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Man fakes suicide to get out of engagement to long-distance fiance

"He has shattered my trust and I'm not sure I'll ever be in a relationship again," says embittered ex.

By Matt Bradwell
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STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- An English woman who was expecting to be on her honeymoon is instead enjoying an impromptu American vacation after her former fiance attempted to fake his own suicide to get out of marrying her.

"'I'm a terrible, awful person," Tucker Blandford, the 23-year-old former groom to be, admitted to the Daily Mail.

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Blandford met his former fiancee, Alex Lanchester, also 23, in 2012 when Lanchester was studying abroad as a film student visiting the University of Connecticut.

The two quickly became close and started dating.

"Tucker was such a gentleman and was always buying me dinner and beautiful vintage jewelry," Lanchester recalled.

"I'd never been in love like that before. Every Sunday he would take me out for pancakes, it was so sweet."

When Lenchester's time in the U.S. ended, Blandford proposed to her.

As Lenchester planned for their wedding, set for August 15, Blandford grew increasingly uncomfortable with the long-distance relationship. Unable to face the pressure of committing to Lenchester or breaking up with her, Blandford concocted a plan to fake his own suicide.

Pretending to be his father, Blandford called Lenchester and delivered the news that he suffered from depression and had jumped into the path of a moving car. The grim ruse quickly unraveled when Lenchester phoned Blandford's mother to offer her condolences.

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"He has shattered my trust and I'm not sure I'll ever be in a relationship again," Lanchester said.

"All I ever did was love him ... I've cried until I felt numb but now I'm just really angry. I'll be spending our would-be wedding day making new memories without him. He's a liar and a coward."

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