The Killers Who Bragged: Inside the Murder of Amy Robinson

The Life Amy Was Building

People like to believe the world is good. That most folks, deep down, are kind. But then a case comes along that wrecks that idea completely. Amy Robinson’s story is one of those cases.

Amy was nineteen, living in Arlington, Texas. Life hadn’t gone easy on her. She was raised mostly by her grandmother, and she lived with both a mental and learning disability. She also had Turner Syndrome, a genetic condition that made her smaller than average and delayed her development during puberty.

Even with all of that working against her, Amy had plans. She graduated high school and started figuring out how to be independent. First on her list was getting a job.

She found one at the local supermarket. The staff knew her situation and supported her. It gave her structure, some freedom, and a chance to meet people. The store was close enough that she could ride her bike to and from work by herself.

It was a good start. Amy was doing everything she could to move forward.

But on February 15, 1998, that momentum stopped. She left for work like normal, unaware that two familiar faces were waiting for her.

Robert Neville, 23, and Michael Wayne Hall, 18, used to work at the same store. That’s how they knew Amy. They were no longer employed there, but they still knew the area. And they knew Amy would feel safe around them.

That trust would cost her everything.

The Ride That Changed Everything

That afternoon, Robert and Michael pulled up beside Amy and offered her a ride to work. Amy didn’t hesitate. She knew them. They knew the store. Nothing about it felt threatening. According to a few former coworkers, there might have even been something romantic brewing between Amy and Robert.

She got in the car.

What Amy didn’t know was that she had just stepped into a car with two young men whose lives were spiraling in the worst possible direction.

Michael Hall had his own challenges. He’d dropped out of school in the ninth grade and was often described as slow by people who knew him. Some of that came from intellectual limitations, and some of it from a deeply unstable home life.

Michael tended to feel more at ease with people younger than him. He struggled around peers his own age and completely shut down around authority. He gravitated toward people who made him feel less lost.

That’s where Robert Neville came in.

Robert had been in jail before for burglary. He had more confidence, more presence, and for some reason, he decided to bring Michael into his orbit. He gave Michael gifts, advice, a couch to sleep on. And Michael, in return, started mirroring him.

He dressed like Robert. He talked like Robert. He quit his job at Robert’s request. Michael didn’t want to be friends. He wanted to be Robert.

A Dark Pact and a Deadly Betrayal

Michael didn’t just admire Robert. He tried to become him. He copied how he dressed, how he spoke, even how he moved through the world. So when Robert told him to quit his job so they could work at the same place, Michael didn’t hesitate. It wasn’t about employment. It was about proximity.

The more time they spent together, the more their conversations took a darker turn. They weren’t just disillusioned or bitter. They were hateful. Angry at the world, at society, at anyone they could other. And that anger mutated into something else entirely.

According to their own confessions, both of them wanted to become serial killers. They weren’t vague about it. They had a target in mind: racial minorities.

Robert later told investigators, “We had a bet going. To see who could shoot and kill the most people between the two of us. No matter if it was Blacks or Mexicans. Anybody as long as they weren’t our color.”

Amy Robinson was part Native American.

Earlier that same day, before offering her a ride, Robert and Michael had stopped by the grocery store to check if Amy was scheduled. They were looking for her.

When Amy got in their car, she thought she was catching a ride from people she trusted. She had no way of knowing she was stepping into a trap.

They drove her to a remote area outside Fort Worth and told her to get out of the car. That’s when they pulled out their weapons. Between the two of them, they had a pellet gun, a crossbow, and a .22 caliber rifle.

Robert later described it in his own words. “Michael Hall… he had a pellet gun and he started popping pellets into her chest and face and stuff like that. My first two shots ran out. One hit her in the chest and the other hit her in the head. Then he, Michael, picked up his rifle and fired another set of shots into her.”

Then Robert said something else. “We just busted out laughing.”

The Murder of Amy Robinson

Amy cried out for help. She begged them to stop. But Robert and Michael kept shooting. When her screams became too loud for their comfort, they ended it with a final shot to her head. The bullet fractured her skull and killed her.

They left her body behind and returned days later. They took her keys, grabbed the loose change from her pocket, and shot her again. Amy had already died, but that didn’t matter to them.

By then, Amy’s disappearance was already public. She hadn’t shown up for her shift at the store, and her family contacted the police right away. Investigators moved fast. They interviewed her current coworkers and were starting to reach out to people who had worked there in the past.

Robert spoke to detectives and played it cool. He said he knew Amy from the store. He called her a friend. Said he hadn’t seen her and didn’t know where she was.

That cover didn’t last long.

Not long after that conversation, Michael’s mother reported him missing. He hadn’t been home in days. Then his stepbrother stepped forward with something far more serious. Michael had confessed to kidnapping and killing Amy before disappearing.

Police acted immediately. Warrants were issued for both Robert and Michael.

They were found near Eagle Pass, close to the Mexican border. That’s where they were headed when they were caught.

Once in custody, they gave up Amy’s location. They also gave reporters a line that made headlines, they said they had used Amy for target practice.

There was no denial. No remorse. They admitted everything and talked openly about the murder. They even said they had plans to kill again. Amy, to them, had been the beginning.

Sentencing the Killers

Robert Neville, the older of the two, moved through the legal system quickly. His appeals ran out, and the state scheduled his execution. In 2006, he was put to death by lethal injection.

Michael Hall’s case was more complicated.

Under the Eighth Amendment, a person who meets the criteria for intellectual disability cannot be sentenced to death. The legal benchmark, based on IQ scores, is generally considered to be 70. Scores below that line typically qualify as intellectually disabled.

Michael’s results weren’t consistent. Some tests placed him around 67. Others landed him at 71. His cognitive functioning became a legal gray area.

But the prosecution focused on intent.

They argued that Michael had been aware enough to choose Amy specifically. He knew she had a mental disability. He knew she was physically smaller and less able to fight back. Most important, he knew she trusted him.

That decision, they said, was calculated. It showed that he understood the consequences. And that level of awareness disqualified him from protections under the law.

The jury agreed. Michael Hall was sentenced to death.

In 2011, thirteen years after Amy’s murder, he was brought to the execution chamber.

In his final statement, he said, “I would like to give my sincere apology to Amy’s family. We caused a lot of heartache, grief, pain, and suffering, and I am sorry. I know it won’t bring her back.”

Then, like the man he had once looked up to, Michael was executed by lethal injection.