5 – Mark Andrew Twitchell – Copycat of Dexter
Given the ultra-violent and gruesome nature of the hit television series Dexter, it is hardly a surprise to learn that it ‘inspired’ a killer copycat. As is the case with the Scream movies, the show has inadvertently been the basis for several murders. 21-year-old Mark Howe stabbed his mother to death in England in 2012. He regularly posted Facebook updates about how much he hated his mother, and the recluse was an obsessive Dexter fan. He told a friend he wished he was Dexter and even performed Internet searches such as ‘Dexter‘s Kill Knife.’
In 2009, Andrew Conley murdered his 10-year-old brother. After strangling his sibling, Conley put a plastic bag over the boy’s head in an attempt to mimic the TV killer’s ritual. There are a frightening number of cases where Dexter was supposedly the inspiration, but perhaps the most famous is the murder of John Brian Altinger by Mark Andrew Twitchell in 2008. Unlike the majority of alleged ‘Dexter related killings’ which were seemingly one-off events, police believe Twitchell was a serial killer in the making.
Altinger chatted with a woman on the dating website Plenty of Fish. He quickly fell for his online paramour and arranged to meet her. It turned out that Twitchell posed as the woman and, after luring Altinger to a garage, he murdered his quarry by bludgeoning and stabbing him to death. Twitchell dumped the body and used his victim’s computer to send emails to his friends. He explained that he was taking a long vacation in Costa Rica and also sent a resignation email to his manager at work. However, his friends were suspicious and broke into Altinger’s condo to find no indication that he was away on vacation; mainly because his passport was still there.
Before his death, Altinger emailed directions to the garage to his friends and police say they might not have caught Twitchell without this information. A quick search of the garage’s leasing history showed that Mark Twitchell rented it. The would-be serial killer’s fate was sealed when Gilles Tetreault came to the police with a story that he was lured to a garage by a woman he met on Plenty of Fish. Instead of meeting his date, he was attacked by a masked man but luckily for him; he managed to escape. The attack occurred one week before the disappearance of Altinger.
The net closed in on Twitchell and he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on October 31, 2008. Police found a document hidden on Twitchell’s laptop outlining the failed first attempt and successful second murder attempt. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Scarily, Twitchell reportedly obsessively watches Dexter while in prison.
Some Sources and Further Reading:
UPI – Zodiac’ Suspect Charged In 4 Attacks
The New York Times – THE TRAIL OF ‘THE ZODIAC’; Tracking a Killer
The Guardian – Ripper Copycat Is Found Guilty Of Murder
NZ Herald – Life and Crimes Of Ivan Milat, Australia’s Most Notorious Serial Killer
AETV – Ivan Milat, the Backpack Murderer, Had a Great-Nephew Who Also Became a Killer
Medium – The Loss of Cassie Stoddart
CBS News – Andrew Conley, “Dexter” Admirer, Has Life Sentence For Murder Upheld By Ind. Court