Dhruv Trivedi
‘The Girl from Plainville’ delves into the “texting-suicide” case, which involved the tragic death of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III. Through parallel narratives, the Hulu miniseries details Conrad’s relationship with Michelle Carter and the latter’s court trial after the former’s death. Through the time they spend together, and over thousands of text messages, the two teenagers find solace in each other, profess their love, and even discuss ways in which Conrad can kill himself.
Episode 6 presents an intriguing moment where Conrad texts Michelle, “I can’t do this,” seemingly breaking up with her. When she tries to call him, she doesn’t get a response. The real-life relationship between the two also likely had some hurdles, so we decided to see if Conrad and Michelle actually broke up at some point before his death.
Did Michelle and Conrad Break Up Before His Death?
Conrad Roy III was found in his truck, which was parked in a KMart parking lot in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on July 13, 2014. The teenager, 18 at the time, had passed away from carbon monoxide asphyxiation. Conrad’s phone — on which texts and call records with Michelle were subsequently discovered — was in the car with him. The subsequent trial against Michelle ended with her getting convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 15 months in prison and 5 years of probation in 2017.
During the trial, text messages and phone calls from the weeks leading up to the tragedy became a crucial part of the proceedings. Thousands of exchanges were read out and presented as evidence, with an increased focus on the messages sent on the day of Conrad’s death. You can read the messages of the final day here.
As depicted in the series, Michelle and Conrad likely had their share of arguments during their relationship. However, there is no evidence to support the speculation that they broke up. In fact, from the messages between them in the days before his death, it appears that the two were very much in love. Even while discussing the suicide, their conversation included terms of endearment like “Love you” multiple times.
Conrad’s mother, Lynn Roy, revealed in her court testimony during the trial that even after her son’s death, Michelle messaged her to say that she still loved Conrad. In particular, an excerpt from the text conversation between Michelle and Conrad shortly before the latter’s death shows us that the two were very much in a relationship in the final days. In it, Michelle says, “I would never leave you, you’re the love of my life, my boyfriend. You’re my heart, I’d never leave you,” before the two profess their love for each other.
Therefore, from the evidence available, it appears that Michelle and Conrad didn’t break up and were almost certainly together leading up to the latter’s death. It is worth keeping in mind that their connection evolved mainly through text messages, calls, and emails, and the two met in person less than five times in total. However, they were seemingly together in the time leading up to the tragedy, and call records showed that Michelle was speaking to Conrad moments before he died.
Read More: Are Sydney and Paige Roy Based on Conrad Roy’s Real Sisters?
