With the constant use of social media and texting, our world has become a scary place. Bullying has become an everyday occurrence, both in real life and cyberspace. It becomes very easy for people to feel comfortable saying things to others behind a screen that they know are totally out of line and would never say in person. With the rise in this behaviour, there has also been a rise in suicide from bullying. It seems like the last few years have brought about the sad news of a young person ending their life because of unending bullying. Despite the attempts to crack down on it, cyber bullying and coercion still keep happening. The most recent death is that of Conrad Roy III, who committed suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide gas in an enclosed vehicle after his girlfriend, Michelle Carter, sent over one thousand text messages encouraging him to do it. This case gained nationwide attention as a juvenile court had to decide if Carter was responsible for her boyfriend’s death. The facts that emerged during this trial are strange and creepy. I felt my skin crawl as I read the texts that were released during the trial. My heart breaks for every person affected by this callous act. We’re going to investigate some of the creepier facts from this case.

15. Long Time Texting Between Carter and Roy

As I read the facts about this case, I was astonished to find out that Michelle Carter had been intentionally texting messages to Conrad Roy about committing suicide for weeks before he went through with it. The two teenagers were involved in a romantic relationship that had developed online. Roy had a history of depression and had attempted suicide before. Several messages do show that Carter did suggest that he get help, later messages show that she continually pushed for him to “go through with it”. She knew that he was troubled and she egged him on, providing that insidious little voice in the back of his head.

14. No Laws Regarding Texting

One of the biggest issues that came up is the fact that her texts became part of the prosecution. Many people feel that this is coming close to infringing on free speech as there is no law that criminalizes this kind of behaviour. Legally, there is no law she broke with the texts themselves, but she was held responsible because she didn’t try to contact anyone when she knew he was in imminent danger. She also actively persuaded him to place himself in a risky situation. the texts were an integral part of the picture that she deliberately participated in this. People are worried that this case could establish a dangerous precedent in the use of our private text messages in court cases.

13. Carter Admits Her Involvement in Texts to Friends

One troubling aspect of the case that came out is that Michelle texted a friend after Roy’s death regarding her text messages to him. The disturbing message that she sent to her friend was ‘They have to go thru his phone and see if anyone encouraged him to do it on texts and stuff…They read my messages with him I’m done. My family will hate me and I could go to jail.’ This bizarre message is considered to be an admission of guilt in her part of the whole situation. Despite the fact that she tried to appear emotional and distraught during the trial, this text gives a totally different impression on how she actually felt about Roy’s death.

12. Carter Hid Roy’s Location

Although Michelle Carter knew exactly where he had parked his truck, she didn’t try to notify anyone that she knew Roy had finally gone through with his suicide. She was aware of everything that was going on and hid that fact. She even texted his sister and called his mother looking for him despite having been on the phone with him as he took his last breath. She knew where he was and what he had done, but continued her act during the hours before his body was found. This strange behaviour is part of what led to the conviction of involuntary manslaughter. It was felt that she knew what she was doing.

11. The Relationship Was Hidden

Carter and Roy’s relationship was estimated to have been going on for more than two years, but the two very seldom saw each other. Their entire relationship was almost exclusively virtual even though they lived close to each other. Most of their communication was done through texting and social media. Roy’s family and friends weren’t aware that the two were seriously dating. Conrad’s best friend, Tom Gammel, admitted that he wasn’t aware of the relationship. He actually questioned the defendant about her relationship to the deceased when she tried to take control of a fundraiser in his honour and was shocked to be told that Carter was Roy’s girlfriend. I find it interesting that both teens hid their relationship so well that most people were surprised to hear about it, yet she had enough influence on him that it led to his death.

10. Possible Mental Illness on Both Sides

One of the biggest factors in the case that came up was regarding Michelle Carter’s mental health. She was described as a bubbly, happy athlete that brightened everyone’s day, but several of her friends suspected that she might have some type of mental illness herself. The psychiatrist for the defense tried to paint a picture of a girl who was suffering from side effects of medications, but the prosecution was quick to point out how much his story had changed. Even the judge wasn’t interested in listening to the psychiatrist. No one is discounting that Michelle Carter may have been dealing with her own mental health issues, but the helpless victim that the psychiatrist tried to portray wasn’t believed.

9. Michelle Was an Attention Seeker

Much of the testimony from Michelle’s friends painted a portrait of an outgoing girl that required a great deal of attention. Many people stated that she had a history of being the type of person to “cry wolf” and it was hard to tell when she was telling the truth. One of the most disturbing incidents was described by Roy’s best friend. He had helped organize a fundraiser in Roy’s honor, but felt that Michelle was in it for the attention. When he asked her why she was so involved, he was surprised to be told that she was Roy’s girlfriend. She even accused him of “taking credit for her idea” to run the fundraiser. Everything she did appeared to be for attention.

8. She Made Inappropriate Requests To Mrs. Roy

After the tragic death occurred, the whole story just kept getting weirder. Despite the fact that Michelle and Conrad had been allegedly dating off and on for two years, Conrad’s family hadn’t really gotten to know Michelle at all. He had only seen her a couple of times in person. After his funeral, Michelle rose to all new levels of creepy and inappropriate behaviour by insisting on having some of his personal belongings and some of his ashes. She even told several friends that Conrad’s mother had asked her to come over and help go through his things, but Mrs. Roy testified in court that this hadn’t happened. Kim Bozzi, Conrad’s aunt, testified to the strange behavior.  Michelle wanted to give the impression that the relationship was more serious than it was.

7. Carter As A Suicide Prevention Advocate

In a truly bizarre twist, after days of guilting a young man into taking his own life, Michelle Carter attempted to build herself a reputation as a suicide prevention advocate. She used the fundraiser that she held “in honor” of Conrad Roy’s memory to make herself look like a much more giving and compassionate person than the one who would guilt and badger a person with mental health issues into a situation where he felt that suicide was necessary. Her tweets and texts after his funeral show a person that was desperate to look good to everyone around her. She wanted the attention.

6. Still Living Like a Free Woman

Both before and after the trial, Michelle was living at home with her parents. Despite having been found guilty, she was often found out and about, living like an average young woman. While awaiting trial, she was still going to school competitions, her prom and trips to Disney World with her friends. After she was found guilty and forbidden the use of social media, her mother has still been posting photos of her showing her enjoying her life. This is truly a strange way for someone who is “grieving” over the loss of a loved one to be behaving. It could also be considered offensive to the family of the deceased.

5. Trying to Cover Evidence

It’s bad enough that this girl spent days sending texts to someone she claimed to love that ranged from questioning his decision to commit suicide to getting mad at him for not going through with it. But one of the truly damning things that came out was the fact that she texted him that he needed to delete all the messages from her. This text indicates that she was very aware of what she was doing and that it was wrong. Despite the fact that the defense team tried to show that Michelle was not in control of her mental faculties, this message gives a totally different impression.

4. Post Mortem Texts

After the multitude of messages that Michelle sent to Conrad before he died, she continued sending him texts afterward. She sent him more than eighty messages after he committed suicide. They were messages professing her love for him and keeping him updated on everything she was doing. She even apologized to him in one. But the most disturbing one was sent the day after he died. The text read “Did you do something? Conrad, I love you so much, please tell me this is a joke!”. This was sent even after she had been on the phone with him the moment he died. This is definitely a sign of a sick and twisted mind..

3. The Suicide Note

One of the saddest things that came out during the trial was Conrad’s suicide note itself. After Michelle spent days hounding him about killing himself, he spent some of his last minutes on Earth writing a letter that thanked her for everything she had done for him. She deliberately manipulated someone who was in a vulnerable place and did it so thoroughly that he became convinced that she had done a lot for him and that he should be grateful to her. He even thanked her for showing him “how to be strong and carry on”. This twisted view on her role in his life is particularly sick when it’s seen in context with other messages.

2. References to Glee

Some of the statements that Michelle made became rather sinister during the trial as it became clear that she was taking them from a TV show. Many of her texts and messages were taken almost verbatim from episodes of “Glee” that dealt with the death of one of the actors. She took the words from the actress Lea Michele and used them to make herself look like the grieving girlfriend who didn’t know how she would go on after losing him. It was almost as if she took inspiration from it. Transcripts of her texts to several friends were compared to the script from the show and the similarities were astonishing.

1. She Told Him To “Get Back in the Truck”

These words kept coming up as I researched this article, and I truly think they are some of the most disturbing. During the last hours of his life, Conrad Roy III talked to his girlfriend as he took his own life. At one time during this, after he had started filling his truck cab full of carbon monoxide, he panicked and got out of the truck. At this time, Michelle could have done the right thing and told him to go get help or she could have called someone. Instead, Carter did the unthinkable. As a young man tried to reach out, this young woman said the words that sealed his fate. She told him to “get back in the truck”. At this point, she deliberately led him into a situation that was harmful to him.

This article was definitely a hard one to research. The more I read on the trial and the testimony, the more I just couldn’t believe it. Although this case will have some far reaching effects on the concept of texting being considered a means in involuntary manslaughter and how this affects free speech, the texts spoke volumes. The sheer number of texts telling this poor, vulnerable young man that he would be better off dead and that his family would get over it was staggering. No matter what her mental state was at the time, it became very obvious that Michelle Carter knew what she was doing, and that she knew her behaviour was wrong. Two families now have to deal with a tragedy that should never have happened.