Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Web of Lies: Cruel Intentions’ delves deep into the mysterious disappearance and passing of Renae Marsden, a 20-year-old hairdresser and receptionist, in Australia in early August 2013. The investigation uncovered a dark truth about her online relationship with Brayden Spiteri, her imprisoned boyfriend at the time. The documentary features insightful interviews with Renae’s family members and friends, who recount their memories of the deceased woman.
Renae Marsden Died of Suicide Under Mysterious Circumstances
Born on October 15, 1992, in Prairiewood, Australia, Renae Marsden was the beloved daughter of Teresa Marsden and Jamie Deathe. However, a couple of years after her birth, her parents separated, and she lived with her mother, who later began dating Mark Marsden. In 2000, Teresa and Mark tied the knot, and the two went on to have three children, Luke, Jake, and Monique, who became Renae’s half-siblings. After graduating from Mount St. Benedict Catholic Girls High School around 2010, she crossed paths with Angus Young, who had joined the Australian Army in the infantry, at her workplace, Miss Elizabeth’s Hair Salon. They both fell head over heels in love and dated for two years before breaking up. Around late November 2011, Renae reportedly met Brayden Spateri through her close friend, Camila Zeidan.
Soon, Renae and Brayden began texting regularly. Not long after, in January 2012, he told her that he had gotten into a motorbike accident that led to his best friend Ritchie’s death. Renae was told that Brayden had been charged with manslaughter and sent to prison in Goulburn. In exchange for a reduced sentence, Brayden allegedly agreed to forego his visitation rights. However, Camila told her that Brayden was allowed to use a mobile phone while he served his sentence. Thus, even though Renae could not visit him, she could still talk to him via text messages and Facebook. The bond between them deepened to the point that they began planning their wedding, with Renae getting in touch with a wedding photographer. In June 2013, Renae reportedly told Camila that she no longer wanted to be friends with her.
At the time, she had been working a full-time job as a receptionist and looking forward to moving in with her cousin, Stephanie. However, on the fateful day of August 5, 2013, the 20-year-old woman went missing. When the authorities began searching for her, they discovered her car at Watson’s Bay by The Gap, but there was still no sign of her. Upon digging deeper into Renae’s cell phone records, the detectives learned that her online boyfriend, Brayden, had ended their relationship, which left her heartbroken. According to investigative reports, she then drove to The Gap and sent her final text messages to her mother, Camila, and Brayden. CCTV footage of the area captured her throwing her phone off the edge of the cliff before walking out of frame. Her remains have not been recovered.
Camila Zeidan Reportedly Created a Fake Persona to Coerce and Control Renae Marsden
After Renae’s tragic passing, her family members went through the cell phone records of Renae and Brayden. Soon, they noticed that in the months of texting Renae, Brayden and Camila had never texted her at the same time. An official inquest later determined that Camila had made up the fictitious online identity of Brayden and catfished Renae by pretending to be Brayden using her other phone. The police examined the case themselves and also found that none of the text messages Brayden sent originated from Goulburn, where he had apparently been imprisoned. In fact, they were coming from Glen Haven, pinging off the same tower as Camila’s messages were pinging off. When the authorities called Goulburn prison to ask about Brayden, they were shocked to learn that there was no Brayden in the system.
During the search of Camila’s house, they seized several mobile phones except the phone she used to pretend to be Brayden. In her defense, Camila claimed that she had been communicating with Renae as Brayden because Renae wanted so. She told the police that she and Renae created Brayden to mask their own lesbian love affair because neither of their families was going to accept them as a couple. In May 2020, NSW Deputy State Coroner Elaine Truscott concluded that Camila Zeidan’s catfishing scheme ultimately led Renae to take her own life. “I find that Renae Marsden died of fatal fall injuries after she deliberately slipped from the cliffs … after the termination of a relationship with person whose identity was fabricated and created for the purposes of exercising control and coercion over her by a known person,” Truscott said.
Truscott added, “Camila freed herself of the jealousy and possessiveness she felt by Renae being in a relationship with a man. She no longer needed to compete with one of Renee’s boyfriends … (she could) exercise coercion and control of Renae as Brayden.” However, since catfishing was not a crime as per New South Wales law, Camila was not charged in connection with Renae’s suicide. Since then, her mother and stepfather, Teresa and Mark, have been campaigning for Renae’s Law to make catfishing a crime in Australia. As of today, Camila leads a private life, staying away from the limelight.
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