DA: Greensburg woman charged with aiding suicide after sending 'heinous' messages to ex-boyfriend
GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- A Greensburg woman is charged with aiding suicide after police said she sent "heinous and graphic" messages to her estranged boyfriend.
Investigators said they found a letter written by 35-year-old Mandie Reusch in her estranged boyfriend's apartment after he died by suicide on June 18, 2021. Messages posted to his Facebook page detail "a trail of torment and solicitation," the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office said.
According to state police, troopers who were part of this say some of the bullying and messaging was the worst they've ever seen in a case like this.
"This is the next level or most extreme amount of bullying I've seen, read about, heard about, where somebody is constantly telling someone to end their life," Trooper Steve Limani said.
According to the criminal complaint, the messages started in June of 2020 and lasted for more than a year. Reusch is accused of telling her ex-boyfriend to take his own life on several occasions.
The messages threaten the ex -- he would never see their daughter, he owed Reusch money and some messages contained explicit images, videos or themes.
"You're talking about the three of the biggest triggers you can have when making someone feel awful," Limani said.
Troopers were called out to the man's apartment after friends of his were concerned about his well-being. By the time they had gotten there, he had taken his life.
Reusch's attorney, Phil DiLucente, said suicide is terrible but said this situation is a lover's spat.
"Other not-so-nice things exchanged both ways, said to one another. It resulted in over two years later of being charged," DiLucente said in his client's defense.
Reusch was charged after a two-year investigation, and District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said the victim may still be alive "if those messages did not influence and encourage him to take his own life."
"We will not allow or tolerate this kind of egregious behavior. The level of bullying, harassment and threats rose to a criminal level in this particular case and we will prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law," Ziccarelli said in a press release.
DiLucente argues the state is using a new statute that has rarely been used. He said anytime a child is involved, emotions are high.
"We just have very emotional words conveyed to one another," DiLucente said.
The district attorney said the level of bullying and harassment rose to a criminal level. They looked at several similar cases before pursuing charges.
"They felt this was more severe than many of the cases they had reviewed where the person was found guilty," Limani said.
"My God, if we're going to start prosecuting people for sending harsh texts to one another versus it being verbally communicated, then we are on a different path on our legal system," DiLucente said.
Reusch was also charged with harassment. She was arraigned Tuesday morning and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 27.
If you or a loved one is ever threatening self-harm, there is help available. You can call the 988 or the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 800-273-8255. You can also text TALK to 741741.