A Maryland man accused of luring his pregnant girlfriend to a remote field to shoot her in the back of the head — to stop her from telling his fiancée about their unborn child — killed himself earlier this week hours before his murder trial was set to begin, PEOPLE confirms.
Tyler Tessier, 33, was found dead Thursday morning in his jail cell in Montgomery County, prosecutor John McCarthy said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Housed in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility since his 2017 arrest, Tessier had woken up at 4 a.m. and showered before he was given breakfast at 4:45 a.m., McCarthy said.
Ten minutes later, Tessier was found dead.
Citing Tessier’s “cowardice,” McCarthy said, “We were robbed this morning of the opportunity to allow the public to know the true nature and details of this crime.”
Tessier had been charged with first-degree murder in the September 2017 death of his girlfriend Laura Wallen, a 31-year-old world history teacher from Olney, who was known for giving her students affectionate “jellyfish hugs.”
Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if Tessier had been convicted.
Wallen was four months pregnant when her body was found in a shallow grave in Damascus on Sept. 13, 2017, more than a week after she went missing, according to officials.
While authorities searched for Wallen, Tessier wept alongside her family at a news conference, begging for her safe return while holding her parents’ hands.
During police questioning, however, Tessier admitted that he was engaged to another woman at the time of Wallen’s death, authorities have said.
Tessier and Wallen dated on and off for years and despite a “rocky” relationship, they “always” got back together, prosecutors previously told the Washington Post.
Charging documents previously obtained by PEOPLE stated that Tessier told police he had a fiancée whom Wallen had attempted to contact before she was killed.
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Calling Tessier a “psychopath” who “lied about everything” to hide the apparent double life he was leading for years, prosecutor McCarthy said on Thursday that the first day of the trial “was to be a day of reckoning for Mr. Tessier.”
‘He’s Taken Me to the Middle of Nowhere’
Investigators say they believe Tessier killed Wallen last year one day after she was seen with him on surveillance video at a grocery store.
The day before, Wallen sent a text message to either her sister or a friend stating “Tyler had taken her to an open field up in the Damascus area,” police said.
Wallen wrote, “I’m not sure why we’re up here, but he’s taken me to this place in the middle of nowhere,” according to police.
Police said Wallen’s sister had received other text messages from Wallen’s phone on Sept. 4 that authorities believe were actually sent by Tessier.
Tessier allegedly drove Wallen’s car to the Columbia area, he said. During questioning, he admitted to disposing of her license plate, her driver’s license and her iPhone, police have said.
He also allegedly texted an acquaintance, asking for a ride to Baltimore on Sunday to “clean up a mess,” but the person said no, according to police.
After authorities learned that Tessier allegedly made several trips to the secluded field in Damascus, investigators searched the property and found Wallen’s body.
‘He Stood Us Up for the Last Time Today’
Tessier’s death will be “fully investigated” even though authorities found no signs of foul play, McCarthy said Thursday.
He “had been contemplating killing himself for some time,” McCarthy said, and he left multiple notes behind that authorities say they believe he had written over the last several days or weeks, which authorities will release at a later time.
Wallen’s family remembered her in a touching tribute during the news conference.
“Our daughter, Laura was love and light,” her father, Mark Wallen, said, adding that it has been “a very difficult year for our entire family.”
Wallen’s brother-in-law John Kadi added that in the 10 years that Tessier and Wallen were together, he never came to birthdays, anniversaries or holidays that her family hosted.
“He stood our family up for the last time today,” Kadi said.
Tessier’s attorney could not immediately be reached by PEOPLE for comment on Thursday.
While the attorney would not say what his defense strategy for Tessier would have been, he told the Post that Tessier’s family was “distraught” over his death.
