry?”, to which Karrie responded, “I might.”
It took months for police to put all the evidence together. Eventually, the true nature of Karrie's relationship with her father Lloyd was revealed. Karrie lived with Lloyd following his divorce from Michele. In the years that followed, Lloyd coerced and manipulated Karrie and their other daughter into turning against their mother. Karrie especially turned a special allegiance towards her father. Many believe Lloyd tricked his children into believing their mother was a bad person.
Investigators finally received warrants for Lloyd and Karrie’s arrests in January 2018. Karrie was arrested at her home in Syracuse. Lloyd led police on a chase to the top of a 5-story parking garage in Princeton, New Jersey. He threatened to jump, before an officer tackled him, and he was eventually taken into custody.
The charges.
Karrie was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree custodial interference, tampering with physical evidence and second-degree conspiracy. She initially pleaded not guilty, but then eventually accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to second degree murder. As part of the plea deal, Karrie also agreed to testify against her father at his trial.
Lloyd was charged with first-degree murder, and he also initially pleaded not guilty. Just two weeks before his trial, though, he changed his plea to guilty and admitted to killing Michele. He also admitted to coercing Karrie into helping him by threatening suicide. Due to this admission, Karrie was able to plead to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The sentencing.
The sentencing.
On December 4th, 2018, Lloyd was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Days later, Karrie was sentenced to 1-3 years. Michele’s family members stated that they expected Karrie to receive a much longer sentence, however they are actually happy with the outcome. In fact, Karrie’s grandmother stated that this is “what Michele would have wanted.”
Karrie was paroled in 2020.
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Sources:
CBS News
People
Star Gazette
Sources:
CBS News
People
Star Gazette