Bio

Michael James McNeely was born on March 31, 1956. Before the murder of Suzanne Marie Hill, McNeely was living in Oregon and was later identified mainly through the criminal case filed against him in Multnomah County. Court records show that, during the penalty phase of his trial, prosecutors referred to parts of his past conduct, including theft-related behavior, prostitution-related conduct, and violence in prior relationships. 

Murder Story

Suzanne Marie Hill was 24 years old when she disappeared in Portland, Oregon, in March 1993. She worked as a dancer at the Rimrock Cafe in Northeast Portland. After finishing a late shift, she was reportedly seen leaving with Michael James McNeely.

Hill was killed on March 15, 1993. Her body was not found right away. Investigators later believed that McNeely placed her body in a dumpster after killing her. More than a month later, the dumpster was set on fire. Instead of hiding the crime, the fire led authorities to discover Hill’s body in May 1993. An autopsy found that she had died from strangulation.

McNeely was arrested about two months after the murder. He was charged in Multnomah County, Oregon, and later convicted in 1994. The case included several serious charges connected to Hill’s death, including aggravated murder, rape, kidnapping, sodomy, abuse of a corpse, and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

At trial, prosecutors used witness testimony to connect McNeely to the crime. One important witness was another jail inmate, who said McNeely had talked about choking and killing Hill. McNeely’s defense tried to keep that testimony out of court, but the judge allowed it. The Oregon Supreme Court later agreed that the testimony had been properly admitted.

On January 10, 1995, McNeely was sentenced to death. He appealed his conviction and sentence, but on August 3, 2000, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld both. Years later, his death sentence was changed. In 2009, Oregon authorities removed him from death row and resentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Michael James McNeely remains classified as imprisoned. He was not executed, and his current sentence is life without parole.