A Greensburg woman is facing charges of aiding suicide and harassment after a man was found dead inside his apartment in 2021.
Mandie Reusch, 35, is accused of sending “heinous and graphic” social media messages to Kevin Metzger, who died June 18, 2021, according to Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli.
Ziccarelli said the charges follow a two-year investigation with the state police. Reusch was the estranged girlfriend of 37-year-old Metzger, according to Ziccarelli.
Investigators discovered a letter believed to be written by Metzger inside his apartment following his suicide as well as messages posted to his public Facebook page, detailing what Ziccarelli called a “trail of torment and solicitation.”
“Mr. Metzger may still be here today if those messages did not influence and encourage him to take his own life,” Ziccarelli said in a release.
She went on to say the messages from Reusch “were continuous and unrelenting for months, until it finally stopped when the victim took his own life.”
According to the criminal complaint, the “heinous” messages really started to increase in May 2021 while Metzger was away at military training.
The messages continued until his death in June, just days before Father’s Day.
Metzger and Reusch had a child together, identified in court documents as S.M.
The child was often the focal point of Reusch’s messages.
Police said one message read, “I hope for S. M.’s sake that you do kill yourself. She would be better off not even knowing you.”
Other messages police say Reusch sent to Metzger included, “Kill yourself. I mean it.”
Another read, “I actually want you to kill yourself because I think you are the worst person on this planet.”
Court documents also say Reusch told Metzger she was going to find their daughter a better father, and said their child would dance on his grave.
“This is the next level, most extreme amount of bullying I’ve seen, read about, heard about anywhere where someone is constantly telling someone to end their life,” said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani.
Metzger reported these messages to Irwin Police in May 2021. They charged Reusch with harassment. Those charges were dropped after Metzger took his life.
But that’s when state police and the district attorney started investigating asking if those texts lead Metzger to his death.
Part of that investigation looked at similar cases.
“There were other cases that were less persistent, less detailed, less physical evidence, and they had moved forward with some of these more serious charges,” Limani said.
Reusch’s attorney Phil DiLucente disagreed.
“This law was passed in 2021, an updated version, and I have found no precedent-seeking cases that have been published,” DiLucente said.
He said Reusch feels she isn’t getting a fair chance. He said this was all a “lovers’ quarrel.”
“There are some nasty things that are said,” DiLucente said. “Some folks may say it’s immoral, some might say it’s harsh, but my God, if we’re going to start prosecuting people for sending harsh texts to one another instead of it being verbally communicated, then we’re on a different path in our legal system.”
Reusch was arraigned Tuesday morning and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 27.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available. You can reach the national suicide prevention lifeline 24/7 by dialing 988 or by visiting their website at https://988lifeline.org/
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