We have a bizarre news story for you today about a Dexter fan who decided to write a screenplay about murder, and then murder people that way. We get the extended news piece thanks to our friends at IESB:
From AFP: “Canadian filmmaker has been charged in a murder plot eerily similar to one of his horror movies, media said Monday. Mark Twitchell, 29, was charged Saturday with the murder of Johnny Altinger in what police believe is a case of life imitating art. Police believe the victim was lured on October 10 to a garage where Twitchell made movies on the promise of a date with a woman he had met online.
They seized a script written by Twitchell about a killer who lured a man to his death under similar circumstances.
They are also looking for another man believed to have escaped from the garage a week before Altinger went missing. Witnesses told police he was attacked by a man in a hockey mask as he fled.”
But not only did this guy dabble in horror films but actually starred in and directed a Star Wars fan film called Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion that starred Jeremy Bulloch, yep, Boba Fett himself. According to the news reports Twitchell is also an obssessed fan of Dexter.
This is the second crazy psycho killer Canada has had this year. First it was the bus decapitator, now this guy shows up and gives Dexter a bad wrap. I am not surprised, there are many copycat killers, and it was only a matter of time before a fan of Dexter followed suit. Regardless of your opinion on TV, we can all agree that people who desire to kill probably think Dexter is an awesome show.
I’m curious to see if this guys script will make it to the net and I’m wondering how true to the story he was able to get. Was he murdering according to the script and trying to fulfill it in real life like a perverse to do list? I am glad this guy was caught, because the field research for his projects involves murder.
International friends – if you ever have the overwhelming urge to kill someone, please inform your local authorities so they may direct you to a place of counseling and hold you accountable. In the meantime, if you must let loose your rage on someone, egg their house.
Two psychos? Perhaps, but the contraction is for two different
conditions. Bus guy was psychotic, whereas one may make the
clinical obersation Twitchell is psycopathic.
The latter is a personality disorder , untreatable. The former
is ususally caused by a chemical illness not of the sufferer’s choice
or within his control. It is treatable in many cases, like any other
biochemical disorder.
Psychotic episodes are not usually in accord with the core personality.
The bus situation was just a sad tragedy for all.
Twitchell’s just a bad personality.
He cut the body up and dumped it in a sewer. He had a “kill room.” VERY much like Dexter.
He didn’t follow the code
Mark Twitchell’s voire doir will start in Edmonton court house in October 2010. The media has been shut down on this. Police are checking to see if other victims have been involved in the past. ie: missing persons.
Right on…Edmonton: Capital Crime capital city of Canada!
Both of these killers are from Edmonton as well… and there has been more murders in Edmonton, they just have not got as much attention… scary AB!
Dexter has a lot of fans. Did the show have any influence on Twitchell, if he actually did what he is being accused of, no one can really tell.. Let’s not ruin a good TV show by mentioning its name every time we mention Twitchell’s name.
It is what it is, and Dexter is just that – a fictional character. Twitchell is not.
I knew John years ago and I think Mark Twitchell did it. I think the police have forensic and video evidence that hasn’t been made known to the public. Mark also made more than one reference to Dexter on facebook and was also a member of dexter group there. He was obviously delusional. One comment he made was along the lines of how he couldn’t believe he had been given the _divine_ right to put the star wars franchise back on track after Lucas had lost his way and become greedy.
in my opinon i think he did it i mean come the life imatating art thing i believe it
In reply to Anna Leftly:
I just wanted to point out that since the population of the United States is approximately ten times greater than that of Canada, then your percent ratio is off by appxroximately that much. A better number would be 285%.
That is to say, if our figures are correct (and I’m in no way saying that they are), there are slightly less than three times as many murders per capita in the United States than there are in Canada.
ROLFLMAO! I love how out of control the media is over ONE line on a guys Facebook page. I personally checked it out and he had ONE line that said,”Today I have too much in common with Dexter.” That was posted in August 08.
Dexter kills killers who will probably kill again.
This Twitchell may or may not have lured a man to his movie set, with the promise of sex and then killed him. Just like Twitchell’s screenplay.
Um, those don’t seem the same at all. Love when the media plays the telephone game. How far off base can they get.
Oh and Twitchell might be one of two sickos from Canada this year, but there were 594 murders in all of Canada in 2007 which was down 7% from the year before. Whilst in the US there were 16929 murders in 2007 which was down less than 1% from 2006. That means the the US murder rate is 2850% more than ours. So I would still prefer to live in Canada with the one or two odd f***s as opposed to the large group of them in the south.
I new Mark. He was at the opening of Star Wars Ep. III with me and my friends in Davenport, IA. We all couldn’t stand him. He made stories up and told us things that were complete fabricated stories. Like how George Lucas gave him the original Luke Skywalker lightsaber prop. We thought he was creepy too. So when we heard he killed someone we were of course shocked, but not in disbelief.
Peter Woodcock, Wayne Boden, Russell Johnson, John Martin Crawford, Clifford Olsen, Paul Bernardo and his wife Karla Homolka, Michael Wayne McGray, John Martin Crawford, William Patrick Fyfe, Allan Legere, Gilbert Paul Jordan and Monica Benson, etc.
Caroline is right!
I think that it is hilarious that you guys are suggesting that Canada has (maybe has had?) 2 serial killers. Except for Cora, you “acknowleged” 3 others.
I agree that these shows and video games do not necessarily make pyschos do the things that they do…their personal baggage probably holds those keys. Nevertheless, I think that shows like Dexter and movies like Saw might go a long way towards confirming things for unhinged people and desensitizing the rest of us.
I have to disagree with the comments here. I think Dexter should be banned. And I say this after having thoroughly enjoyed the show, but since Season 1 I always felt a bit guilty about watching it knowing it was only a matter of time before someone got the wrong idea from the show.
The show idolizes a serial killer, and one who shows no remorse. We are only given his thoughts, not the thoughts of any of his victims. Perhaps some of them had only killed killers also. We never really see Dexter for the monster he is. This is not “Death Wish” (for the younger readers a movie where after his (Charles Bronson’s) wife is killed and daughter raped he shoots criminals). Bronson kills criminals to do something that the courts have failed to do, but this was never his lifelong passion, in fact he was initially considered a bleeding heart liberal.
Dexter, in contrast, essentially only kills killers because of a code instilled in him to prevent him from killing innocents. The fact that to a certain extent he cleans the streets is only a byproduct of what he does. He needs blood and nearly goes out of his mind when circumstances prevent him from killing for a month.
With millions of impressionable idiots out there, it was only a matter of time before this happened. I simply don’t see how whatever enjoyment we derive from seeing a show is worth people being victimized for. I don’t believe in censhorship generally, but I think this show is a rare exception. It is one thing for people to be killed incidentally as part of the plot, it is quite another to have a show on network television where murder is the plot.
Well rational human beings understand that what you’ve outlined is the point of the show. Nobody who understands narratives at all understands Dexter is not to be celebrated. I agree with you though, I find myself not liking the show more and more because the show has yet to judge Dexter for his perverted psycho behavior, and because I am fearing for copycats.
Actually Canada has had it share of serial killers: Thomas Svekla, Robert “Willie” Pickton and others. Shouldn’t the murders of my friends get acknowledged as well? What about Joseph Laboucan? He was involved in the murder of Nina Courtepatte (13 yrs old) and has been the charged in another murder.
I use to work with this guy in the US. He was always a bit odd. But, one would never have expected him to do something like this. I always felt sorry for his wife. She was such a nice person and from what I had heard, he treated her like dirt.
It’s a very disturbing thought, but i have to say, as one of the actors on the set of the film “House Of Cards” he seemed very normal and he actually mentioned the saw films and how he thought they were great, he asked me to watch dexter to get a feel for the role i had to play. I had no idea he was as screwed up as he is. i mean i have seen his work. The Star wars film for example, he had a part in that movie, and he seemed to be just another guy.
He knew his lingo, he knew the business. after receiving the phone call from Detective Frank, from the edmonton police, i knew something was up. i just feel sorry for thoes who were innocent and involved in his production company, as their hard work probably has less meaning to them all.
as for his wife and kids, at least they can be safe with him in jail.
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to wait and see if he did it before we start asking about his filming it and whether it should be uploaded? Not that the cops have ever been wrong before….
Working for a state prison system.. My days can be filled with the wrangling of paperwork concerning serial killers and the like. I smile knowing that Canada has only two known killers, feel blessed. In this case one who had yet to get a body count? Like Dexter? Yeah, sure we can’t all be original and different like Manson, Dean Corral (check that cat out) and so many others. So, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. (Copyright infringement meh?) I read today that Miami, Florida actually went the whole month October without a murder.
@M – Some may consider those authorities, as well. Perspective, perspective, perspective.
@Malek – should it have been uploaded, I’m certain we would have seen it by now. The question is, will it be found and then uploaded by someone else?
I wonder if he actually filmed it and uploaded it
@ Slushieman, I’ll give you that media will obviously have an effect on unstable people, I believe some people used to have issues even when playing games like D and D where they trouble telling fantasy from reality. I was just venting a bit.
“But if this guy is a fan of Dexter, I still think its kind of goofy to drag the show into it.”
Not when he goes around bragging about how much he looks like Dexter and he could be his identical twin, while at the same time he’s killing people. Dexter obviously was some kind of influence on him.
“I never like it when they pull this, it was the same with the Columbine shootings, the two guys played violent videogames and that made them do it… bull crap because I play the same violent games and I’ve never shot anyone.”
Because you have a stable mind. I hate people on BOTH sides of this argument. No, it’s not JUST the video games that make people do that stuff, but it is PART of it. It’s a balance between people with mental problems, and the video games/movies. It’s no secret that games and movies like that, when viewed/played by someone with mental problems along these lines, it starts giving them a need to actually go out and do that stuff, and they use them as a study guide to take notes.
So no, it’s not JUST the games by themselves, but yes, they ARE a part of it.
At the same time though, no I don’t think they should be banned/censored or any of that shit. if you were to ban everything that a potentially psycho-person could use to help plan or carry out a murder, then everything in the world would have to be banned except for maybe bread. And even that they could shove down someone’s throat and make them choke on it, so never mind. We have no bread either.
@ Rodney, I guess… but Dexter uses his lessons learned from his adoptive dad who was a cop to cover up the murders. His profession more allows him to find the people that will fulfill his dad’s code and become his next victims.
But if this guy is a fan of Dexter, I still think its kind of goofy to drag the show into it. I mean I like the show Dexter and I have done a lot of messed up crap, but the show has nothing to do with it. I never like it when they pull this, it was the same with the Columbine shootings, the two guys played violent videogames and that made them do it… bull crap because I play the same violent games and I’ve never shot anyone.
“if you ever have the overwhelming urge to kill someone, please inform your local authorities so they may direct you to a place of counseling and hold you accountable”
Exactly how should people be held accountable for their urges?
Don’t treat the “mentally ill’ like criminals unless they’ve comitted a crime. Thoughts are not crimes.
If you have innapropriate, overwhelming urges contact your doctor, social worker, or priest so they may direct you to a place of counselling. No other ‘authorities’ have any business knowing your psychology- only your behaviour.
TWO psycho killers in Canada in one year. I can live with those numbers.
@Haole, Dexter is a man who uses his own profession to cover up the murders he commits. This guy used the idea of a screenplay to actually commit the murders within them. They were both drawn to commit these acts through their professions. There is something similar there.
It’s not supposed to. He has a fascination with Dexter and thinks he looks like him, but the murder and attempted murder, and potential future murders, were all modeled after his own original screenplay, NOT after Dexter.
Maybe I’m missing something, but that doesn’t sound anything like Dexter…
I heard about this on the news last night. That article left some info out, but has all the important stuff there.