A woman who has been accused of driving her ex-boyfriend to suicide is alleged to have tried to "cover her tracks" by sharing heartfelt memorial posts about him after his death.
Kevin Metzger, 37, died by suicide in June 2021 and his former partner, Mandie Reusch, 35, is accused of sending him a slew of "heinous and graphic" messages leading to his death.
The former Army veteran is said to have written a letter which he posted on Facebook before taking his own life, in which he detailed the onslaught of abusive messages he had received from Reusch.
"Mr. Metzger may still be here today if those messages did not influence and encourage him to take his own life," District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said in a statement.
Among the messages Reusch, who is facing charges of aiding suicide, is alleged to have sent, she reportedly threatened to keep the daughter she shared with Metzger from him, according to court documents obtained by Pennlive.com.
She had allegedly told him via messaging app WhatsApp that she and the child would be moving in with her new partner, before warning Metzger that he would never see his daughter again, and even allegedly sent him multiple texts encouraging him to take his own life, adding: "[The daughter] would be better off not even knowing you."
Reusch also messaged him her plans to have sex with her boyfriend on Mother's Day "while your daughter calls him daddy," the news outlet further detailed. On another occasion, Reusch sent a clip of herself having sex with another man after Metzger had sent her $200, with Reusch arguing that the amount wasn't enough.
The messages had been sent while Metzger was away completing military training while Reusch and their daughter remained at home.
She allegedly wrote: "From now on we are [new boyfriend’s surname] and you do not exist. [He] is her dad now. Not you. Don’t ever ask about her again. She isn’t your daughter. You’ll never hear about her again either. She will call [him] 'dad' because he’s a way better dad than you."
Reusch's new partner spoke to the Daily Mail anonymously, where he claimed that she "tried to cover her tracks" by posting gushing online tributes to Metzger after his death.
He told the outlet: "After he passed, she turned into a martyr and was posting all of these memorial pictures of him and saying how much she misses him and how good of a dad he was. I think just to kind of cover her tracks."
The man also claimed that he did not even know Reusch's daughter existed, and believed he was only in a "casual" relationship with her which was "never official".
He claimed he only learned of Metzger's existence when the veteran threatened him over text after Reush had sent him a video of her performing oral sex on her new boyfriend, adding: "She completely took advantage of me to make him jealous."
Reusch was investigated for two years before being arrested on Tuesday, and has been charged with aiding suicide - which is a felony - as well as harassment, which is a misdemeanor.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out for help and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
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