FL Man Who Killed Ex-Wife Faces Death Penalty In Slayings Of Former In-Laws

Jury selection began Monday for the sentencing of a Florida man who pleaded guilty to killing his ex-wife, three of her family members and three family dogs in 2018, according to media reports.

Authorities said Shelby Nealy, who is reportedly also known as Shelby Svensen, spent months pretending Jamie Ivancic, his 21-year-old ex-wife, was alive, although she was later found buried in the backyard of their home in New Port Richey, reports say. Ivancic died of an unknown cause in January 2018, reports say.

Ivancic's family received text messages and photos of the couple's two children, which Neal was accused of sending from Ivancic's phone, WTVT reported.

When Ivancic's family requested to speak with her, Nealy was accused of then driving to Tarpon Springs and killing her parents, her brother and the family dogs in December 2018, WTVT reported.

He was accused of using a hammer to kill Ivancic's parents days before Christmas, and then, putting their bodies in the bedroom after wrapping them in rugs, the Associated Press reported. Her brother was killed while asleep on a couch.

Nealy was accused of then stealing Ivancic's mother's car and fleeing to Ohio with his young children, the reports say.

The bodies of Ivancic's parents were discovered on New Year's Day 2019, and Ivancic's body was found days later, WFTS reported.

Investigators eventually tracked Nealy after he used his phone to have a pizza delivered to the home of Ivancic's parents, and he was arrested on Jan. 3, 2019, the Associated Press reported.

Nealy acknowledged killing his former in-laws to investigators, and said he killed them after they did not speak with Ivancic for almost a year and became suspicious, the Associated Press reported, citing past court records.

Evidence against Nealy included video that captured him buying supplies used in the killings at a nearby hardware store and selling jewelry at pawn shops, the Associated Press reported, adding he was accused of using his fingerprint to complete those transactions.

In Ivancic's death, Nealy pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Pasco County, WTVT reported.

Then, in 2023, he pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated animal cruelty in Pinellas County, WTVT reported.

He faces life in prison or the death penalty, a sentence that will be decided by a jury, reports say.

Neal's attorney is fighting to uphold the mandate that a jury decision must be unanimous as it was prior to a law adjustment in 2023, WTVT reported. Currently, a jury can vote 8-4 for the death penalty.

Reports did not indicate a motive in Ivancic's death.

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