I watched the Unsolved Mysteries episode on this case, and while I don’t have a very strong theory on exactly what happened, I will say I definitely lean away from his death being a suicide. Here are my reasons (none of them being absolute proof of murder, mind you):
- Rey was absolutely terrified of heights. This is the most crucial piece of information, in my opinion. People who commit suicide typically do so in the most quick and/or painless ways possible. They swallow a lot of pills and go to sleep. They turn the car on in the garage and go to sleep. They shoot themselves in the head for a split-second ending. What they most often DON’T do is make the moments leading up to their death as horrifying as possible. Sure people have jumped to their deaths many times. But I doubt they had a gripping fear of heights. And sure, it’s possible Rey was so out of his mind that night and so determined to end it all, that he was able to overcome his fear. But I seriously doubt it.
- The size of the hole in the roof makes no sense to me. Investigators proved that the hole was only wide enough for a grown man (especially one as large as Rey) to fit through going straight in, perpendicular to the ground, with his arms at his side. What are the odds after an 11-story fall that he hit the roof precisely that way? I’m certainly no physics expert, but I would think that with the running speed and long jump required for Rey to launch himself far enough out from that building, that certain forces would have acted on his body enough to make his landing slightly crooked/slanted. I just don’t see how an 11-story fall could leave such a tiny and tidy little hole. Possible, I guess, but I just don’t think probable.
- Like everyone else has noted already, how on earth were both his glasses and cell phone found neatly laid out next to the hole without a single scratch on them? Are we supposed to believe they both were ejected from his body upon impact with the roof and landed neatly next to the hole without a single small scratch? And his flip-flops were apparently also ejected from his feet (or hands, if he for some weird reason jumped while holding them) and also landed on the roof and didn’t go through the hole with Rey? What?!?!?! How does that make any sense? I would genuinely love to hear suggestions from others on here if you have a smart idea of how those items all ended up untouched on the roof.
- Literally everyone in Rey’s life said he was the picture of happiness and had all sorts of plans for their future. Not one person said they saw any sadness or depression EVER in the guy. I know you sometimes hear that from loved ones of suicide victims, and that depressed people often hide their sadness well. But this guy was off-the-charts cheerful, and had never shown one sign of being down or struggling. If he was suicidal, he hid it better than anyone I’ve ever seen.
- Two attempted break-ins of their house within a week of his disappearance are AWFULLY hard to dismiss as pure coincidence. Like with the other points I’ve brought up, the break-ins by themselves technically could be explained away and don’t absolutely rule out suicide. But they’re just one more in the very long line of strange occurrences and coincidences that, when looked at together, really bring the case for suicide into doubt.
- Rey was never seen on any hotel camera on the night he supposedly jumped off the roof to kill himself. Reportedly some cameras, including the one on the rooftop, weren’t working that night. But they supposedly were able to look at footage from several working cameras and never saw him. If he were going to kill himself, would he really go to the trouble of avoiding cameras? Was it just bad luck that his path from hotel entrance to rooftop was filled with broken cameras? Or was he never in that building to begin with?
- Rey was busy working at home on his computer when the call came in from his office, the subject of which was apparently jarring enough to make Rey stop what he was doing, exclaim “oh!”, and run out of the house immediately wearing flip-flops. What’s more likely, that the call pushed Rey over the edge to rush out and commit suicide right the at the building next to his office, or that the person calling from his office persuaded or lured him to that hotel adjacent to his building with “urgent” business info? I know which way I lean there. He definitely got the call from his office, and for some reason that call made him go to the area of his office. Why go there if just to kill himself? I guess temporary insanity/paranoia/manic episode could explain it, but what percentage is that a likelihood? Gotta be pretty low.
- I’ll end with what I consider the other smoking gun that points toward murder and not suicide- Rey’s friend Porter refusing to help law enforcement and not even going to Rey’s memorial or funeral service. The guy is Rey’s lifelong “best friend”, he convinces him to move across the country and work for him as a writer, and then when his friend is found mangled/dead under strange circumstances, the guy flat-out refuses to say a word or offer help to find out what really happened to his friend? And he doesn’t even show up to his funeral? How is that even possible? If your lifelong friend disappeared and was found in that manner, wouldn’t you want to help as much as possible? No contact with his widow, parents, or brother? Nothing? I don’t care if my company had put a gag order on me, I would find a way at the very least to convey my condolences to my best friend’s wife and family. I wouldn’t permanently ignore them for no reason. That is off-the-charts suspicious.
Like I said, I can’t come up with a solid theory based on all of the crazy evidence in this case of what exactly happened to Rey and who (if anyone) else was involved in his death. Even if Rey were pushed from a roof or helicopter or window, I still find that small hole hard to explain. Based on Rey’s extensive traumatic injuries, it does seem like he fell. But where did he fall from? Did he jump? Was he pushed? And what caused the injuries to his shins that weren’t consistent from a fall (according to the ME)? Did a car hit him? Was he tortured before his death? And how did his items get left unscratched on that roof? Did they seemingly defy physics and fall perfectly there without a scratch, or were they planted there. And if so, why?
My gut says his company/work was directly involved in his death. Someone there called him, which made him leave his house and drive there, yet they refuse to cooperate and say who made the call and what the conversation was about. They’re either being over-the-top careful about not getting named in any kind of suit Rey’s family could bring about, or they’re hiding something. Plus, Rey either committed suicide or was murdered one building away from his office. That can’t be coincidence. Even if it was suicide, then Rey’s thinking at the time of his death had to have revolved around something work-related.
I do think Rey was murdered, and it involved people from his work life he knew well (boss, friend, co-workers, angry client). And I think based on what type of company it was, what type of work Rey did, and the fact that the company had been sued before for duplicity, I think money was the motive. Either Rey stumbled upon something illegal he shouldn’t have and knew too much, he refused to participate in something illegal, he threatened to go to the police, or he lost either the company or a client a lot of money.
I feel so sorry for his wife, brother, and mother.
