Murder, She IMed

A modern love triangle—three people, even more identities, one very real crime
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 23, 2007 2:38 PM CDT
Murder, She IMed
45 year old Thomas Montgomery sought love online through an 18 year old fictional persona.   (Shutterstock.com)

A married 45-year-old former marine carried on a tempestuous IM relationship with an 18-year-old girl. Thomas Montgomery pretended to be an young sniper in Iraq to win the heart of Jessi. When the deceit was exposed, she took up—online—with a younger friend of his. A jealous Montgomery shot and killed his rival. Neither man had ever met Jessi in person.

In this story of obsession detailed in Wired, Montgomery constructed two online identities, the battle-scarred young soldier and his father, who passed on messages from the marine to Jessi. As it turned out—in a fatal misunderstanding—he was not the only one IMing a fantasy.  (More Instant Messenger stories.)

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