Friend alleges 'creepy' past of suspect in the murder of Masako Kenley
(KUTV) — Friends of Masako Kenley shared details about the man arrested in connection to her murder, and the “creepy” incidents she had with him.
Tracy Collar has known Kenley for 18 years. They worked together at the United States Postal Service. Collar was the friend Kenley was heading to meet on the day she disappeared.
"I'm afraid that she stood up for herself, and he shot her and killed her because I think he was so deranged that he was under the assumption of, 'if I can't have her, nobody can,'” Collar said about William O’Reilly, the man Sandy Police arrested in the investigation.
"Masako is such a loving and caring person, and she always trusted people,” Collar said.
She said she and Kenley knew O’Reilly seven years ago.
We did work together, but he was a stalker. And he stalked her," she said.
Collar said the three of them worked in different departments at the USPS. She said everything seemed normal enough at work.
"The weirdness came in after he officially retired from the post office, and he would drive from his house to Masako's house to deliver fresh eggs," Collar said.
She said Kenley loved fresh eggs, and thought it was innocent enough at first. But Collar said things evolved. He brought Kenley eggs more often, started following her, tracking her, and threatening her.
"I was there; I witnessed the whole thing. Lots of stuff happened and so it was very creepy. And very not normal," Collar said.
She said Kenley’s husband confronted O’Reilly and told him to stay away. She thought it ended there, but it didn’t. Collar said she was not surprised when O’Reilly was arrested in connection to Kenley's murder, but it's hard to process.
"She was a very, very happy-go-lucky, spur of the moment person. This is not her; this is not what I want her to be remembered by."
She said instead, remember Kenley’s smile, and the smiles she brings to everyone she met. She said remember her spitfire energy, explorer personality, and her love for her husband and children.
Her kids are her life, were her life. Her entire voicemail on her phone was filled with their voices from when they were little, leaving her messages saying, ‘hi mom, it's me.’"
Collar said it's hard to think about what happened that day when Masako went missing, because she feels like she should have realized she was missing sooner.
On July 2, Kenley had left work to head to meet Collar for dinner. Kenley told her husband that she was on her way, but never made it. Collar said she assumed Kenley was asked to work late, something that happened to them both often. So, she wasn't alarmed when Kenley never showed up.
“It breaks my heart because it's like he (Kenley's husband) thought she was with me, I thought she was home. And she lost her life."
