The aspiring model whose childhood rejection of Elliot Rodger lit the fuse that turned him into a murderous madman barely remembers him, her dad told The Post on Monday.
Pretty blond Monette Moio is vilified as an “evil bitch” in the rambling, 141-page manifesto that Rodger wrote before killing six people and wounding another 13 in California on Friday.
But her father, veteran Hollywood stuntman John Moio, said she only “vaguely remembers him” and was far too young to have been one of the “mean, cruel, and heartless creatures” whom Rodger railed against.
“He called her a bully. She was just a little petite girl of just 10 years old,” said John, 75.
John said he spoke with Monette after her name surfaced in Rodger’s manifesto.
“He was [a year] older. She remembers him being odd, that’s it,” the dad said.
John told the Daily Mail that his daughter was “devastated over the whole thing.”
“It’s like she’s being implicated in this terrible tragedy for something she hasn’t done and can’t remember,” he said.
“He’s a sociopath. She hasn’t seen him since school,” John said of his daughter and Rodger.
“Maybe the girls she hung around with did poke fun at him, but they were kids. My daughter was not a bully, she’s one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. She probably rejected his aggressive advances. If you want to call that bullying then fine.
“He was weird then, and he’s weird now,” the dad added.
“He had a secret crush on her, but she was completely unaware of him. She had no idea … If you think about it, he could have killed her, he could have come after her.
“I was hands on at that school and I don’t remember him. … I also feel sorry for him because he obviously wasn’t getting the proper help. From what I understand, he was receiving psychological help two years before he met my daughter. I am not here to judge anyone.”
John told The Post that his son, actor Ashton Moio, shared an eighth-grade class with Rodger at the private Pinecrest School — and rejected the killer’s rantings against his boy, as well.
“He said he resented my son for being popular. My boy wasn’t popular in school. He had his troubles. He was a normal kid,” John told The Post.
John, whose other son died of meningitis at age 2, said: “My heart goes out to all the victims. I’ve lost a child, and I know what’s that like.”
According to his chilling manifesto, Rodger admitted that he was obsessed with Monette and blamed her for the rage that erupted last week.
“My experience during Middle School really darkened my view of the world, and it would only get darker from then on, as I suffered more and more. The way I was treated by girls at this time, especially by that evil bitch Monette Moio, sparked an intense fear of girls,” he wrote.
“The funny part of this is that I had a secret crush on Monette. She was the first girl I ever had a crush on, and I never admitted it to anyone. To be teased and ridiculed by the girl I had a crush on wounded me deeply. The world that I grew up thinking was bright and blissful was all over. I was living in a depraved world, and I didn’t want to accept it. I didn’t want to give any thought to it. That is why I immersed myself entirely into my online games like World of Warcraft. I felt safe there.
“She must have thought I was an ultimate loser,” the failed Romeo added of Monette.
“I hated her so much, and I will never forget her. I started to hate all girls because of this. I saw them as mean, cruel, and heartless creatures that took pleasure from my suffering.”
Rodger said he was also jealous of her brother.
“I tried to act as cool and confident as I possibly could … though I felt intimidated,” Rodger wrote about a chance meeting with the brother at a party.
“He was one of the most popular kids [at school] … and now he was becoming an actor, one of the most attractive careers a man can have. I assumed he had probably slept with countless beautiful girls. Damn him. I had a brief conversation with him before trying to leave his presence as fast as I could. I didn’t want him to find out how pathetic my life was.”
I hated her so much, and I will never forget her. I started to hate all girls because of this. I saw them as mean, cruel, and heartless creatures that took pleasure from my suffering.
- Elliot Rodger, in his manifesto
Monette, who lives with her mom, talent agent and photographer Monique Strong, works at the Equinox gym in Woodland Hills, Calif., where employees were shocked at her connection to Rodger’s rampage.
“I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her. She’s so nice,” a co-worker told The Post.
Ashton has a supporting role on the ABC Family network’s series “Twisted,” and also had a small role in the 2012 blockbuster “The Hunger Games.”
Rodger’s dad, Peter Rodger, worked on “The Hunger Games” as a second unit director, collecting background shots and scenery footage.
In his manifesto, Elliot Rodger also talked about another girl he met at age 5.
“She was the first female friend I’ve ever had, and she would be the last,” he wrote.
He indicated that he felt incredible alienation when the girl dared to blossom into a pretty, outgoing young lady without him.
“Now, she was a fully grown teenage girl,” Rodger wrote. “She was a typical pretty girl who had lots of pretty friends. She was one of them, one of the popular kids. My first friend in America had grown up to represent the type of people who have caused me so much pain in my life. She would eventually come to represent everything I hate.”