Champaign County murders to be subject of TV show

A high-profile Champaign County murder case from the late 1990s will be the subject of an episode of “Forensics: You Decide” at 10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 7.

The series airs on the cable network Investigation Discovery.

The episode, “Nature’s Evidence,” will profile the court case of Kevin Neal.

In the case, Neal calls the police to alert them that his stepchildren, 11-year-old India Smith and 4-year-old Cody (Smith) McGraw, are missing.

Their remains are later discovered near a local cemetery, and, already having a criminal background, Neal is charged.

The series, which challenges viewers to understand both sides of the evidence trail, follows the trial and follows the defense and prosecution as they make their cases.

The children were reported missing from Neal’s Knight Road home on July 9, 1997.

Neal eventually was convicted in May 2000 on two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of abuse of a corpse and one count of tampering with evidence.

Now 43, he was sentenced to life in prison, and is serving at the Lebanon Correctional Institution.

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