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Girlfriend asked to die, homicide suspect tells police
Saturday, May 22, 1999 By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Rhonda Jo Reller was upset about having had an abortion and wanted to join her baby in heaven, her fiance said.
So he assisted her by shooting her twice in the head and then tried to shoot himself, the fiance, Michael Oravec, told police.
In his confession, Oravec, 26, of Robinson, said Reller lay on the couch early May 2 and placed her engagement ring on top of his hand before he aimed a gun at her head and fired twice, killing her.
He told police he then stuck the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger repeatedly, but it wouldn't fire. He said after he loaded the gun again and it still didn't fire, he cut his wrists.
On the basis of Oravec's confession, Deputy Coroner Timothy G. Uhrich held him for trial on a charge of homicide after a coroner's inquest yesterday.
Kerry Alexander, one of Reller's closest friends, said yesterday that Reller hadn't told her she was pregnant or that she had had an abortion.
Alexander said she could not imagine Reller wanting to die.
Oravec told police that he and Reller had been at Kangaroos Outback Cafe in Robinson the night of May 1. When they got home, they talked about the abortion that Oravec said Reller had had three weeks earlier, according to his confession.
He said they agreed that, in retrospect, it had been a bad idea and decided that since the baby was with God, they should be, too.
So Oravec wrote a note on his computer saying they had gone to God, and obtained a gun, Allegheny County homicide Detective Lee Yingling testified.
Reller, 32, a native of Washington state, was found lying dead on a couch May 3 in the apartment they shared at Chestnut Ridge.
Police found Oravec on the floor next to the couch, conscious but bleeding from what police believe were self-inflicted cuts to his neck and wrists.
Oravec later gave a taped confession from his bed at Mercy Hospital, where he was on a suicide watch. He couldn't sign a confession because his wrists were heavily bandaged.
Police have said they are skeptical of his version of events.
Oravec worked as a technical support specialist at TEGG Corp., a company in the Strip District that provides electrical services.
Reller worked at a fleet leasing company.
The two met at a training session in January. They were engaged in March and had planned to wed in December.
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