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I read about this case before it went to trial and it's one of those things where the more you know, the heavier it gets.
Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy were, essentially, in a virtual relationship. They'd met a couple of times over the course of two years, but according to the official reports, the pair spent much time talking on the telephone and had exchanged thousands of text messages.
But it's the only last several dozen of them that are pertinent.
Conrad Roy was a depressed young man. Their talks often turned to his contemplating suicide. Last summer, Michelle Carter made a project of prodding him onwards.
Here's a sample -
Not only did he "do it", but records show that she talked him back into the truck when he jumped out once he started feeling the effects of the carbon monoxide.
He died in his truck on July 13th of last year. Now Michelle Carter is on trial for involuntary manslaughter - which, in my opinion, sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Court documents show that Carter had no idea idea that the police would look at his phone records, since it was a suicide. She sent panicked, incriminating texts to a friend when she realized what sort of trouble she was facing.
Her defense attorney is trying to get the charges dismissed.
It's such a mild charge for the coldness of the crime, but I imagine that was all they could charge her with.
Regardless of the outcome of the trial, though, I'm stuck in a facet of this case. I can't get past imagining what her family must be thinking and feeling. How do you view such a creature that you've spawned? They can't even have the refuge of sanity-saving speculation that it can't possibly be as bad as it sounds, because technology has taken away that island paradise and afforded them an exact transcript of her utterly evil machinations.
I'm pretty good at constructing a "what if" cage-n-stage for myself to hazard a guess at how I might react to all kinds of things. But this one defeats me. I can't even imagine it.
Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy were, essentially, in a virtual relationship. They'd met a couple of times over the course of two years, but according to the official reports, the pair spent much time talking on the telephone and had exchanged thousands of text messages.
But it's the only last several dozen of them that are pertinent.
Conrad Roy was a depressed young man. Their talks often turned to his contemplating suicide. Last summer, Michelle Carter made a project of prodding him onwards.
Here's a sample -
"You have to just do it," she texted him, according to the documents. "You have everything you need. There is no way you can fail. Tonight is the night. It's now or never."When Roy expressed hesitancy at going through with his plan, Carter sent him text messages expressing her frustration.
"You always say you're gonna do it, but you never do," she texted. "I just want to make sure tonight is the real thing."
The teen went so far as to help Roy research the best method of siphoning carbon monoxide into his truck. Carter told Roy he was making up excuses not to go through with the suicide when discussing the siphoning plan. “But I bet you’re gonna be like ‘oh, it didn’t work because I didn’t tape the tube right or something like that,’" she texted. "I bet you’re gonna say an excuse like that...you seem to always have an excuse.”
And if carbon monoxide poisoning didn't work? "Try the bag or hanging," she told him.
CONRAD: I just don't know how to leave them, you know.
CARTER: Say you're gonna go to the store or something
CONRAD: Like, I want them to know that I love them.
CARTER: They know. That's one thing they definitely know. You're over thinking.
CONRAD: I know I'm over thinking. I've been over thinking for a while now.
CARTER: I know. You just have to do it like you said. Are you gonna do it now?
Not only did he "do it", but records show that she talked him back into the truck when he jumped out once he started feeling the effects of the carbon monoxide.
He died in his truck on July 13th of last year. Now Michelle Carter is on trial for involuntary manslaughter - which, in my opinion, sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Court documents show that Carter had no idea idea that the police would look at his phone records, since it was a suicide. She sent panicked, incriminating texts to a friend when she realized what sort of trouble she was facing.
Carter sent a frantic text to her friend after she spoke to Roy's mother, who said cops would be looking at the boy's cellphone.
"It's something [cops] have to do with suicides and homicides and [Roy's mother] said they have to go through his phone and see if anyone encouraged him to do it on text and stuff," she told her friend. "[If] they read my messages with him I'm done. His family will hate me and I can go to jail."
Her defense attorney is trying to get the charges dismissed.
It's such a mild charge for the coldness of the crime, but I imagine that was all they could charge her with.
Regardless of the outcome of the trial, though, I'm stuck in a facet of this case. I can't get past imagining what her family must be thinking and feeling. How do you view such a creature that you've spawned? They can't even have the refuge of sanity-saving speculation that it can't possibly be as bad as it sounds, because technology has taken away that island paradise and afforded them an exact transcript of her utterly evil machinations.
I'm pretty good at constructing a "what if" cage-n-stage for myself to hazard a guess at how I might react to all kinds of things. But this one defeats me. I can't even imagine it.
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