Teen girl ‘made boyfriend gas himself so she’d win sympathy’
A “SICK” teenager urged her boyfriend to commit suicide in several texts so she could get sympathy, a court heard.
Prosecutors claim Michelle Carter used depressed Conrad Roy as “a pawn in her sick game of life and death” because she wanted to play the role of a grieving girlfriend.
As tormented Conrad, 18, sat in his truck preparing to gas himself Carter, aged 17 at the time, texted him: “You’re finally going to be happy in heaven.”
When he had second thoughts, she sent another message saying: “Just do it, babe. No more pushing it off. No more waiting.”
In a high-profile case which has gripped America and turned Carter into a hate figure, she is accused of involuntary manslaughter. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
A court has heard that the pair lived 35 miles apart and had met only a handful of times.
Yet in the run-up to Conrad’s death Carter sent him 40 texts urging him to die, the hearing in Taunton, Massachusetts, has been told.
In one text she said: “If you want it as bad as you say you do, it’s time to do it today.”
She told him his parents would get over his death but that they would “carry” him in their hearts, to which he replied: “Aww. Thank you.”
Other messages she sent him read: “You’re ready and prepared. All you have to do is turn the generator on and you will be free and happy.
“You just have to do it. Tonight is the night. It’s painless and quick.”
When Conrad jumped out of the vehicle she told him to get back in.
The young man was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in his Ford truck in the car park of a Kmart store in Fairhaven, 60 miles south of Boston, in July 2014.
After the tragedy Carter took part in a charity baseball game in his memory, raised money for mental health awareness and sent comforting texts to his mother Lynn. She also wrote on Twitter: “Such a beautiful soul gone too soon. You’ll forever be in my heart.”
But Assistant District Attorney Maryclare Flynn told the court: “She used Conrad as a pawn in her sick game of life and death. She put him in the car that night.”
Ms Flynn added: “She talked him out of his doubts, assured him that his family would understand and pushed him to stop procrastinating and get on with it, mocking his hesitation. Her behaviour was wanton and reckless and, because of her, Conrad is dead.”
Carter, now 20, claims Conrad wanted them both to die in a “Romeo and Juliet-style” suicide pact.
And a psychiatrist who examined the texts concluded Carter was “involuntarily intoxicated” by antidepressants she was prescribed.
Dr Peter Breggin said she was not responsible for her actions because the drugs had altered her brain and she did not realise the impact her texts would have.
Joseph Cataldo, defending, said Conrad had tried to take his life several times in the past.
He said: “This was a young man who planned this for months. It was a tragic suicide but not a homicide.”
Carter has waived her right to a jury trial and her fate will be decided by a judge. The case is potentially ground-breaking as Massachusetts has no law saying verbal encouragement of suicide is a crime.