The two men were involved in a love triangle with "Jessi", whom they thought to be an 18-year-old girl with the screen name 'talhotblond'.

In the beginning of their online relationship, Thomas presented himself as an 18-year-old man named "Tommy" who was in basic training and later deployed.

His wife later discovered the affair and revealed the truth to "Jessi", but the two continued to chat.

[1][2] Directed and written by Emmy award-winning journalist Barbara Schroeder, the film features appearances by convicted murderer Thomas Montgomery, clinical psychologist and attorney Dr. Rex Julian Beaber, Erie County prosecutor Ken Case, Erie County Sheriff Ron Kenyon; Oak Hill, West Virginia Sgt.

[6] On June 23, 2012, Lifetime aired a television film based on the story, TalhotBlond, directed by Courteney Cox, with Garret Dillahunt as Thomas and Laura San Giacomo as his wife Carol[7] (in real life, Cindy), who slowly starts feeling disconnected from her husband.