Saturday, December 27, 2014

Wendy Neal: Arson Investigation Statement

Here is a statement from social media regarding a fire.  Note sensitivity as to "why" certain actions were taken.   This is found in the word "to"; 
but also note the pronouns.  Pronouns do not lie.  A married couple using the plural pronouns is indicative of a change in situation.   Note "our" house, though "my" cat.  Note "our" bedroom, but "my" girls and "my kids".... When a married couple has "our" bedroom, divorce may have been discussed.  Most married people say "the bedroom" instead of "our." 
Note use of divinity.  
Note the distancing language of "you" when it should be "I."

Note the emotions in the "perfect" part of the story:  a signal that they have been 
placed there artificially, as part of story telling rather than reporting of fact.  It takes humans
time to process emotions, which is why they are more likely to be 
found in the "after" part of the account, not in the midst of the action. 
Note the need to disparage the fire department as "volunteer"
Note the need to persuade, rather than truthfully report. 


29 comments:

John Mc Gowan said...

" Pronouns do not lie. A married couple using the plural pronouns is indicative of a change in situation. Note "our" house, though "my" cat. Note "our" bedroom, but "my" girls and "my kids".... When a married couple has "our" bedroom, divorce may have been discussed. Most married people say "the bedroom" instead of "our."

"He has been the only Dad the kids have had"

Was she having an affair and considering the new man in her life to be the kids next "dad" ? Is this why she slept upstairs "our bedroom" and he was downstairs.

GetThem said...

"I grabbed my glasses and headed downstairs to get my girls and my kids."

1. Why the need to state "I grabbed my glasses." Who cares? Maybe mention grabbing your cat, but glasses?
2. Are they her "girls" or her "kids?" Or is it a typo?
3. Why would she "grab" her glasses and "get" her kids as opposed to grabbing her kids. "Get" is more relaxed, while "grabbed" is more possessive. Did she already know the kids were not home?

"... you can not describe the pain of breathing."
1. Why can't she describe the pain of NOT BREATHING, but she can describe the sound of the fire popping, snapping and crackling.
2. She switches to "you" can not describe the pain, as opposed to "I can not describe."

"The roaring noise of the fire from the kitchen and the sounds of crackling popping and snapping along with the thick smoke were almost unbearable."

1. Is she writing a scene from a book with those adjectives?
2. It becomes "the kitchen." Every other room is: our bedroom, my kid's room, our basement and their home.
3. Why was the fire "almost" unbearable? Was there something about the fire that made it almost bearable?

"We have been married for 4 years and he has been the only dad that my girls have had."

1. "We have been married for 4 years..." should end with a comment about what a great guy he was, but instead, she switches to "he has been the only dad that my girls have ever had" in the same sentence. Was it a good marriage?
2. "He has been the only..." Immaculate conception? What about the birth father?
3. "... the only dad" -- I would like to know her definition of a dad.

"There is not a paid fire department only a volunteer, not to mention that there wasn't a fire hydrant within a half mile of our house."
1. Her intent, as you noted Peter, is to persuade that a volunteer fire department is not as valuable as a "paid" fire department.
2. Another attempt to persuade by referencing no nearby fire hydrant.


Tania Cadogan said...

My girls and my kids
Is there a difference?
Were there kids that weren't her girls?

Once i got there, i realized they were not home, THANK GOD
What age where the children?
Surely she should have known where they were.
Why did she realize they were not home when she couldn't see them Wasn't it possible they were hiding from the fire or had made their escape?
Invoking the deity is always a red flag to be noted.

How could she try to wake him up whilst on the way to her kids room (room singular)
Why did she not try to haul him out, dragging him etc rather than assume he will be able to follow and to go ahead.
Given he was affected by smoke inhalation he would have probably needed help to escape.
There is distancing language in relation to the pain of breathing.
She describes the sounds of the fire in detail yet makes no mention of breathing problems which is unexpected (i have been in a house fire as a child)
She told him there was a fire after finally rousing him (strong) whereas he said (which is weak/passive)

She then goes on to demean the fire dept. making no mention of her not having smoke alarms in the house.

He is her husband whilst alive and Matt when he was dead and still in the house.
He then become Hubby when they finally get him out of the collapsed building.
She then reverts back to husband in relation to losing him.
Changes in language indicate a change in reality.
Is the change warranted?
At the very start she refers to him hi as her husband Matt which is a complete social introduction.

Why does she need to tell us he is the only dad her girls have had?
Have there been other men in her life or currently?
Was he the bio dad of the children?

Why were they sleeping apart?

John Mc Gowan said...

Whats missing in all this is. When she was woken by the "cat". Why didn't she begin screaming at the top of her voice "fire". For me this is the expected, not doing this is unexpected.

Anonymous said...

OMG! Throughout here entire statement she only talks about what SHE is going through!!!! What SHE has lost, and on and on and on and on.... NOT one mention of the pain her hubby must have endured OR his unfortunate and untimely death.....

not even what happened to the cat!

Talk about self centered. One wonders WHY she only speaks of HERSELF!

Anonymous said...

The link in the screen capture is Legacy.com. The forum created by Legacy dot com, for survivors to share their stories.

http://connect.legacy.com/forum/topics/the-sudden-loss-of-someone?commentId=1984035%3AComment%3A346952

Buckley said...

Mendy Powell Neal indicted for arson, husband's murder

Josh Arntz

A grand jury recently indicted Mendy Powell Neal for the death of her husband in a 2012 Charlotte house fire.

Neal, 34, of Dickson, was arrested Tuesday and booked into Dickson County Jail for aggravated arson, first-degree murder and felony murder.
She appeared Wednesday in Dickson County Circuit Court for a motion to reduce her bond, which was granted.
Neal was released Wednesday in lieu of $250,000 bond.
The grand jury heard evidence against Neal in mid-October, but delayed action till their December term.
District Attorney General Ray Crouch told The Herald in August the fire that killed Matt Neal in July 2012 was being investigated as arson and homicide. The investigation centered on Neal's spouse, Mendy Powell Neal.
Mendy Neal's attorney, Olin Baker told The Herald in August the fire was accidental and no foul play was involved.
A grand jury indicted Mendy Neal and a former health care employee, January Paige Shelton in August last year with several counts of prescription drug fraud, following a Dickson police investigation.
The trials for Mendy Neal and Shelton were scheduled to begin two months ago in Dickson County Circuit Court, but Crouch asked for a continuance in their cases pending the outcome of the arson and homicide investigation.
Initial fire report
According to an initial release by the Dickson County Sheriff's Office, Mendy Neal reportedly was asleep upstairs in her family's two-story Charlotte home at 1015 Loggins Road when she awoke to smoke early morning Wednesday, July 11, 2012.
She descended to the first floor and saw the back side of the house on fire, DCSO reported, and tried to wake her husband, who was sleeping in the living room. Then she ran out the front door and dialed 911 at 2:18 a.m.
The sheriff's office announced July 12, 2012 no foul play was involved in Neal's death.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/dickson/2014/12/10/mendy-powell-neal-indicted-arson-husbands-murder/20209419/

Randie said...

Why the "need" to tell us her cat woke her up at 2am?

Too nonchalant about waking her husband.

How convenient the kids weren't there.

This is a telling sentence. "I finally got him to respond he said he was coming for me to go on."

She wants us to believe that he said, I am coming you get out I'll be right behind you.

That isn't what she says:
1. [he was coming for me]
2. [for me to go on]

Anonymous said...

Her kids were 8 and 12 at the time I believe. The kids were not his kids. But he took on the daddy roll.

I'd like to know why there was no mention of a smoke dector. Usually those in a fire, that's a sound that they can't forget. It's a sound they hear when waking. One that's hard to forget.

And she knew her kids were at a sleepover. She's also the focus of a pill fraud investigation and had picked up a script for pills the morning of the fire.

Anonymous said...

http://www.wsmv.com/story/18997490/man-likely-dead-after-dickson-county-fire

She supposedly went and awoke a neighbor. When the neighbor got to the house they cold hear moaning but couldn't get to him. I wonder if she drugged him. Which lead to him not being able to escape. That has always bothered me. He was a very Christian fellow. Wouldn't go to bars. Church every weekend. She did a lot of partying and going out afterwards.

Anonymous said...

Matt her husband, who is her person who died, the topic sudden loss. What she wrote of him.

My husband Matt died July 11, 2012 when our house caught fire.

Matt died *when our house *caught fire. He was dead before the fire? he was immobilized prior to the fire? Was there a domestic dispute on going? Was there an Ex wife? the children with the Ex, or the in-laws. She leaves the reader questioning why she didn't know where the children were.

I saw my husband asleep in his chair and tried to wake him up while heading to my kids room.

I shook and yelled at him several times before he opened his eyes then i told him we had to get out of the house that it was on fire.

I shook and yelled *at him,*several times before he opened his eyes. She had to tell him the house was on fire? he was asleep in his chair, while heading for my kids room.

I finally got him to respond and he said he was coming for me to go on. I went outside but he never came out!

He said: he was coming for me, to go on. This man clearly disoriented, how was he coming for her? as she shares he was not alert nor mobile. She to offer a full detailed event of what happened. She did not attempt to save him. He was coming for me. He coming for her? and same he told her to go on, to go on where? He went to look for the kids? she faked him out and called him into the kitchen?

The roaring noise of the fire from the kitchen and the sounds of crackling popping and snapping along witht he thick smoke were almost unbearable. I finally got him to respond and he said he was coming for me,

She aware it was her, he inside the house. The kids who were not inside the house, which she discovered, Thank God, moments before. She does not share Matt knew or did not know: whereabouts of the kids

I went outside *but he never came out. There is not a paid fire department only a volunteer. not to mention that there wasn't a fire hydrant within a half mile of our house.

She aware there was no Fire Emergency services for her area, she states an unknown amount of time for anyone to respond. Knowing this, why would she not attempt to drag, kick, scream to gain Matt outside, unless he was already dead. Or he thought the children remained in the house, he attempting to locate them: missing information.

i have lost my husband, best friend, confidant and home.. She is alive. Matt lost his life. Matt died when our house caught fire. Was he drugged? or incapacitated, the fire set afterward?

Her clear knowledge there was no city/county Fire ER services in her area. Persons who live in remote areas do have volunteers. Not all fire and rescue depend on fire hydrants, they have water trucks. If they are not told, they will not arrive. She negates to share when or how the volunteers fireman were notified.

Anonymous said...

I find the comments about the volunteer fire department, and no fire hydrant near as excusing language. It's an excuse as to why the house could have burned so fast, or such destruction. To keep her from looking guilty because she waited to go for help.

John Mc Gowan said...

The 911 call could be interesting listening. I've searched to no avail.

Anonymous said...

Some of you are deliberately misconstruing her words. She said, "he said he was coming for me to go on. This is what she said, but without punctuation. You could say, "he said he was coming, for me to go on." This would be the way I would read her words without punctuation.

You are saying, "he said he was coming for me, to go on." Why are you putting a coma where she did not put one, making it appear that he was coming FOR her? One of you even said "she said he was coming for me, for me to go on." Then you also added the comma between the two 'for's which she did not do.

This is crappie, to twist someones words like this.

Randie said...

Anonymous at 2:05 said...

"Some of you are deliberately misconstruing her words. She said, "he said he was coming for me to go on. This is what she said, but without punctuation. You could say, "he said he was coming, for me to go on." This would be the way I would read her words without punctuation."

Exactly. This is the "way" she wants the readers to understand. It is called statement analysis.

Her sentence is loopy. She, herself, added no commas.

Let her own words tell us what she knows.

"I finally got him to respond he said he was coming for me to go on."

Buckley said...

"The roaring noise of the fire from the kitchen and the sounds of crackling popping and snapping along with the thick smoke were almost unbearable."

1. Is she writing a scene from a book with those adjectives?


Or a breakfast cereal commercial?

Tania Cadogan said...

She makes no mention of telling him the kids were out therefore safe.
She doesn't scream fire or apparantly make any loud noise until she went back to her husband the 2nd time.

Why did she not help him out the house which is the expected, especially if he was groggy from the smoke and possibly something else?

There seems to be no urgency in getting her husband out or in discovering the fire and going to find the kids.
She headed rather than ran, she isn't screaming fire or anything to alert anyone in the house either.

I wonder if they tested for drugs in the husband body especially given she was apparently involved in pill script fraud.

Did the children often have sleep overs and if so, where were they that night?

Were smoke detectors in the house and,if so were they working or not or had they been disabled?

What i see is passivity not urgency/

I agree Buckley, it does sound like a certain something from a breakfast cereal.

John, i too would like to hear/see the transcript of the 911 call

Unknown said...

I understand she's being tried for the arson but I believe she's asking for advice. For herself. Why is everybody getting bent out of shape over her describing shit that she was going thru? Come on people.
Do sa but don't get crazy. Look at the sense of why she would be writing this for advice! Alibi building.

Randie said...

We read/analyze what she tells us she went thru.

It is called "statement analysis"....


Randie said...

A grand jury indicted her, a former Dickson Medical Associates employee, for allegedly forging over 50 prescriptions.

50!!!!!!

Randie said...

Her buddy is for 50....my bad. She got 9...

GetThem said...

Who is getting bent out of shape? You may be the only one. The rest of us are trying use Statement Analysis. That is what this blog is about Theresa. Maybe you aren't clear on the definition of SA and before you respond, I recommend looking up the definition first.

BostonLady said...

Tragic story but interesting for Statement Analysis. The change in description of her husband is glaring. "My husband" "Matt" And then "my hubby"

Anonymous said...

Jeesh! Really now! A grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. Her online comments and lack of proper grammar does not mean she's guilty of murder.

Matt may have been overcome by smoke in his sleep, only to be roused a few seconds without the stamia and state of mind to move out of the danger zone.

Russell said...

I have been following this story since the day it happened. I actually worked with Matt, and Mendy Powell Neal.
After this happened, most who knew both of these two were extremely suspicious that there was foul play. Matt had recently caught Mendy having an affair in the previous months(I believe with a Dickson Police officer ironically). I think it should also be mentioned that this is the second house of Mendy's that has caught fire. She had a previous house in Alabama that mysteriously caught fire right before she moved to Tennessee. She was known around the office for being very flirty with the Senior Management and her husband had recently been laid off from the company.

Anonymous said...

She has always been really flirty and from what I've seen, her kids weren't her first priority at times. I hated seeing after his death how she was always partying.

Anonymous said...

I worked with Matt Neal at the time. Prior to his marrying Mendy, he moved her from AL, because, guess what, her apt/house there had caught fire. I was getting ready for work when the news of the fire came on. At the time, not knowing it was Matt who had died in the fire, my immediate reaction to the wife surviving and the children not being there was 'some wife just killed her husband'. Quite a few of us alerted the police when we found out it was Matt, that we believed it was foul play for many reasons. A friend just called me and told me she's was indited....now, let's pray a conviction. Matt was a good man, he didn't deserve to die in such a horrible manner.

Anonymous said...

What's the latest on this tragedy? Has it gone to trial or still awaiting?

Anonymous said...

Mendy was indicted in Dec of 2014. HOW ??? How can this NOT gone to trial? Meanwhile she is out having a wonderful life.

I blame the Dickson County Law Enforcement...after all she did have an alleged affair with a Police officer.Do they NOT want that to get out in order of hurting someones feelings? I would question the judge as well. What are they hiding? WHEN will she go to trial? ..Not even any mentions and updates....Something smells fishy here.

I have witnessed her flirting and witnessed her new boyfriend and her out about enjoying drinks...Where are her children?

Shame on lack of Law Enforcement in this podunk county and town !!!