My name is Lloyd Hardin McNeil (IDOC spells it McNeal), ID #103513. My friends call me Hardin, my convict moniker is "Bama". I'm currently serving a 54 year sentence for crimes no one committed. There was a death and a small fire, but the story that was fabricated, by Captain James Rabbitt, Detective Mark Ayotte, and Ada County prosecutors, is impossible. Physically impossible. They made dogmatic proclamations through the media, and by the time the actual evidence was gathered, it was too late to walk it back. So, they did what the justice system does, pathetically, they made a lie look truthful by whatever means necessary. Here's the story.

 

"Simplicity is the key..." is how my first unfinished book began. I've realized that a simple approach is the best route to solving this riddle. Honestly, I wouldn't believe this if I wasn't living it, but this is the situation, I'm going to handle it accordingly.

"Life's not fair, and no man is innocent....." is how I've started my current unfinished book. Hopefully, you won't get a "whoa is me" vibe from this site, because that's definitely not my intention nor my mindset.  I'm going to lay out the facts and where I am on this ride.  This will not elevate Natalie to a Saintly status, nor will I vilify myself, however, I'm not insinuating that she was wholly bad, or I am completely altruistic.

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Clearing up some confusion:

Judge Deborah Bail, George Gunn and his team, and Tony Geddes relied on inaccurate information before and during my trial.
 

Natalie and I did meet in high school, but I only saw her a few times before she ran away from her mother and abusive stepfather. We never dated.  We did reconnect in California, in March 2009, but we were not exclusive, and I left for Montana in May 2009. She showed up for a "visit", after she received a DUI in June. She didn't want to leave, so I hired her to assist me with my project on the mountain. The environment became tense, and we were asked to leave in August.  We did travel back to California together, but went our separate ways when we reached Carpenteria.

Natalie found herself homeless, so I allowed her to come to Alabama with me, in September 2009.  February 2010, we returned to California, and again, went our separate ways.  May 2010, I was heading back to Montana for the summer, Natalie called me, on my birthday (May 13), and said she had nowhere to live. We made an agreement to travel together, but she would go to Boise, while I was in Montana. We decided to take the Suzuki, because it was newer than my Jeep, and I wouldn't immediately need a vehicle in Montana. Natalie received another DUI in Boise. She asked if she could come stay with me in Bozeman, MT. I informed her that I was training in primitive survival during the day and working nights in town, and she would be in the woods. I did have a room at a friend's house to shower and regroup, but Natalie wasn't welcome there.

She joined me, but had no money or motivation to make any. She was actually helpful around camp for a couple of weeks. After that, her days consisted of getting drunk and sleeping. She fell down the steep trail to the campsite and sustained some injuries. I took her to the hospital, and nothing was serious. Then, a day later, she had parked the Suzuki on a boulder and nearly killed herself falling down the same trail (causing more injuries), I asked her to go back to Boise (July 4, 2010). A couple of days later, I took her to lunch (plus shots). On the way back, I asked her when she was leaving. She became irate, and told me if I made her leave she would tell people that I caused her injuries. I shrugged, and she immediately jumped out of the moving vehicle and started yelling at a group of bicyclists to call the police. I drove to the campsite. A short time later, I was approached and arrested. I was charged with domestic battery. A no contact order was issued.  A few days later, I bailed out, and I was assigned a pretrial officer, Bill Todd. I continued to work at night and hike during the day. Natalie started showing up at my campsites. I informed Mr. Todd, and he told me to do my best to avoid her. I tried. I was seeing a young lady, a waitress at a bar. One night, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Natalie. I asked her to leave. She did, after stealing my dog, Zenli, out of my truck.

The next morning I had a meeting with Mr. Todd, and he told me that he couldn't help. A few hours later, Natalie showed up to my campsite. The waitress was with me, so I fled to lure Natalie away. She tried to run me off of the mountain road. She passed me and turned into the police station. I went to get Zenli, where she had been tied to my friend's truck overnight, by Natalie.
Police reports show that Natalie attempted to report me for breaking the no-contact order, but drunkenly admitted she came to my campsite. Later that night Natalie was arrested for another DUI. She went to Boise after that.

I ignored hundreds of calls and texts. I moved into a downtown apartment with my female acquaintance and awaited legal proceedings.  In October, my attorney called to inform me that our investigator had a recorded conversation with Natalie admitting that the charges against me were false. She goes further and confesses to multiple counts of assault and battery on me.

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After my attorney presented the recording to the Gallatin County prosecutor, Eric Kitzmiller, he still wanted me to plead guilty to misdemeanor assault. Why, you ask? Because that's how the system works. A prosecutor's success is measured in convictions, wrongful or not.

No, I didn't take the deal. I told my attorney to prepare for trial.

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I did start to appease Natalie by answering her calls, but only in an attempt to isolate her threats to me. She had tried to get my girlfriend fired by falsely reporting that she was serving alcohol to a minor. She also made a noise complaint, sending police to my friend's house, on Christmas Eve.
Our conversations were brief, but almost daily, plus texts. The theme was consistently that she wasn't happy with her situation. She was sharing a house with her most recent ex, Joe DeMuth, and her older brother, Matthew Hess. They also had two dogs, Cassi and Pokey. None of them were working full time, so they were behind on the rent, and her dad, Ken Davis, was paying the utilities. Natalie was on probation for her last DUI, she had three total (BTW, I'm in prison with men who received ten years for their 3rd DUI).

Her level of depression was dangerous, and her promises of suicide were serious. I agreed to visit her, but told her that I could only come for a couple of weeks. We made an agreement that I would take the bus to Boise, but I would drive the Suzuki back to Bozeman.  She told me she would have at least half of the money she owed me before I left, and that was ignorantly and selfishly my main motivation for going to Boise.

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I did take the bus, but I made a friend, Amanda, and we hung out in Salt Lake for a couple of nights. Then, she drove me to Boise. When I arrived, Joe was home, with the pups, and he welcomed Zenli and I; although, I got a strange vibe (haterish). Understandable, I guess. Matthew arrived shortly after. Later, Joe used the Suzuki to pick Natalie up from work. We all started drinking and had fun that night.

Natalie had gained about forty pounds since I had last seen her, and that seemed strange because she wasn't a heavy eater. She later confided that she had been pregnant (with Joe's baby), and had recently lost the child. To me, that explained the increasing depression and the tension between her and Joe. Matthew told me that her loss of the baby was the reason for getting the new puppy.
We had a couple of good nights, but then the arguing began. Mostly bickering between Joe and Natalie, but she would focus anger towards Matthew and myself randomly. Joe made plans to move out. I only suspect that it was because his sleeping arrangements changed when I arrived (there wasn't a bed in the room where he slept).

Joe leaving did lift a negative fog, but actually brought the dynamic, under which they'd been living, to light. He was the money man. Natalie, Matt, and I had a couple of decent nights, then reality hit them. I was leaving soon, and they couldn't afford the house. Natalie had violated her probation, several times, and thought she would probably be arrested any day. My trip home was postponed, mainly due to our beer-for-breakfast routine. Natalie augmented our original agreement, she made me agree to take the dogs when I left. Her inevitable arrest loomed heavily, and she even flirted with running. She packed a winter-weather "go bag", and attempted to contact her friend in Montana. She had planned on pawning a ring to repay part of her debt to me, so we went to Vista Pawn on February 18, 2011. They only offered $300 for the ring, so I agreed to take the ring as partial payment, because I figured I could get more for it.

That afternoon, unbeknownst to me, at the time, Natalie swallowed a bottle of Tylenol PM. She became Ill, and I stayed up holding a bowl for her to vomit into, all night. I will admit that Matthew and I thought she had just hit her vodka stash too hard, and we didn't take the situation as seriously as it warranted.  Natalie and Matt fought constantly, and Matthew even called the police to the house (police records show that they had called 911, on each other, twice in December and again on March 1st, due to physically violent altercations between each other). Natalie told Matthew to find somewhere else to live, and he started staying with a friend the next night. I didn't see him again (until my trial).

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I had tried to contact Ken Davis, multiple times, through calls, texts, and email. I explained how drastic the situation had become, but he neglected to respond.

A few days before I left, I contacted the owner of the Suzuki, Joe Riso, and made arrangements to deliver the vehicle to Walla Walla, Washington. I had also been in touch with my new friend, Amanda, and she told me I could stay with her for a couple of days, to get my bearings and figure out what to do with the dogs.

Natalie became more violent and unpredictable, the closer it came to my departure. On Friday, March 4, 2011, I feared a situation similar to Montana, and I was technically violating a no contact order, so I took Zenli and went to Crickets Bar. I ignored several calls and texts from Natalie, but that evening she found me. She appeared to be intoxicated, but was calm. I told her that I would come to the house shortly.

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Apparently, while I was at the bar, Natalie had called the police to her house. Police reports show that Natalie identified and described a man named "Michael", as an attacker whom attempted to force sleeping pills down her throat after "choke-slamming" her onto the floor, the day before (3/3/11). Her rambling was so far fetched that the officers didn't even file a report, but did state that their encounter with Natalie was strange. There was no search for "Michael" that night.

I did go back to the house, but her behavior continued to be volatile. Zenli and I left out the back door, circled back, and slept in the Suzuki. It was really cold, so around dawn, we went inside and laid on the futon mattress, in the living room. Then, I grabbed my bags, put the dogs in the car, and left. I was extremely hung over, so I went to the liquor store, but it was closed. I went to Albertson's to buy some wine, but I didn't have my ID, so the lady wouldn't sell it to me. I took a nap in the parking lot. When I awoke, I went to the gas station, filled up, grabbed a couple of roadies, and headed for Montana.

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 Now, the facts begin to run parallel to the story that was told to the public, through the media.

March 5-18, 2011-
I arrived at Amanda's, in Whitehall, MT, that afternoon. I texted Natalie that I was in Chula Vista, CA, because I didn't want her to know where I was and I needed a break. My phone wasn't holding a charge, so I kept it off, unless I was using it. I stayed for four or five days, during which I found a safe place for the two dogs. I had Amanda sell the ring Natalie had given me, because I didn't have an ID. I made arrangements to take a bus to Seattle and the train back to San Diego. I decided to not take the Suzuki to Joe Riso, until I came back to Montana (the plates didn't match the registration and I had no ID). Amanda allowed me to leave the car in her driveway.

I arrived in Seattle and confirmed my reservation at the Green Tortoise Hostel. When I checked in, because I had Zenli with me, they gave me a private room. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and decided to stay a few more days. When I decided it was time for the party to end, I went to stay with one of the women that worked at the hostel. I planned on staying the weekend and heading for San Diego on Monday.

March 17, I turned my phone on to call my niece for her birthday, and I had seventeen messages. I figured that they were all from Natalie, but the first two were from my sister, breaking the news of Natalie's demise. I immediately called her, she briefly explained the situation, texted me the number for Detective Mark Ayotte, and the same minute it came through was the minute I called him. I had to leave a message, but he called right back. The conversation was strange, he was insensitive, and he wouldn't answer any questions about how Natalie had passed. He was more interested in accusing me of stealing the Suzuki, so I directed him to contact Joe Riso. He informed me that I already had a warrant for grand theft. The next afternoon, March 18, 2011, I surrendered to a group of Seattle police officers. To be clear, I didn't hear of Natalie's apparent suicide, nor did I have any reason to think that I had a warrant for my arrest, until March 17, 2011. I had an afro and an overgrown beard, yet I didn't make any attempt to alter my appearance nor conceal my identity. I was in the public eye, and I even had a Seattle police officer watch Zenli while I ran into McDonald's. In a hearing to reduce my bail, the prosecution sited specific contacts that "could possibly" assist me and deemed me a flight risk, yet no one focused on the fact that I never reached out to those people, while I was supposedly "on the run". The prosecution publicly claimed that I was "apprehended as a result of a Nationwide Manhunt", but I was clearly never hidden. I CALLED THEM! I cooperated, until the detective became belligerent.

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Confirmation Bias occurs when an investigator or expert begins an investigation with preconceived expectations and theories, and, as a result, fails to follow professional standards of practice and instead focuses only on evidence that supports those theories, ignoring or explaining away evidence to the contrary.

 

(Please refer to the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus for the legal arguments and case law references)
 

 

 

The Fire-
On March 5, 2011, after I had left for Montana, Natalie swallowed a box of Benadryl, and consumed enough alcohol to raise her blood alcohol level to .151. She was smoking old cigarette butts, evidence shows that there were no cigarettes found in the house, and she was a pack-a-day smoker. No lighters were found in the bedroom, but an empty matchbook with only her prints was found. Evidence suggests, she knocked over the candle that she had on a makeshift nightstand. Evidence points to the location of ignition to be exactly where the candle would've been.

A neighbor reported smoke coming from the window.  Dispatch informed the fire crew that police had been dispatched to that address for "a domestic" the night before. This insinuated that they were being sent to a scene of a crime.

Suter v. Rabbitt-
The Firefighters that responded had disturbingly different stories about how the scene was managed.
Captain James "Jim" Rabbitt claims to have gone into the room behind firefighter John Suter, after Suter requested assistance with the seemingly "stuck" mattress. Yet, Firefighter Suter has adamantly professed that, after he asked for assistance, Jim Rabbitt blew by him, he "heard a grunt" and when he entered the room, the mattress was already perpendicular to the floor.

For some unexplainable reason, all of the fire personnel were interviewed, at the same time, in the same room, by my defense attorneys and the prosecutors.  Rabbitt's story dogmatically became the consensus, and the absurd hypothesis, that Natalie's body had been "placed" between the mattress and box spring, was used. Thankfully, John Suter has a conscience. He immediately contacted Whitney Faulkner and told her that the facts were different from the story she had just heard. Whitney withheld that information from my defense team. We didn't know that Suter challenged Rabbitt's story, until trial. We were blindsided and denied the opportunity to attack Rabbitt's credibility, and investigate different scenarios. Suter did tell Rabbitt that he planned to tell the truth at trial, and Rabbitt continually tried to change Suter's mind. All Jim Rabbitt had to do was admit that he made a mistake, and confess that he accidentally dumped Natalie's body off of the mattress, when he violently removed it. He made a conscious decision to save himself from a minor reprimand. I wouldn't have spent the past decade in prison, if it weren't for the selfishness and arrogance of Jim Rabbitt.

This recording confirms everything you just read.

 

Pay attention to how that one lie spiraled into my conviction, as well as prosecutorial misconduct, judicial misconduct, subornation of perjury, perjury, and conspiracy to convict an innocent man.

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The Candle-
Captain Thomas Nelson Gainor ruled out a candle, as the source of ignition for the fire, because "there were no candle holders." Although, he did admit, in trial, that all candles don't require candle holders, but Danica Comstock (my 2nd chair attorney) moved to the next question, as if it were an accident that she got the answer she wanted.

An ATF expert, Robert Gantt manipulated the jury to believe that, although the candle would've melted and burned away, there would absolutely be paraffin present. That's PERJURY!  There are multiple candles that don't contain paraffin.  I bought that candle at a "hippie" farmer's market. I'm almost positive that it was a soy candle.  Soy would explain the "mysterious" vegetable oil on the mattress that the ATF couldn't identify in their database. Yea, that's worth repeating, our ATF said that they couldn't identify a vegetable oil in their database. I had specifically asked my attorneys if the "oil" could've been the melted candle, and they neglected to investigate.

Ruling out the candle was obnoxiously premature, but it also demonstrates the willingness, of all parties involved, to submit to confirmation bias.  With Rabbitt, Faulkner, Gainor, and Gantt withholding evidence and committing perjury, we already have the ingredients for a conspiracy, but you ain't seen nothin' yet.

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The Body-
Detective Mark Ayotte lead a team to search the house, in the dark, with flashlights. The team showed little respect to Natalie's body and even less to the preservation of the scene. I know, all convicts say stuff like that, right? I get it, but check out this video that the jury never saw, listen carefully to what is being said in the background.  WARNING: This video is graphic in nature and may be disturbing to some viewers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Charles O. Garrison examined Natalie's body and determined her cause of death to be positional asphyxia, but Detective Mark Ayotte convinced him that Natalie's body was found in between the mattress and box spring, so Dr. Garrison changed the cause of death to undetermined. This instance would, more than likely, fall under witness tampering for Ayotte and falsifying a death certificate for Garrison, but we can call it confirmation bias, for now.

There is only evidence that Natalie was on top of the mattress, but Rabbitt's story had already been leaked to the media, Ayotte had already had the coroner change his original cause of death based on the story, so they just began chiseling the square peg, until it fit in the round hole.  The fact is that nobody ever claims to have seen Natalie between the mattress and box spring, because the mattress was already outside when her body was discovered.

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the mattress bent from the weight

of her body on the heated coils

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                                        the ring on her shoulder is an exact imprint of the mattress coil
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My Defense Team-
Tony Geddes (Lead), Danica Comstock (2nd), and John Anzioni (Investigator)

The Wednesday after I was extradited to Boise, Tony and John met with me. They didn't have any information about Natalie's cause of death, and basically dismissed my concerns. At that time, I had only been charged with Grand Theft of the Suzuki, but they mentioned that Natalie's mother was claiming that Natalie was holding an heirloom ring that belonged to her (Morrissey Gage). I immediately gave them the contact information for the owner of the Suzuki, Joe Riso. Then, I explained the financial agreement regarding the ring. I informed them that I took possession of the ring, in public, on camera, at the counter of Vista Pawn, after Natalie had attempted to pawn it. John Anzioni said that Vista Pawn was a "fence", and they wouldn't have cameras. Years later, another investigator, Peter Smith, uncovered the fact that Vista Pawn had several surveillance cameras, including one at the counter. My defense team's failure to investigate was detrimental to my case.

Again, I was only charged with Grand Theft, but I was being held on a $1,000,000.00 bond. I was granted a bail reduction hearing, in which Tony Geddes planted a poisonous seed, in the mind of an already compromised judge, Deborah Bail. After meeting with me, for about five minutes, Tony began to ramble off random information. Tony's ignorance and lack of preparation lead him to believe that Natalie and I had been in a "volatile relationship for 13 years". Bail reduction was denied. I called Tony that afternoon, and I explained, again, that Natalie and I only occupied the same physical space for less than 7 months, since we met. He said, "that doesn't matter, she wasn't going to reduce your bail anyway". I tried to contact his supervisor, several times, but I was always connected to Tony, Danica, or John.

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I volunteered my DNA to the prosecution, even though I had already told them I had been in every room in that house. When Mark Ayotte showed up to retrieve the sample, he looked me in the eye, turned around, and told the deputy, "NO, I said I need McNeil". I assured him that it was me. He asked if I liked being clean cut, without a beard, and I told him that the large beard was a winter weather experiment, and "this is how I look". I got a kick out of his surprise, but, at that time, didn't think much else about it.

A few weeks later, I was released and immediately rearrested, charged with Murder II, Arson I, and Grand Theft. Immediately after I was rebooked with the new charges, the deputy puts me in front of the camera, and another deputy shouted at her, "they told us not to take a new one". She seemed puzzled but followed the direction. I was appointed the same defense team. The next time we met, I told them about the mugshot, and they said that it didn't matter, that prosecutors play games. It did matter, because the only photo the media used was the one of me after surviving a week in Seattle's King County Jail. The photo was one of the elements used to poison the jury pool.

The Montana incident was discussed, and I told them about the recording of Natalie admitting that she was the violent party. I had to have asked them 50 times, in a 9 month period, if they had received that recording, and they consistently told me that my Montana attorney, Valarie Carims, didn't know what I was talking about. After I was incarcerated, I contacted the Gallatin County Public Defender's office, in an attempt to retrieve the exculpatory audio recording, and they told me that they had "lost" my file. Later, with a request for all discovery, Tony Geddes accidentally included the recording that he had possessed before my trial began. My defense team, the prosecution, and the Judge all had access to the recording before trial. To recap, Tony Geddes and Prosecutor George Gunn withheld exculpatory evidence from me and the jury, and Judge Deborah Bail knowingly allowed it. That's illegal!

My defense team failed to investigate any meaningful leads. They didn't contact or interview my friends or family, despite multiple attempt from my Sister, Aunt, and best friends, to reach out and offer assistance. They told me, dozens of times, that this was a circumstantial case, and it would be "a battle of the experts". They said that they couldn't "just call people to the stand to say you're a nice guy". I was naïve and believed them.

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They didn't even investigate the possibility of a disturbed scene until I showed them a picture of the soot pattern around Natalie's foot. Then, I had to fight to get them to have an arson expert, Dennis Jones, look at it. Even though it's clear that she couldn't have been under the mattress during the fire. This case was cut and dry, but my attorneys refused to put in the work. Their job is to lose and fill prisons, and they don't have the backbone to take a stand against the State that writes their checks. In Idaho, if you're accused, you're guilty.

If you form a theory of a case to early, you're subconsciously trying to prove yourself right, the entire time.

I was adamant about exercising my right to a speedy trial, but the U.S. Constitution means nothing in Idaho. The State wouldn't provide discovery, which meant my attorneys couldn't prepare. Judge Bail kept giving the State extensions. Tony Geddes told me that I was going to have to waive my right to a speedy trial, because the State could just dismiss and refile, without any new evidence. I asked him if that was unconstitutional, and he replied, "probably, but this is Idaho. They do what they want."

On September 20, 2011, Judge Bail gave the State an extension, allowing them until Oct. 21, 2011 to produce all testing and data reports. Then, she set the trial date for November 8, 2011. This put us a week within the speedy trial deadline, but only allotted my defense team 18 days to review the materials and prepare experts to examine and refute the State's experts.

On October 28, 2011, we had a pretrial conference, and I reluctantly waived my right to a speedy trial, after being warned about how hard the State could make my Life. Tony Geddes told Judge Bail, "There is no way I can be ready for trial on November 8. We have spoken to Hardin about this....He has a great deal of angst over this issue, very displeased with how late things are getting to us...we have essentially talked about his options. He is very unhappy about this, but I think he understands that his options are limited... We have all our experts on board, but we are probably looking at a February time frame..."

When she asked, "Mr. McNeil, do you want to waive your right to speedy trial?" I replied, "I don't think I have an option..."

My trial was set for February 15, 2012.

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