Photo courtesy of Barbara Schroeder.
Mary Shieler, for all of her transgressions, told journalist Barbara Schroeder—the director of the documentary “talhotblond”—that she is getting on with her life. And she has dramatic weight loss, a new hairdo, and perfectly manicured fingernails to prove it.
You would think that Mary just had a fender bender, the way she talks about it—a minor scrape where she could just get up, dust herself off, and ride off into oblivion.
Her daughter, Jessica, would probably disagree with Mary’s nonchalance. And the family of Brian Barrett, the young man who was murdered thanks to Mary’s machinations, would also probably be none too impressed by the woman’s resiliency.
Clinical psychologist Rex Beaber says that you can boil Mary’s attitude down to one word: sociopath. “This woman, as far as I know, has never demonstrated a scintilla of appreciation that she was engaging in conduct that was highly destructive to the people around her—including members of her own family,” he said. “It was all done to meet her purposes and needs. She is a totally self-centered, manipulative person who doesn’t seem to get it—even after a human being has died as a distant consequence of her activity.”
And what was the activity that caused so much damage? From the privacy of her own computer, she lured two men—middle-aged Thomas Montgomery and twentysomething Brian Barrett, who both worked at the same company—into a fantasy of Internet sex, which led to a contentious online love triangle. Nothing unusual about that—people have been hooking up on the Internet since we all figured out that we could. But in order to attract these men, and others, Mary took a chat room fantasy to a perverse place: She impersonated her eighteen-year-old daughter and used several photos of the young woman to entice men online.
“She clearly capitalized on her daughter’s appeal to men, which is pretty twisted,” said Schroeder, whose documentary chronicles the story. “I think that once she realized how the pictures were like candy for men, all of a sudden she had gotten a new camera and there were thousands of pictures on her computer of just Jessi.”
As a result of the deception, a jealous Thomas Montgomery—who was so immersed in the online fantasy Mary created that he just couldn’t let go—murdered coworker Brian Barrett at their workplace. It was not until he was arrested that Montgomery discovered that he was not talking to a beautiful, young woman who was in love with him—but rather an overweight, age-appropriate stay-at-home mom with no boundaries and no conscience.
Montgomery was sentenced to twenty years in prison for the murder and even though many people believe that Mary is morally culpable for creating this tempest in a chat room, there was no law that addressed her conduct—something that the Barrett family is trying to change.
That is not to say that Mary is not suffering any sentence: Her daughter, who only found out what really happened when her friends suggested that she Google her mother, won’t have anything to do with her.
“To me, it’s a just punishment that this mother loses her child. She chose not to be a mother, so she shouldn’t have the benefits of being a mother,” said Beaber. “One of the benefits of being a mother is to have someone be your child, to love you as a child, and to share their own children with you when they have them. Why should a woman who is so sociopathic and narcissistic have that benefit? Why should someone try to heal that relationship?”
For more information about the documentary “talhotblond,” log on to www.talhotblond.com.
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Comments
scary
She basically prostituted her daughter. I thought that my job was to protect mine. How horrible.
I just watched about this on TV...shame on you Mary...how could you do that to your own daughter...mine passed away...I wish I had a daughter still so I can continue to Love her and Protect her like a Real Mother should...you should go to jail for what you did...and you are also to blame for Brian's Death...you are EVIL....
why would anyone think that its a punishment for Mary not to have her daughter? Obviously she never cared about anyways. This demon probably got what she wanted. No children to deal with. she belongs in jail with the rest of the sociopaths.
wow...now Mary Sheiler is really sick. how dare her call herself a mother. she is some pig looking for a young man to bang her....what a loser...if she shot herself in the head today I don't think she would be missed
Wow, so none of you blame the bald, unattractive 47-yr-old married father of two for this? You know, the freak who actually hunted down and MURDERED Brian (over some 18-yr old girl he'd never even met)?!
Yikes.
I think this particular article is directed at the mother. There's certainly places to go for comments at this man.
you have a valid point cara!!
I think the point of this focus on her is that she has suffered no consequnces for her dispicable actions. While I do hold Motgomery responsible for this heinous crime he is currently paying for his crime in prison where he belongs. Meanwhile this horrid woman is basically bragging about how great her life is now. She has no remorse for her part in this young mans death.
PS. Way to insult Motgomery's appearance. Makes your arguement sound reeaaaal valid. * rolls eyes*
crazy ass woman!!she is no mother...she needs to be charged with something, anything!!! impersonating any1,even your own daughter should be against the law...she lured 2men, that we know of, pretending to be someone else&messing with1 of them which undeniably ended with him killing a boy,basically!!she should be held accountable as well...everyone obviously knows this sick evil woman is insane yet she is allowed to walk freely&still have access to the internet?so that this may happen again&again until they finally pass a law?!?!how many times will this have to happen in order for this&any other sick evil person who's out there getting away scott free,knowing that they should be held accountable for a part of the crimes that others commit due to their ignorance and trust put into her and the other sickos ...makes me so upset..**barf** that's what i feel like doing just thinking that there isn't a law that can put that damn woman away... :*(when u think about it she caused ALL of the pai
this is all so bad, my heart hurts 4 jessi..I went 2 school w/ her for many years, she never deserved any of this..what is also bad is the web sites and face book sites about all this, she will never b left alone..I think they should do away w/ all this bullshit and leave her alone..so maybe one day she can go on w/ her life..and not have 2 worry bout who's getting on face book and looking at all of this mess!!!
ok, she aint no kind of mom to do that. She put her Daughter in danger posing as her on the internet. Thats why I think the internet is sorta unsafe.
Why haven't Brian's parents sued Mary S in civil court for her involvement in his death? I think they have a very good case.
I have just watched the documentary and I find it incredulous that this woman got away with murder, okay, she didn't pull the trigger but she incited another to do so. If she had informed the police when marinesniper threatened Brian then the boy might still be alive today. And why was he charged with manslaughter, surely it was murder.
I just saw the documentary. Mary Shieler is one twisted, sick woman. She should be sitting in prison, also.
My deepest condolences to Brian's parents and family.
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