This is the part where we tell you “you might want to sit down.” According to a scandalous story released by The Mirror, a woman named Maria Guillen Garcia learned the hard way that she wasn’t her new husband’s only wife… from Facebook! From his other wife! Yup, it just gets worse and worse.

It all started when Maria came across some shady photos on her hubby’s phone… next up, she messaged the mystery woman in the pics on Facebook. And the response she got was way more than she’d bargained for...

But before we get there, let’s take a journey back to the beginning of this sordid tale. None of it would’ve happened, of course, if Maria had simply run a background check on her groom to be. Marriage records are public records, meaning as much as someone may want to hide the fact they’re currently coupled, a background report from a reputable provider like PeopleWhiz will expose the truth.

But Maria never ran that check. And thus, we find her on her wedding day…

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All Dressed Up With No Groom to Wed

She showed up in her bridal gown ready to go, only to realize her groom-to-be was nowhere to be found. They were right about to miss their slot, no wedding today it seemed, when the man she knew as Tom McCabe burst through the door, sweat at his brow and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He apologized for being late, stating the flowers he stopped for on the way was the reason for his tardiness.

Fast forward seven years… to the moment when Maria learned a terrible, terrible secret. Tom McCabe, who she had known for only nine months when they tied the knot, was already bound to someone else. Maybe that bouquet wasn’t actually the reason he was late on that big day after all.

At this point, Maria was in serious debt due to McCabe. She’d been effectively taking care of him financially, only to find out the man she was supporting legally belonged to another. As Maria put it, “He’s a compulsive liar. Maybe he thought his wife and I would never find out about each other. Unfortunately for him, I’m not stupid.”

As for the 51-year-old McCabe, he swore that he’d never been married in his life, and that his “ex-girlfriend”, one Bridget O’Connell, had bore him no children. But these lies and more all were exposed as such after Maria updated his smartphone for him. That’s when it all came crashing down…

McCabe Was a User… and a Loser

When the 47-year-old Maria stumbled across McCabe’s pictures of his other family, she knew she had to reach out to the woman in them. That’s when she turned to social media, zeroing in on Facebook to make contact with Bridget. Not only did she find out Bridget and Tom were married, they also had a 23-year-old daughter together!

Now again, all of this would have shown up on a background report. This isn’t to blame the victim at all, quite the opposite. We’re simply pointing to a plan of attack so that our readers can exercise caution and attempt to avoid these pitfalls for themselves moving forward. We recommend running background checks on anyone you might find even remotely suspicious. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Back to McCabe… when the cops went to question him, he fled. Effectively evading law enforcement for quite some time. But eventually he was caught, and, recently, he confessed to his bigamy in court.

At first, McCabe claimed Bridget had informed him that they were divorced, having wed in 1995 and parting ways in 2004. But the plot, as it tends to do, would thicken.

Tom Was in a Hurry to Get Married

There’s a saying, “Only fools rush in.” But what about con artists? Or bigamists? Turns out they might rush you to walk down the aisle too…

In Maria’s case, when she connected with Bridget on Facebook, she learned that Tom and Bridget had never actually divorced. Fast forwarding back to today, McCabe awaits sentencing for his crime of bigamy, which could spell seven years behind bars.

It’s a nasty end for the man who Maria met through a lonely hearts ad back in 2009, a man who Maria says was in a big hurry to get married. Their nuptials the following year cost Maria thousands, and their annulment cost her thousands more. According to Maria, “He said he loved me, but I was his cash cow.”

In court Maria stated, “I have been living a life with him for nearly seven years and he caused me to land in over $29,000 of debt, pushing me to get loan after loan, borrowing from the bank and my colleagues. Money he said was for a van, for certificates to do work and for a surveyor for a house he said he had bought.”

If only she had run that background check before her walk down the aisle!

Tom Even Got Maria Evicted

Back in 2013, Maria found herself in a very precarious situation. Unable to foot the bill for her rent, she (along with Freeloader Tom), got evicted from her home. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Maria dumped Tom, leaving him, only for him to virtually drop to his knees, begging her to give him one more shot. For whatever reason, Maria said okay, despite her rising suspicion of him. Afterall, she’d still never met any of his relatives!

Fast forward to 2015, when Maria’s smartphone suddenly required an update. Her co-worker helped her out, updating the software only to uncover the scandalous photos. When she showed them to Tom, all he did was lie, lie, lie.

When Bridget finally wrote back to Maria’s Facebook message, the truth was laid bare. Tom was a bigamist, as he had never officially divorced his previous wife. And that’s when Maria called the cops and got the heck outta there! She flew to Spain, leaving a copy of her marriage license inscribed with the phrase “null and void.” Beside the defunct marriage license sat her sham of a wedding ring and a note that read, “I want you out by the time I get back.”

This story does have a happy ending, however, as just last year Maria met a new Prince Charming named Marco, who is nearly 20 years her junior. The two of them are considering marriage, although this time, Maria might just have to run herself a background check.

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