Source: Google News
A Washington state landlord accused of killing two tenants whose dismembered bodies were discovered in suitcases by TikTokers has been found guilty of their murders.
Michael Dudley, 64, was convicted Thursday of four counts of second-degree murder in the killings of Jessica Lewis, 35, and her boyfriend Austin Wenner, 27, in the summer of 2020, reported the station KING5.
Prosecutors said the victims had been renting a room in Dudley’s Burien home and got into an argument with him over unpaid rent.
On June 9, 2020, a neighbor reported hearing gunshots and a man’s voice pleading for his life. But when police responded, Dudley did not open the door.
According to prosecutors, Dudley shot both tenants, then butchered their bodies and stuffed the remains into suitcases, which he then threw into different bodies of water.
Washington state landlord Michael Dudley, 64, was found guilty Thursday of four counts of second-degree murder.” class=”wp-image-24959827″ srcset=”https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/washington-landlord-convicted-killing-tenants-suitcase-12.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1536 1536w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/washington-landlord-convicted-killing-tenants-suitcase-12.jpg?quality=75&strip=all 1024w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/washington-landlord-convicted-killing-tenants-suitcase-12.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=512 512w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”/>
Ten days later, three teenagers making TikTok videos on Alki Beach in West Seattle came upon the suitcases containing human body parts and filmed their grisly find.
The video quickly went viral and drew 30 million views on the social media platform, which came under fire for refusing to take down the gruesome recording.
The video was ultimately deleted several months later after family members of the victims demanded that it be removed.
Relatives of the slain couple who were in court Thursday welcomed the guilty verdicts, saying that justice has been served.
“The world is a safer place without Michael Dudley in it,” said Wenner’s mother, Charleen Kriens. “Everybody can rest easy tonight because of that.”
Dudley is scheduled to be sentenced on March 10. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.