Te’o also told Schaap that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man we identified as being behind Lennay Kekua, apologized to him Wednesday via Twitter direct message. Te’o also said two others, a man and a woman, were Ronaiah’s accomplices, but he didn’t name them. Schaap said he saw the messages, but we’re still not sure how such an apology would have worked. Tuiasosopo deleted his Twitter account weeks ago, and direct messages on Twitter require the recipient to follow the sender. We checked the list of Twitter users Te’o follows on Tuesday and didn’t see any sign of Ronaiah. It’s possible Ronaiah used a new account to send an @-reply Te’o’s way to apologize, but tweets including Te’o’s Twitter name were coming at such a rapid pace Wednesday it’s inconceivable that Te’o could have picked out a single apology from all the other tweets…
As for what Te’o wants for Tuiasosopo, he told Schaap “I don’t wish an ill thing to somebody. I just hope he learns. I think embarrassment is big enough.” Manti Te’o’s apparent defense is that he had no reason to think his twice-undead dead long-distance girlfriend, whom he never met or saw outside of photographs, whose funeral he never thought to attend, might have been a phony. Regardless of whether he’s telling the truth, he’ll soon see just how big embarrassment can get.
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