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Lovesick husband behind the viral #Michaellovesmelissa campaign tweets suicidal intentions

SIX months after a heartbroken Aussie made world headlines with a social media campaign to win back his estranged wife, matters have taken a dark turn.

Marnie O'NeillMarnie O'Neill
@marnieoneill7
3 min read
October 24, 2015 - 1:44PM
Michael Munday posted a series of ominous tweets before apparently signing off forever.
Michael Munday posted a series of ominous tweets before apparently signing off forever.

POLICE are trying to track down a Sydney man, who made world headlines earlier this year with an elaborate bid to woo back his estranged wife, after he posted a series of suicidal tweets.

Michael Munday’s #michaellovesmelissa social media campaign went viral in April when more than a million Twitter followers threw their support behind this heartbroken man desperate to win back his “soulmate”.

His fans included a sprinkling of celebrities, Savage Garden’s Darren Hayes reportedly among them.

But on October 17, the 33-year-old IT specialist removed his profile photograph from his Twitter account, added R.I.P after his name and “Gone” to the location tag.

The last of a series of tweets posted the same day stated: “Time to say goodbye now. Don’t be sad be happy for me, my pain ends. Please remember the good things I did, not my mistakes. Sorry!!”

News.com.au attempted to contact Mr Munday and several of his family members without success. His phone numbers appear to have been disconnected and his email addresses have been disabled.

There have been no death notices or obituaries and it remains unclear whether Mr Munday followed through with his tragic plan.

Police from Fairfield in Sydney’s south west yesterday assigned a team of officers to visit Mr Munday’s last known addresses to check on his welfare after being alerted to his suicidal posts by news.com.au.

Michael Munday posted a series of ominous tweets before apparently signing off forever.
Michael Munday posted a series of ominous tweets before apparently signing off forever.

Mr Munday had claimed Melissa walked out on their three-year marriage in 2014 after his chronic gambling habit left the couple in financial ruin.

He posted endless tributes and apologies to her under the #michaellovesmelissa hashtag, calling himself a changed man and begging her to come back to him.

“The campaign was prompted to let Melissa know that I was sorry, and that this was not simply more words, but shows action,” Mr Munday told the Huffington Post at the time.

“She deserved more than a simple apology. I hope people can see this for what it is, an attempt at the world’s biggest apology, for mistakes I made that led to hurting the person I care about most in this world.”

But the campaign started to backfire early on when people started questioning the hopeless romantic tag, labelling Mr Munday’s actions “stalkerish”, “intimidating” and even “terrifying”.

Controversial feminist Clementine Ford called him “creepy” and “obsessed”.

“Wow. Stop stalking her dude. Get over it,” she tweeted.

Mr Munday acknowledged the criticism in an email to Mamamia, admitting some people had called his “actions creepy, stalking, or inappropriate,” but stressed they were a minority.

“If for one second I thought that this would have any negative effect on Melissa it would be stopped in a second. It is not and was never my intention to make Melissa uncomfortable, or feel coerced, and I know this is not the case,” he said, according to Mamamia’s article headlined Creepy or cute?

“Melissa is aware of the campaign. I hope to speak with her in more detail when the time is right, although being away from her is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, it’s important to give her space and time to think about what she wants.

“I have had so many people reach out to me offering support. I have had the pleasure of hearing other peoples stories, and speaking with those in similar situations.”

Ironically, Mr Munday has himself been the target of at least two online campaigns by people accusing him of defrauding dozens of former customers of his now defunct computer supplies company Yadnum.

One alleged victim, using the Twitter handle @EadeEarth, stepped up his demands for Mr Munday to return his cash after #Michaellovesmelissa temporarily catapulted him into the spotlight.

It is understood the allegations were investigated by police in 2011 but no charges were laid.

Below are some of Munday’s tributes to Melissa.

[Editor's note: Mr Munday contacted news.com.au in September 2017 and said his account had been hacked at the time of the posts.]

Do you know Michael Munday? marnie.oneill@news.com.au

If you or someone you know is in need of crisis or suicide prevention support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au/gethelp

Originally published as Lovesick husband behind the viral #Michaellovesmelissa campaign tweets suicidal intentions

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