Neighbor Indicted In MySpace Suicide Case:
In case you haven’t heard by now Lori Drew has been federally indicted in the suicide death of Megan Meier. For those of you that have been living under the proverbial rock for the past year Drew created a fake MySpace of a teenage boy in order to humiliate the 16-year-old Meier. Drew had someone create the fake profile of a ‘Josh Evans’ in which the non-existent Evans took a liking to Megan. When Evans revealed himself to be a fake and told Megan that the world would be better off without her Megan Meier committed suicide. It was later revealed that the whole plot was masterminded by the 49-year-old Lori Drew whose daughter Megan Meier was allegedly feuding with.
Originally Missouri prosecutors had said that no charges could be filed against Drew. However federal prosecutors in California, where MySpace is headquartered, handed down an indictment against Drew on charges of fraud and conspiracy.
When Drew is arraigned in June she will be transported from Missouri to L.A.
Drew is looking at 20 years behind bars.
Thanks to Angie, Bay, and Gage for the tips.
L.A. grand jury issues subpoenas in Web suicide case:
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has issued subpoenas in the suicide death of Megan Meier from Missouri. For those of you living under a rock, Megan Meier, at the age of 13-committed suicide when a boy she met on MySpace rejected her and demeaned her. Except the MySpace boy wasn’t a boy at all but adult neighbor Lori Drew. Drew wanted to see if Megan was talking about Drew’s daughter behind her back.
Authorities in Missouri could not find anything to charge Lori Drew with, but the U.S. prosecutors in L.A. have taken a different approach. They’re thinking of charging Lori Drew with fraud for creating the fake MySpace. And why is this happening in L.A. you ask.
The prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction because MySpace — the would-be victim — is based in Beverly Hills, the sources said.
The subpoenas were issued to MySpace and what the article says are “witnesses in the case.”
Here’s hoping that there can be some modicum of justice for Megan Meier.
I’m usually not one to say I told you so….ah who the hell am I kidding? Thanks to Mondoreb, from DBKP we now know that ‘Megan Had It Coming’ was a hoax like I’ve been telling you all along. So if you’ll allow me…
*AHEM*
I told you so.
But someone was even more right than me, and that would be Pat from Belchspeak. Early on he told me that it was probably someone from Encyclopedia Dramatica, and it turns out he was dead on. For those of you who don’t know, ED is a bizarro world version of Wikipedia that keeps track of all the drama on the internet. ED’s admission to it can be found here, where they also refer to yours truly as an internet genius. Yes, I know they’re being sarcastic.
However, as crass and tasteless as this stunt was on ED’s part (as in I hope the hoaxter gets a kick in the balls by karma) the hoaxter has a point. Some assclown posts a blog claiming to be Lori Drew and a lot of you fell for it hook line and sinker, further perpetuating the sad realization that even today some people will believe anything they see on the internet.
Remember Trench’s Internet Law #1 kids. Be skeptical and don’t trust anyone.
MySpace Mom Linked to Missouri Teen’s Suicide Being Cyber-Bullied Herself:
Lori Drew is denying any connection to ‘MHIC’ through her attorney…
Drew’s attorney, Jim Briscoe, denied that Drew had any involvement with the “Megan Had It Coming” blog.
“I can categorically say that she did not write it,” Briscoe told FOXNews.com. “She has not said anything on the Internet, on any blogs, on any Internet sites.”
Briscoe said that Drew, a neighbor of the Meiers, has purposely remained silent in the media and online during the investigation and since.
“That’s part of why she’s remained silent, so there’s no confusion about that,” Briscoe said. “Anything that’s on the Web is not true. She hasn’t done anything. She doesn’t know anybody who’s done it — anybody who’s doing it or has done it.”
I would think that if Lori Drew is smart enough to obtain the services of an attorney, that she wouldn’t be that stupid to make this blog. Especially since the Meiers will more than likely pursue civil action.
However, prosecutor Jack Banas is investigating MHIC to see if any harassment laws were broken.
If I were the person behind MHIC I’d be worried about a knock on my door from investigators.
MySpace Bully Talks Back (Maybe):
If you’ve been following the Megan Meier story like I have, then you’re familiar with the ‘Megan Had It Coming’ blog. I’m not going to link to it because whoever is running it doesn’t deserve the attention. Anyway, it’s allegedly being posted by someone close to the situation who believes that Megan Meier deserved what she got.
Some media outlets think it may actually be Lori Drew posting that blog. As a matter of fact, I had a journalist ask me my opinion on its authenticity yesterday. I think it’s a hoax, and I’ll tell you why.
The posts at ‘MHIC’ are awfully similar to the comments left by someone calling themselves ANONYMOUS that posted on one of my Megan Meier entries. The e-mail address they used to leave a comment traced back to the MySpace of a 16-year-old black girl from Michigan. It is possible that ANONYMOUS was using a fake address that just happened to coincide with that MySpace, but the MySpace in question has since been deleted ever since I made that fact public.
The second reason I think it’s a fake is because ANONYMOUS’ IP address traced back to Louisville, KY. That’s roughly 260 miles from where the Drews lived. Now since the Drews have allegedly disappeared, that might be where they’ve moved to, but I can’t be certain of that without knowing the date that they moved. Another reason I think it’s a fake is that I would like to believe that even Lori Drew, in light of what’s happened, wouldn’t be that stupid or callous to make a blog called ‘Megan Had It Coming’.
However…
Woman Accused Of Setting Up False MySpace Page That Led To Girl’s Suicide Breaks Her Silence:
…it seems that Lori Drew is speaking through her attorney.
But now Drew denies she was even home when the malicious messages were being sent. “She didn’t find out about it until after Megan had taken her own life,” her lawyer Jim Briscoe told a U.S. network.
A police report contends that Drew asked an 18-year-old employee to create the false I.D., but there’s now some confusion about how it actually came into being and who sent the messages. She “did not create the MySpace account,” Briscoe maintains. “She did not instruct anybody to create the MySpace account. She never made any communications through the MySpace account.”
Her lawyer claims Drew is losing business because people are blaming her for the girl’s death and are afraid to be associated with her. Her own neighbours will no longer even talk to her. And if the motive really was to see what was being said about her own child online, that’s backfired, too. “Her daughter has had to drop out of school because of the harassment,” Briscoe reveals.
He claims even if she did have some knowledge about the existence of the site, she wasn’t aware of the kinds of notes being posted to the girl or she would have stopped it. “She wished she did. If she could turn back the clock, that’s the part she would do differently,” he insists.
Cry me a river. The Meiers aren’t buying it, and neither am I. The Meiers are planning civil action against the Drews. I guess the Drews will have to come out of their hole eventually.
MySpace Suicide Teen’s Harassers Vanish:
According to this blog post from AOL News Bloggers, it seems the Megan Meier’s tormentors, the Drews, have disappeared off the face of the earth.
If, after reading about the story, you’re filled with a similar urge to vandalize the Drews’ house, you’re not alone. Some media outlets posted their names, and they’ve been the subject of escalating violence, detailed here. Now it seems they’ve disappeared from the neighborhood, leaving — wisely — no forwarding address.
I wonder if they left before or after yesterday’s press conference about no criminal charges being filed.