WASHINGTON — The final hours of Marty McMillan Jr.’s life apparently involved online flirting, a late-night visit, a love triangle — and an angry boyfriend.
John McRae, 40, of Southeast D.C. has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of the Landover, Maryland, resident, who had been missing for six months before his body was found Oct. 30 in Prince George’s County.
McRae, who remains held without bond, was arraigned Wednesday.
According to court documents filed in D.C. Superior Court, it all began with late-night communications over the dating website Plenty of Fish on April 22, 2017. It allegedly ended with gunshots into a bedroom closet, where McMillan had been hiding.
Family told investigators that the 22-year-old had been communicating over Plenty of Fish with a woman who had the username “Luv33.” A photograph of “Luv33” was later identified as a woman identified as “W-3” in the documents.
W-3 and another woman were both living with and in a relationship with McRae, who authorities allege had been cheating on them both.
After connecting with McMillan on the site, W-3 invited McMillan over for a visit late April 22. A back and forth ensued, with both considering where to meet.
“I would say come to me and cool it for a bit but idk if I should,” Luv33 wrote, according to the documents.
“Why you don’t know. Just come with me den,” McMillan replied.
Those communications over the site indicate that the pair decided to meet at W-3’s apartment that she shared with McRae. The conversation transitioned over to text messages and phone calls between McMillan’s phone and a phone authorities linked to W-3. Cell tower records for three of those calls were linked to a cell tower near McRae’s home in the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast D.C.
According to documents, W-3 told authorities that after McMillan arrived sometime early April 23, she and the victim engaged in sexual activity.
But when McRae got home early from work at about 2 a.m., authorities said, he figured out that another man was there. W-3 told authorities that she ran from the room as McRae grabbed a gun and went toward a closet where McMillan was hiding. W-3 then heard gunshots, she told investigators.
McMillan’s body was removed from the apartment some time before 6 a.m. on April 23, W-3 told investigators.
McRae’s other companion, identified as “W-5,” later told investigators that McRae had, using code words, instructed W-5 to clean up the closet area.
McRae has been in custody since a June search of his residence turned up both firearms and PCP. (A plea deal with prosecutors has since been vacated.) Subsequent searches of McRae’s home turned up signs of blood as well as a bullet — with the same caliber as the bullets found in McMillan — inside the closet.
McRae’s next hearing is set for May 10. Charges have not yet been filed for W-3 and W-5 in the case.
WTOP’s Megan Cloherty contributed to this report.
