The Tiktok Suitcase Murders- How An Angry Landlord's Plot Was Discovered

Michael Dudley shot his tenants, Austin Wenner, who was 27 years old, and Jessica Lewis, who was 35 and packed their bodies in a suitcase

By Rare StoriesPublished 3 years ago • 3 min read

In June 2020, Michael Dudley shot his tenants, Austin Wenner, who was 27 years old, and Jessica Lewis, who was 35. He cut up their bodies and threw away the pieces in big suitcases.

In the video, titled "something traumatic happened that changed my life check," a group of teenagers see the suitcase lying on rocks near the water and decide to go check it out. When they open it, they see that it is full of a black trash bag.

The teens said they found the suitcase because they were sent there by an app called Randonautica. This app gives users random coordinates to follow based on what they want to do.

User Ughhenry said that when they opened the bag, the smell was "overwhelming," so they called the police. He told the people watching that they got "a little scared and nervous" while doing the report.

Then later, police confirmed that they had found a number of bags with human remains near Alki Avenue Southwest in West Seattle.

The police found that the plastic bags held the remains of two people, a man and a woman. Later, their names were found to be Jessica and Austin. Before their bodies were cut up, it is said that Jessica was shot twice and Austin was shot once.

The video quickly went viral and was watched 30 million times on the social media site, which was criticized for not taking down the violent clip.

The video was finally taken down a few months later when the victims' families asked that it be taken down.

Investigation and Arrest

The case was first filed in a court in Seattle, where a neighbor gave their side of the story. On the day of the murder, they said they heard gunshots and a man pleading for his life.

Legal records show that the couple rented the upstairs bedroom of Michael Dudley. It was said that the landlord thought they were stealing from him and not paying rent. He got angry with them, which led to a fight between the three of them right before the couple was killed.

In August 2020, detectives got a warrant to look through Dudley's house and found bullet holes there. The team found a gun that Dudley had used all of the bullets in. The room where Lewis and Wenner stayed also had blood in it. The same day Dudley was arrested.

Even though there was neither an eyewitness to the crime nor forensic proof that directly linked Dudley to it, the state made a strong case.

On the basis of evidence suggesting the landlord's involvement in the suitcase murder case, prosecutors pursued the case. If Dudley was innocent, the attorney's presentation of over twenty pieces of evidence would have been a coincidence.

The state obtained cell phone data that revealed Jessica's number ceased sending texts on the night of the murder. The day before the bag containing mutilated human beings was discovered on Alki Beach, Dudley was also located nearby.