She Paid the Price For Her Lover’s Double Life
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Love Triangles almost always come to light, and when they do, it’s usually deadly for one of the parties involved.
The Victim
Laura Wallen, 31, was a beautiful young woman. She was recently named teacher of the year at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Md, where she taught social studies.
In the weeks before school started, Laura had been busy decorating her classroom in preparation for the new school year. This is why everyone knew something was wrong when she didn’t show up for the first day of class.
On September 4, 2017, Laura’s family filed a missing person report. Her family, along with her long-time on-again, off-again boyfriend Tyler Tessier, went on TV with a tearful plea for Laura to come home.
Tyler Tessier spoke into the camera with tears in his eyes, “If somebody has her, please know that you’ve taken away a huge person in so many people’s lives.”
“Laura, if you’re listening, it doesn’t matter what’s happened.”
“There’s nothing we can’t fix together, myself and your family. We are just praying that you are safe.”
The public saw a distraught man worried over his girlfriend’s disappearance, but a very different scenario played out behind the scene.
True Crime Fans Probably Noticed Something
Does the distraught Tessier, soon-to-be father, remind you of someone? Maybe not so much in looks, but in the performance, he turns on for the cameras.
For me, one person came to mind, Scott Peterson.
Back in 2003, Scott Peterson had gone on TV crying about his beloved pregnant wife, Laci. “She knows how much she’s loved, how much she’s missed.”
In that case, the husband tried to make people believe that Laci had been kidnapped. He even sent messages to Laci in his interviews, much like Tessier. Scott said, “Be strong, and we’re working to get you home.”
Scott Peterson was eventually convicted of killing his wife, Laci Peterson, a year later.
It’s Always the Lover
Shortly after the Colombia Police department got the missing persons report, they started to suspect the lover. When the investigators spoke with Laura’s parents, they admitted their suspicions of Tessier also.
Later, police would give a news conference about their strategies while investigating the case: “The decision to allow him to participate in the news conference was a calculated decision made by the detectives in this case for the purpose of hearing what he had to say. It was done with the approval and knowledge of the victim’s parents.”
While the Lover/Spouse usually is the first suspect in any case. This time the Lover was basically shouting; he did it to police from what they quickly uncovered.
Laura Wallen and Tyler Tessier had been dating on and off for over ten years. Her family would later say no matter how badly the relationship ended and what Tessier did, somehow Laura would forgive him, and they would get back together.
The last time they had gotten back together seemed like it was going to be different. That summer, Laura announced to her family that she was pregnant.
Mark Wallen, Laura’s father, asked Tessier to meet him at a Starbucks to talk about his intentions with Laura.
Tessier quickly told Mark, “We’re going to get married. I love her.” Then Tessier pulled an engagement ring out of his pocket.
Mark wanted to know about the other woman, also a teacher, that Tessier had been dating. Tessier said that he and the other woman had not been in a relationship for over two years; this was a lie.
Later that night, Tessier would pull that engagement ring out again. But, instead of proposing to his pregnant girlfriend Laura, he asked the other woman to marry him.
His Double Life Comes Crashing Down
Nearly halfway to term, Laura started to worry about her and her baby’s future. She decided to take things into her own hands. She texted the other woman on August 28.
Laura asked if they could meet up, “It’s important that some things are cleared up and I would imagine that if you were in my position, you’d want some answers as well.”
“By no means is this an attempt at confrontation, just looking for an explanation, woman to woman.”
Investigators believed this was the point of no return with Tessier when he started plotting to kill Laura and end his problems.
Not only was Tessier dating another woman, but he had moved in with her back in 2012, and this was apparently the relationship he wanted to safeguard.
The first weekend in September, days after asking his other girlfriend to get married, they planned a trip to Pennsylvania to look at bridesmaids’ dresses. Except Tessier had other plans.
Right before they were to leave for the four-hour trip, Tessier claimed to have injured his knee walking their dog. That gave him the weekend free to take care of Laura.
On Saturday, September 2, Tessier took Laura out for a day trip into the country.
Laura would text her sister about the trip. “Tyler has me on an adventure in the country. Don’t know why I’m here, but it’s for something.” She also texted her sister a picture of a field they stopped and visited.
They had gone to Damascus, Washington County, Virginia.
The last physical proof that Laura was alive came from video surveillance in a Safeway grocery store. It showed Laura and Tessier shopping for groceries on Saturday.
On Sunday, no one heard from Laura, and Monday, she was a no-show for the first day of school.
Investigation
It’s always telling when a suspect changes their story multiple times, with each story getting more unrealistic than the previous one.
Here are a few of the outrageous theories Tessier tried to convince the cops of:
1 | Laura wasn’t pregnant by him. Instead, she had an illicit affair with one of her students. He said Laura feared losing her job if anyone found out who the real father was. So she came to Tessier and asked for his help to disappear.
While Laura was supposedly off-starting her new life, Tessier admitted using her iPhone to text her family and friends, pretending to be her. He sent a slue of messages all revolving around the theme that Tessier wasn’t her baby’s father.
On Wednesday, September 13, 2017, Laura’s body was found in a shallow grave in Damascus, Virginia. The same area she and Tessier had visited the last day she was known to be alive. She had been shot once in the back of the head.
Laura’s mother, Gwen Wallen, spoke after news that her daughter had been found. “As awful as today is, I feel at peace.” She also called Tessier a “diabolical human.”
2 | After her body had been discovered, Tessier now had a new story about what he claims happened. Tessier said that he and Laura were at her place when a gang of African American men broke in and forced them into a car. The abductors took them to a field in Damascus, where they shot Laura execution-style. He was able to survive by pleading for his life.
As most True Crime Fans know this is an overworked plotline by guilty killers.
In 1989, Charles Stuart told the world that a black man had shot him and his pregnant wife. His wife died, and he was non-fatally injured. After detectives started stringing together the insurance hoax Stuart had planned, Stuart knew it was over and jumped off a bridge to his death.
In 1994, Susan Smith had killed her children then told the police and TV cameras that a black carjacker had kidnapped her sons. “We just got to get them home.” All the while, she knew where their bodies were submerged. Susan Smith was eventually convicted of murdering her two sons.
3 | Tessier changed his tone when no one believed it was the black men angle. Tessier now said that he and Laura were at her place when they got into a shouting match. Tessier said that at one point, Laura grabbed a pair of scissors and tried to stab him. As he tried to fight her off, she slipped, hitting her head on a porch rail. He thought she was dead.
Tessier said that instead of calling the authorities and admitting to the accidental death, he decided to drive into the country and bury her body. Investigators reminded him that Laura had been shot, so Tessier added a bit more information. Saying he was afraid she wasn’t really dead and feared she would suffer if he buried her alive, so he shot her once in the head.
Evidence of a Cover-Up
It was clear to law enforcement that Tessier had used Laura’s phone after she was dead. He sent numerous messages to her friends and family, pretending to be Laura, saying that Tyler Tessier was not the baby’s father.
On September 7, residents of an apartment complex in Columbus found items belonging to Laura in a dumpster. Police were able to match the cell phone, purse, driver’s license, and front car plate to Laura Wallen.
They deduced that Tessier drove her car to the complex, removed the front plate, and backed the car into a spot, covering the rear plate. After, he tossed her belongings into the dumpster.
Tessier needed to act quickly since his fiance was soon to be home from Pennsylvania. He texted a friend saying he had a “mess” and needed help to “clean up.” Tessier also said he needed a ride to Baltimore, but his friend texted back they could not help.
Through GPS and records, police soon learned that, over the weekend, Laura was killed. Tessier made numerous trips back and forth to the scene of the crime.
Arrest
Tyler Tessier was arrested and charged with First Degree Murder in the death of Laura Wallen. Tessier would spend the following year in jail awaiting the trial.
DNA evidence would prove that Tessier was the father of Laura’s unborn child.
The Day of Justice
On Thursday, September 6, 2018, a year after her murder, the trial was planned to start. The court had set aside three weeks for every torrid detail of Tyler Tessier’s double life to be played out.
Tessier was up by 4:45 AM, where he got showered and dressed at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. He was served breakfast shortly after. Tessier would be found at 5:32 AM dead in his cell. He had used a bedsheet tied around his neck and bunk to kill himself.
Prosecutor John McCarthy told reporters: “It was to be a day of reckoning for Mr. Tessier.”
“We were robbed this morning of the opportunity to allow the public to know the true nature and details of this crime.”
The defense declined to comment about the defendant other than saying Tessier had stuck to his innocence.
“To Tyler Tessier, lying was like breathing,” McCarthy added to the press gathered at the Montgomery Circuit Courthouse. “He lied about everything.”
About Me, Lisa Marie Fuqua: I’m a Crime and Corruption Writer for the Publication True Crime Addiction. I’m a Crohn’s Disease Ninja, a Sphynx Cat Rescue Mom, and reluctant desert dweller in Las Vegas. Also, I’m a proud Trophy Wife, it’s true I have a bowling trophy to prove it.
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