Michelle Carter: Teen Facing Prison For Pressuring Boyfriend Into Suicide Told Him, ‘You Just Have To Do It’

Michelle Carter allegedly pressured boyfriend Conrad Roy into killing himself, insisting that he go through with plans and repeatedly encouraging him to commit suicide even as Roy appears to be backing out of plans.

Carter is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the suicide of the Massachusetts teen last year. Prosecutors say she talked him into overcoming a fear of death and insisted that his parents would not be emotionally distressed by his passing.

Roy was found dead in his truck on July 13, 2014. Police said he died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

After his death, Michelle Carter led fundraising campaigns and wrote social media messages to help suicide prevention.

Now prosecutors are releasing a disturbing set of text messages between Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy, showing the teen repeatedly pressuring and even helping Conrad plan how to kill himself.

The court documents showed that Carter was an active participant in planning the suicide, often taking the lead when Roy appeared to want to back out.

The transcripts, published in South Coast Today explained.

“From at least July 6 to July 12, 2014, Carter assisted Conrad’s suicide by counseling him to overcome his doubts, devising a plan to run a combustion engine within his truck in order to poison him with carbon monoxide, and by directing him to go back in his truck after he exited it, when he became frightened that the plan was working.”

The documents also included messages from Michelle Carter telling her boyfriend that his parents would “accept it” if he killed himself.

“They know there is nothing they can do. They’ve tried helping. Everyone’s tried, but there is a point that comes where there isn’t anything anyone can do to save you, not even yourself.”

“And you’ve hit that point and I think your parents know you’ve hit that point. You said your mom saw a suicide thing on your computer and she didn’t say anything. I think she knows it’s on your mind and she’s prepared for it.”

“Everyone will be sad for a while but they will get over it and move on. They won’t be in depression. I won’t let that happen. They know how sad you are, and they know that you are doing this to be happy and I think they will understand and accept it.”

When Roy expressed fears about being incapacitated by a failed suicide attempt, Carter told him not to be discouraged and to keep his mind on the task.

“Right. That’s what I’m talking about. I read so much about failed attempts gone wrong that it’s gotten me discouraged,” he wrote.

“Yeah, exactly, so stop doing that. There is more success than there are failures,” Carter replied.

Other times she brought up the idea of suicide, unprompted from Roy. When he answered one of these exchanges by saying he was “gonna eventually,” but wanted to wait until “I have everything lined up,” Michelle Carter pushed him to do it immediately.

“No, you’re not, Conrad. Last night was it. You kept pushing it off and you say you’ll do it, but you never do. It’s always gonna be that way if you don’t take action. You’re just making it harder on yourself by pushing it off. You just have to do it. Do you want to do it now?”

When Roy finally decided on a day to kill himself, Michelle Carter repeatedly pressured him into doing it earlier, appearing to grow frustrated that he was procrastinating.

Michelle Carter’s lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, has filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the manslaughter charge against his client. Earlier this year he told 48 Hours’ Crimesider that the situation was “a sad story, a tragedy, but it’s not manslaughter. Cataldo told added that the situation was “a young man who made a voluntary decision to end his own life. It was his voluntary decision. His death was not caused by Michelle Carter.”

[Image via MyFoxBoston]