18 June 2023 , 06:00
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It was a bright sunny day at Alki Beach, in Seattle, Washington – three years ago this week – and three teenagers were exploring. They were using the online trend of “randonauting”. Through a variety of apps and websites, explorers randomly generate coordinates in their local area and then discover what’s there, sharing their findings on social media.
Those who take part call themselves randonauts and they can set “intentions” before generating the location, in the hope that they will be led to a place that matches what they’re looking for. Others simply use it to create a sense of adventure in a scavenger-style hunt.
It was 19 June 2020, and the teens were directed to a rocky part of the beach where they found a black suitcase that had been washed up from the sea and wedged onto some stones. They thought there might be something valuable inside, like money, and as part of their randonauting adventure they started to film a video for TikTok.
The video showed one of the girls edging towards the suitcase. Suddenly she was hit by the stench of death. She used a long stick to open the suitcase and discovered that whatever was inside was wrapped in black rubbish bags. The smell of rotting flesh was overwhelming.
The gruesome discovery was caught on film
The TikTok video went viralThe group called 911. Emergency services arrived just in time before the suitcase was swept back out to sea. They confirmed it contained human remains and they also found a second bag nearby with body parts inside. A fun day out turned into a murder inquiry.
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Meanwhile, the teens’ TikTok video started to go viral across Seattle and then spread like wildfire across the entire country. It was watched over 30 million times. While there was no actual footage of the human remains, so as not to violate the TikTok terms of service, it was clear from the caption that it was very likely to be a body wrapped inside the plastic. The more the gruesome video was watched, the higher profile the case became.
Three days later, the police found a third bag in nearby Duwamish Waterway that also contained human remains. The medical examiner revealed the body parts belonged to two people. They were a couple called Jessica Lewis, 35, and Austin Wenner, 27. They had both been shot dead.
When their families were informed, they were devastated. Jessica was a mum-of-four, and both were kind-hearted, generous souls. No one could understand why they had been killed.
Investigators discovered that Jessica had died from two gunshot wounds and Austin had died from a single bullet to the torso. They had been dismembered, wrapped in bin liners and stuffed into several bags before being dumped.
Gunshots reported
Jessica and Austin had been renting a room at the home of Michael Dudley in Burien, a suburb of Seattle. Police records showed that on 9 June a neighbour had reported gunshots coming from Dudley’s property and hearing a man pleading for his life.
When officers had gone to investigate, Dudley hadn’t answered the door. When later questioned, he couldn’t explain why.
Investigators discovered that Dudley was angry with the pair because they were late with their $1,500 a month rent. It seemed extreme that Dudley would kill his tenants over something as trivial, but the evidence quickly started to stack up.
Although the police didn’t find the gun used to kill Jessica and Austin, they found a small amount of blood in the bedroom they’d been renting. The suitcases were traced back to Dudley and the mobile phone records placed him at Alki Beach the day before the bodies were found. Dudley hadn’t been there in three months and had no reason to be there that day.
On 9 June, when the gunshots were heard, the mobile phone that Jessica and Austin both used to keep in touch with their families stopped sending messages at 7pm – just before the neighbour reported the gunshots and male cries.
The couple were deeply lovedWhen investigators searched Dudley’s home, they found bullet holes in the walls that had been repaired and painted over. He said he had accidentally discharged his gun inside the house but it seemed like a shocking coincidence. Dudley was arrested on 19 August and charged with the murder of Jessica and Austin.
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Meanwhile, the TikTok video of their bodies being discovered was still being viewed online. The victims’ families begged for it to be removed and reminded the public that the body parts belonged to people.
Austin had a beautiful smile and a joyful belly laugh. Jessica was naturally caring. Both were deeply loved. They were victims, not macabre entertainment. Eventually, after several months, the video was taken off the platform.
At the trial last year, the prosecution relied heavily on circumstantial evidence. They said Dudley had over two months to clean up his home before it was searched, giving him time to repair the bullet holes and get rid of the weapon.
They alleged that Dudley had shot the couple and dismembered them, probably in an argument over unpaid rent. The neighbour who had overheard shouting on 9 June said the man had cried, “Don’t do this, just let me leave.”
Killer Michael Dudley in courtWhen Austin’s dad couldn’t reach Jessica or his son, he’d gone round to Dudley’s house, only to be told they’d moved out. But the worried father spotted a pile of clothes in the rubbish and knew they belonged to Austin – who wasn’t in a financial situation to just throw clothes away.
The defence accused the police of rushing the investigation due to the high media attention. They said dismembering a body would have caused an extensive amount of blood, which wasn’t found in Dudley’s home. He was 62 at the time of the killings and it would have been a big job to dispose of the bodies.
But the prosecution reminded the jury it wasn’t their job to prove how or where the victims were dismembered, or to prove anyone else was involved in helping him.
Lengthy prison sentence
In December 2022, Dudley was found guilty of second-degree murder. Outside the court, Austin’s mum, Charleen Kriens, expressed her relief. “The world is a safer place without Michael Dudley in it,” she said.
Jessica’s aunt, Gina Jaschke, called Dudley a “master manipulator”. “I knew in my heart he was guilty from the very beginning,” she said. “I’m so glad it’s over.”
In April this year, Dudley, 65, was sentenced. Austin’s dad, Dean Wenner, said he had recurring nightmares about the couple’s deaths. Other family members called Dudley a coward and expressed heartache that not all of the remains of Jessica and Austin had been found, so they couldn’t be completely laid to rest.
The judge sentenced Dudley to 560 months in prison – effectively 46 years. At his age, it’s a life sentence.
The chilling discovery of Jessica and Austin’s dismembered bodies was watched millions of times, but to their families, it was a deeply private heartbreak that exposed a landlord from hell.