New Details: Ryan Jenkins Found Hanged; Police Suspect Suicide But Say Investigation On-Going
Aug. 24 2009, Published 9:04 a.m. ET
Ryan Alexander Jenkins was found hanged Sunday evening in a room at the Thunderbird Motel in Hope, British Columbia, less than four days after the Megan Wants a Millionaire contestant was charged in the brutal murder of his swimsuit model ex-wife, Jasmine Fiore. Police suspect Jenkins’ death was suicide.
Jasmine Fiore's mother speaks out news of Jenkins suicide.
"At this present time the investigation into the circumstances of his death is continuing," Sgt. Duncan Pound of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. "But preliminary evidence suggests that he took his own life; any further details will not be released at this time, as this investigation remains in its infancy."
Kevin Walker, manager of the Thunderbird, said Jenkins had arrived in a Chrysler PT Cruiser with Alberta license plates, and stayed in the car while a mystery woman checked him in.
Walker said the woman had paid cash for three days. When Jenkins failed to check out at the specified time, Walker unlocked the room and discovered the body.
He was hanging by a belt from a coat rack.
Police were called, and his identity was confirmed via fingerprints.
"The sadness of this is all is that Mr. Jenkins will not stand before an Orange County jury for his crime," Police Lt. Steve Holliday said at a news conference in Buena Park, California on Sunday night.
The 32-year-old Jenkins was wanted on first-degree murder charges after his ex-wife's naked body was found stuffed in a suitcase in a dumpster in Buena Park, California on August 15. Her teeth and fingertips had been removed, apparently to make identification more difficult.
Investigators ended up using the serial number from her breast implants to make a positive ID.
Jenkins, an investment banker from Calgary, first met Fiore, 28, at a strip club in Las Vegas last March, where he was drowning his sorrows after being voted off the VH1 reality program Megan Wants a Millionaire. They wed 48 hours later, but later had the marriage annulled.
In a personal profile on the VH1 website, Jenkins boasted of being worth $2.5 million and said, “He has left many amazing women in his life primarily because he wanted more women.” He claimed to enjoy “moulding girls into princesses.”
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After Jenkins was named as a ‘person of interest’ in Fiore’s death, VH1 canceled Megan Wants A Millionaire.
