Human Wreckage True Crime

Inside A Suburban Nightmare: The Stalking And Killing Of Ellie Weik

• Thomas W

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Welcome to Human Wreckage, the series where we go through the darkest corners of human behavior murders, obsessions, crimes that leave wreckage in their wake. I'm your host Thomas, and today we're covering a case of stalking, obsession, and murder that shook a suburban Ohio community. It's the story of Ellie White, a twenty three-year-old young woman whose life was cut short by a man she'd known, and who had quietly invaded her world in terrifying ways. That man, Michael Strauss, carried with him a chilling pattern of behavior that escalated from surveillance and harassment to violence and death. Today we'll walk through who Ellie was, the stalking timeline, the investigation, the arrest and interrogation, the trial and sentence, and finally the broader reflections on stalking, how it can escalate and what we can learn. So let's begin with Ellie. In a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, in the township of Westchester Township, lived a young woman named Ellen Ellie White. She was twenty three when she died. Friends described her as warm, bright, full of life, a person you felt safe with, someone whose smile lit up a room. In the months before her death, however, something had changed. She told friends she didn't feel safe anymore. She was being harassed, surveilled, persecuted by someone. According to friends, she had been terrified for months. On april eleventh, twenty eighteen, Ellie's mother reported that someone had taken a photo of Ellie inside their home through a window, then sent that photo to Ellie, presumably to terrify her, in one friend's words. It was like a very sick game of cat and mouse. She kept asking who is it? And they would reply, you know who it is. Even as she took steps to protect herself, the harassment escalated. Ellie went missing on july twenty ninth, twenty eighteen, from her Westchester home, and her mother reported her missing on august first. Her body was discovered earlier than that in a field off Milliken Road in the neighboring township of Liberty Township on august twenty fourth, and she had been dead for some time. She is remembered now with trees planted in her memory, Easter eggs hung on her trees, a bright spirit lost too soon. Why? What happened? That leads us to the person charged, Michael Strauss. Michael Strauss, the man across the street. Michael Strauss, at the time twenty nine years old, lived on Bluffs Drive in Liberty Township, just across the field from the spot where Ellie's body would later be found. Court documents and interrogation transcripts portray him as someone obsessed with horror, psychological scariness, someone who told detectives he liked psychological stuff. He used technology to stalk, sending spoof text pretending to be someone else. He filmed Ellie through her window. He appeared in her world when she thought she was safe. He collected tokens of her hair, her driver's license, a necklace, and called it a tribute. According to the indictment, the stalking period began january first, twenty eighteen through july twenty ninth, twenty eighteen. He engaged in a pattern of conduct that caused Ellie to believe the offender would cause physical harm or mental distress, and he trespassed where she lived, worked, or attended school. Friends say she was so frightened. She had other friends stay at her house, she told them, I don't know if I'm safe. All of this culminated in the tragedy of July and August twenty eighteen. What started as invasion filmings, texts, theft of hair, sending strange messages escalated. The prosecution paints a disturbing progression. In April twenty eighteen, Strauss used a window to film Ellie at night in her home. He then sent her a portion of that video. He spoofed phone numbers, posed as friends of Ellie, sent her obscene photos. He Googled deviant sexual content, violent pornography, woman attacked while jogging in Mason, Ohio, searches showing disturbing fixation. Then the murder. On or about july twenty ninth, twenty eighteen, according to the indictment, Strauss caused the death of Ellie, according to a prosecutor's statement. This defendant did place plastic wrap over Ellen White's head, which caused her death by suffocation. After her death, the body was bound in duct tape, wrapped in plastic, placed nude in a blanket, and dumped in a field across the street from his house. He then waited a while the body remained in that field for some days before discovery. He was arrested august twenty fifth, twenty eighteen, about twelve hours after the body was found. Quite simply, the stalking was not incidental. It was foundational. The body disposal shows the cold, calculated aftermath. The investigation was heavy. Prosecutors listed eighty eight pieces of evidence just in one hearing including cell phone records, social media logs, Snapchat, Instagram, bank records, Amazon records, flight records, aerial photos, and skeleton reconstruction photos. Detectives interrogated Strauss for seventeen hours. In those transcripts, he admitted to peeking through a window and filming Ellie. I thought she looked cute, I'm just going to film her for a little bit. He claimed they were filming a horror movie. He claimed accident when asked about how Ellie's hands were zip tied. Detectives weren't buying it. The case was sealed in many respects search warrants were sealed, details heavily redacted. Yet what emerged painted a stark picture of stalking leading to murder. The stalking charges were significant. Between january first and july twenty ninth, Strauss's pattern of conduct caused Ellie to believe he would cause harm or distress. The bond was set at four million following the indictment. On march twelfth, twenty nineteen, Strauss pleaded guilty to murder, menacing by stalking, and gross abuse of a corpse. Some charges aggravated murder, tampering with evidence, petty theft were dismissed as part of the plea deal. The sentencing came on April 17, 2019. He received the maximum term. 15 to life for murder, 18 months for stalking menacing by stalking, and 12 months for gross abuse of a corpse, all consecutive resulting in parole eligibility after roughly 17.5 years. From the sentencing article. Please believe me, from the bottom of my heart, I never wanted to hurt anybody, Strauss said. The judge stated, Life in prison, but parole possible after 17.5 years. Ellie's family spoke. Her mother asked the court to change the death certificate to reflect July 29th, the date of death, rather than the date her body was discovered in August. Her sister and other friends wore bright colors, tie-dyed shirts in her honor. Eggs with messages were hung on two trees in a park planted in Ellie's memory. The case closed in court, but the impact remains in the friends, family, and community forever changed. This case is not only a story of murder, it's a study in how stalking can escalate into deadly violence. According to national data, victims of stalking are vulnerable, especially when the stalker engages in a pattern of behavior, trespass, harassment, and digital intrusion. Here are key takeaways. Stalking often begins softly and escalates. Ellie's case. First harassing text messages, photos, filming through windows, spoofing identities. The behavior escalated over six months. The indictment covers January to July. This is consistent with research, showing stalking often builds over time and includes digital abuse, trespass, monitoring. Because stalking is often dismissed or underestimated, victims may not be protected. Ellie reported a harassment complaint in April. Police patrolled her house. But full scale danger remained. This shows the difficulty. When harassment doesn't yet result in obvious physical violence, it may not trigger full protection. Technology plays a role. Strauss used a text spoofing app, he recorded video through windows, he Googled deviant porn and searches tied to his pathology. Digital intrusion amplifies fear and risk. Obsession can convert to violence. Stalkers are not always mere nuisance, they can escalate to homicide. That is what happened here. The tribunal of behavior followed the classic escalation. Surveillance, harassment, intrusion, murder. The proximity factor matters? Strauss lived right across the field from where Ellie's body was dumped. He had intimate knowledge of her environment. The physical location made the stalking more potent. The aftermath is devastation. Ellie's family, friends, community, they pay the lifelong cost. The sentencing, the memorials, these are necessary, but they can't bring her back. Timeline of Key Events. To keep clarity, here is a timeline of major events in the case. Jan july twenty eighteen, the stalking period. According to the indictment, Strauss engaged in a pattern of conduct causing Ellie to fear harm. April eleventh, twenty eighteen. Ellie's mother reports a photo taken of Ellie through the window was sent to her. April fourteenth, twenty eighteen. Ellie tells a friend I don't know if I'm safe. July twenty ninth, twenty eighteen. On or about this date, the homicide is alleged to have occurred. August first, twenty eighteen. Ellie is reported missing by her mother. August twenty fourth, twenty eighteen, Ellie's body is found in a field off Milliken Road, Liberty Township. August twenty fifth, twenty eighteen, Strauss is arrested. March twelfth, twenty nineteen. Strauss pleads guilty to murder, menacing by stalking, gross abuse of a corpse. April seventeenth, twenty nineteen, sentencing maximum term, eligible for parole after a proxy seventeen and a half years. What we know about the homicide itself is chilling. The prosecution referenced, plastic wrap over Ellie's head suffocation, duct tape, blanket, dumping the nude body. These details reveal cold planning and depravity. In the interrogation, Strauss claimed they were filming a horror movie at Ellie's house and then at his house, and that what occurred was some kind of accident. Detectives rejected this explanation, he told investigators, I remember picking her up, and I thought I carried her, but it makes sense if I put her in the car. But the physical evidence Ellie's driver's license, her necklace, clump of hair in a tin labeled tribute at Strauss's residence undermine his narrative. He attempted to frame it as consensual filming. But the reality, restraining, suffocating, disposing. This speaks to the interplay of stalking and homicide. The stalker moves from watching to controlling to killing. The crime scene shows the humiliation and dehumanization of the victim body stripped, wrapped, hidden. The tribute of hair speaks to a pathological trophy taking. At sentencing, Ellie's mother addressed the court, requesting the record highlight the actual date of death july twenty ninth, rather than the discovery date in August. She said, I pray he experiences life in prison as long as we experience our lives without Ellie. Friends wore bright colors, tie dye shirts, brought eggs with messages, and hung them on trees at Kehiner Park planted in her memory. One friend said, She was the light in the darkroom. Community reaction in Westchester in Liberty Townships was one of profound shock, how someone so young, vibrant, could be so violently taken. The case highlighted fears in suburban settings, the idea that danger isn't just downtown, but can exist next door. What can we take away beyond the horror? Victims of stalking may feel unsafe, but may not get full protective intervention. Ellie reported harassment, but once stalking escalates, the resources and protection may prove insufficient. Digital stalking is real and potent. Hidden cameras, window filming, spoof texts, collecting items all increase risk. Public awareness has been slow. Proximity equals risk. The fact Strauss lived across the street from the field where the body was dumped underscores how the neighbor can be the threat. Stalking to homicide link. Research indicates victims of stalking are at increased risk of harm, including homicide. Trophy taking signals escalation. Hair in a tin, driver's license, necklace all speak to obsessive collection, a red flag. Parole eligibility is not immediate freedom. Strauss will be eligible in about seventeen point five years. The sentence acknowledges the severity. Some victims' families worry about parole. Support for victims. Reporting harassment, saving evidence, videos, texts, informing friends family all matter. The system is still catching up. Ellie White's death is not only a crime story, it's a cautionary tale about how stalking is not just annoying, it can be deadly. The behaviors that precede violence often appear innocuous, or at least tolerable, unwanted texts, creepy photos, window peeking, but when it becomes pattern, proximity, obsession, it becomes dangerous. Michael Strauss's case forces us to ask, how many other victims are being stalked right now who will never escalate, but in some terrifying subset will? And how can we make systems, police, community, legislature better at intervening before it's too late? So today we remember Ellie not as a statistic, but as a person whose life mattered, whose laughter, whose presence filled a room. Her friend said she made you feel safe. Tragically, she was not safe in the end. If you are listening, and you feel you're being stalked, harassed, surveilled, please don't wait. Save the texts, record the incidents, reach out to law enforcement, victim advocate services, trusted friends. Because the steps we take may matter. That concludes this episode of Human Wreckage. Thank you for listening. If you found this piece difficult to hear, you're not alone, these stories are raw. But they matter. We'll continue to bring you more stories where human wreckage meets the law, the psyche, and the society around us. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.