86: The Suicide of Tyler Clementi & a Discovery in a Cooler

Published: Sept. 11, 2019, 6:01 a.m.

Tyler Clementi was a smart, talented young man with a promising future. But shortly before his freshman year at Rutgers University, Tyler\u2019s randomly assigned roommate, Dharun Ravi, discovered that Tyler was gay. Dharun he tweeted about it. He IM\u2019ed his friends about it. He seemed obsessed. When the semester began and Tyler invited a date back to the dorm, Dharun and his friend Molly Wei spied on Tyler and his date via a webcam. Once again, Dharun tweeted. He encouraged others to tune in. What Dharun did was unspeakably cruel. It didn\u2019t take Tyler long to find out. \xa0
\n
\nWhen Justin Rey showed up at his storage unit in Lenexa, Kansas, with his young daughters, it didn\u2019t take long for police to show up, too. Police worried about the girls. They were dirty. They didn\u2019t appear healthy. When police asked about the girls\u2019 mother, their concerns grew to full-on alarm. Justin pointed to a cooler. Inside was the dismembered body of his wife, Jessica Montiero. Justin had a hell of an explanation.\xa0
\n
\nAnd now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
\n
\nIn this episode, Kristin pulled from:
\n
\u201cThe story of a suicide,\u201d by Ian Parker for The New Yorker
\n\u201cWitness: Viewing Party Planned,\u201d by Gene Racz for The Courier-News
\n\u201cEx-classmates testify in trial,\u201d by Gene Racz for The Central New Jersey Home News
\n\u201cWebcam witness: First, pair tried to contain it,\u201d by Geoff Mulvihill for the Associated Press
\n\u201cStudent says he helped set up webcam,\u201d by Geoff Mulvihill for the Associated Press
\n\u201cMan testifies about his relationship with the late Rutgers student,\u201d by Jonathan Allen for Reuters
\n
\nIn this episode, Brandi pulled from:
\n
\u201cDad charged after police say investigation revealed more than human remains at Lenexa storage unit\u201d by Megan Dillard, Fox4KC
\n\u201c\u201cYou don\u2019t forget things like that:\u201d Witness describes bringing suspect and two young girls to Lenexa storage unit\u201d by Megan Dillard, Fox4KC
\n\u201cOutburst in court-Man whose wife\u2019s body was found in cooler yells about Johnson County injustice\u201d by John Pepitone, Fox4KC
\n\u201cCourt documents offer graphic details of inside of Lenexa U-haul where police found man, two children and wife\u2019s remains\u201d by Makenzie Koch, Fox4KC
\n\u201cMan charged in Lenexa storage unit case named a suspect in California murder\u201d by Makenzie Koch, Fox4KC
\n\u201cAttorney for man charged with dismembering wife files motion saying Justin Rey is unfit to withstand trial\u201d by Fox 4 Newsroom, Fox4KC
\n\u201cIn unusual fashion, man accused of dismembering wife\u2019s body in KC files handwritten motions to dismiss charges\u201d by Fox 4 Newsroom, Fox4KC
\n\u201cMan found in Lenexa with wife\u2019s dismembered body is competent for trial\u201d by Tony Rizzo, Kansas City Star
\n\u201cProsecutors allege child porn found on phone of man who once said he cut up wife\u2019s body\u201d by Associated Press, Fox4KC
\n\u201cTrial begins for man found in Lenexa storage unit with kids, wife\u2019s dismembered body\u201d by Shannon O\u2019Brien, Fox4KC
\n\u201cMan found in Lenexa U-Haul with kids, wife\u2019s dismembered body takes stand in trial\u201d by Alana Laflore, Fox4KC
\n\u201cMan discovered in Lenexa U-Haul with kids, wife\u2019s body found guilty of child endangerment\u201d by Makenzie Koch and Zac Summers, Fox4KC
\n\u201cJustin Rey sentenced to nearly 9 years in prison for child porn possession, child endangerment\u201d by Andrew Lynch, Fox4KC
\n\u201cMan skinned and dismembered wife so badly cops couldn\u2019t tell if she was male or female\u201d by Jimmy McCloskey, Metro