When investigative journalist and MacEwan University Professor Steve Lillebuen set out to write a book about the Dexter-obsessed murderer Mark Twitchell in late 2010, the last thing he expected was to get a jailhouse call from the killer himself. dismemberment, but did not take issue in court with what was determine the veracity of SKconfessions. In the end, the authorities opted not to charge him with the attempted murder of Gilles. It really was like being on a legitimate movie set.. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Facebook gives people the power. to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really In September 2008, inspired by the Dexter television series, he wrote and directed an eight-minute horror movie, House of Cards, in a rented garage. discussions with therapists that I am in fact a psychopath in On October 31, 2008, Mark Twitchell was arrested from the basement of his parents home in Edmonton, busy making his Ironman costume. At the time, Mark told the police that he had recently shot a film in the garage. From the hockey mask to the lead pipe to the "Dexter-prepped'" garage, the police noticed that line by line the details in "SK Confessions" were aligning directly with the evidence they found at the crime scene. At the time of his arrest, Twitchell had been working on a film called "House of Cards," in which an unsuspecting man gets lured to a garage and killed. "He had this kind of processing kit that was very similar to what Dexter uses.". Since he lacked formal training, he brought in production crews, trying to learn on the sets. "My head is just racing, like it's like thinking, 'What's goin' on? Jess and Twitchell are said to have met through a dating site in the fall of 2005. And while Twitchell claims in this document that he didn't "copy-cat the style of Dexter Morgan," he adds "I'd still like to pay homage to the character.". The media fought the application, but the judge defence and judge decided it was too inflammatory to be presented attack with a pipe, followed by graphic details of the The alley between 86th and 87th streets south of 130th Avenue where accused murderer Mark Twitchell told police to look for the remains of Johnny Altinger down a manhole. "If you look at the evidence," Lillebuen tells Roberts, "there's significant links to Dexter. He had a table set up for his victims," Lillebuen said. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. as disturbing as the facts they did hear. After Gilles Tetreault entered through the partially raised door into the darkened garage, he felt someone grab him from behind. Then, Mark said that he stabbed Johnny in self-defense. A star only in his own warped mind | Edmonton Journal Some of the description in convicted murderer It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. That's ridiculous." In 2007, Twitchell directed Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion, a full-length fan film prequel set a few days prior to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Why did he have to react? However, he contended that he acted in ", Cowley says, "So to him, this is a date. Altinger's friends became concerned after they received emails supposedly from Altinger claiming that his date had taken him on an extended vacation to Costa Rica. "The Dexter Killer:" Inside the mind of a murderer, Despite comparisons to the fictional TV character Dexter Morgan, in a letter to Steve Lillebuen Twitchell writes, "As you're aware, Dexter has 'almost nothing' to do with my case. It goes on to describe in detail the author's extensive Johnny Altinger's blood was found in the trunk of Mark Twitchell's family car -- a discovery which led to the filmmaker's arrest on Halloween day in 2008. [20][21][22], Crown prosecutors considered pursuing a charge of attempted murder after securing a conviction of first-degree murder. The author also claimed he has never felt empathy. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Gilles Tetreault (pictured) detailed how he was lured to a so-called kill room by 'The Dexter Killer', Tetreault thought he was meeting a woman named Sheena but instead came face-to-face with Mark Twitchell (pictured), Photos show the garage where police say Twitchell attacked Tetreault and later killed a man, Credit: EDMONTON CROWN PROSECUTION OFFICE, Tetreault said he was attacked and ordered to the ground at gunpoint but in his daring escape found out the weapon was a fake, Twitchell sent Tetreault detailed instructions on how to get inside his garage for their arranged 'date', Tetreault came forward to police with his survival story after seeing that another man, Johnny Altinger, disappeared under similar circumstances, Twitchell (pictured) was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life, I escaped The Dexter Killer Mark Twitchell he attacked me in his kill room after tricking me on a dating site, Huge blow to Keir Starmer as Sun mega poll shows Brits think Rishi Sunak is a better leader & reject Labour's woke ideas, Brits are proud of this great country despite endless negativity from the left, Just one in five Brits back 'completely outdated' BBC licence fee, poll reveals, Chances of Labour landslide are melting as voters simply don't trust Keir Starmer, Evil 'Devils Disciple' serial killer enjoys freedom after 47 years despite being 'too dangerous to release permanently', First picture of 'friend to everyone' Brit grandad, 60, who died snorkelling on dream family P&O cruise in Caribbean, Leading Jewish organisation demands meeting with Guardian editor over 'sickening anti-Semitic cartoon' of ex-BBC boss, Woman stabbed to death in horror daylight attack on busy street next to O2 Brixton Academy as police hunt killer, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Twitchell also says "sufficient evidence was Serial Killer Confessions - Medium not yet been decided. '", Investigators said that Tetreault's account of his escape was nearly identical to what was written in "SK Confessions.". Mark Twitchell was married twice. hand-written notice of appeal that was filed Monday. That's when he discovered it was made of plastic. Among the other information not shown to the which was written in the first person and titled "SKConfessions. eventually agreed to both a sealing order and publication ban, The document had been recovered from Twitchell's laptop, despite having been deleted. This is something he's been fantasizing about." "The result of his appeal has stranger a week earlier, to the garage but said it was not to In it the author, believed by investigators to be Twitchell, analyzes his own personality and behaviour. One among them was Drew Kenworthy. mask with a stun baton when he arrived at a garage rented by "I still cheat, but only for the thrill of it," he said. dishes and no indication anything had been packed. On June 17, 2011, an attempted murder charge against Twitchell was stayed in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, meaning that Crown prosecutors could resurrect the charge within a one-year period. The short film featured a killer luring men to a garage and murdering them. ", First published on July 10, 2012 / 10:51 PM. He graduated from a radio and television program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and later gained a small following among sci-fi fans when he directed Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion (2007), a fan film . Who are Mark Twitchell's ex-wives? | The US Sun - The Sun Concern turned into alarm for Altinger's friends and family when, three days after he vanished, they received this unusual email from Altinger's account. This is the story of my progression into becoming a serial killer.". written about the dismemberment in the document. fascinating. Tetreault [25], Extensive media coverage of the case created debate both inside and outside of the courtroom. Gilles Tetreault quickly realized this wasn't a date, as he came face to face with a man in a hockey mask who shocked him with this stun baton. laptop called SKconfessions, which the Crown called his diary and Suspected Killer May Have Copied Showtime's 'Dexter' - ABC News He was a married amateur film maker from Edmonton, Canada, with an eight-month-old daughter. Twitchell had claimed he lured Altinger to the garage to create online buzz for a short film about a Dexter-like killer, which he produced in the garage two weeks earlier and was calling House of Cards. unsequestered jury to have remained uninfluenced by it, regardless On October 10, 2008, Altinger informed his friends of his plans to meet a woman with whom he had been chatting. Mark Twitchell's alleged diary was so lurid that the Crown, "I grabbed his jaw with my gloved hand and a young dad with having a girlfriend on the side and a female Tetreault claims that he did not report the attack because he was embarrassed. In 2001, Twitchell married an American woman and moved to Illinois, but they divorced in 2004. September 2008 he shot a short horror film at a garage he rented The investigators then came across a deleted file on his hard drive titled SK Confessions. The document went into detail regarding a murder similar to the one in House of Cards. It also mentioned a crumbling marriage. A homicide of his disappearance. A self-aware one no less.". According to Twitchell, Altinger sold his Mazda 6 to Twitchell for 40 CAD, all the cash Twitchell had on hand. It's all a big, corrupt power grab He had a kill room set up with plastic sheeting. Twitchell's fondness for the Dexter television show was well-documented during the trial, and he had a Facebook profile under the name of protagonist Dexter Morgan, a vigilante serial killer. "I had found out through introspection and ", Twitchell said SK stood for his writing hero Mark Twitchell was a filmmaker from Canada who dreamed of making it big in the movies. Driven by this desire and his passion for the TV show Dexter, Twitchell started plotting out a Dexter-like murder. He worked as a Canadian filmmaker and was convicted of first-degree murder in April 2011. As the investigation progressed, Mark became the prime suspect. victim and watching the organs slowly collapse. [27] When the bans were lifted, a large media presence attended and reported on the trial, including American television programs Dateline NBC and 48 Hours. Furthermore, Johnny had told a friend that he met a filmmaker and not a woman as he thought he would before he disappeared. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Then 31 years old, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. over the police evidence, preventing the media from reporting on "There's just this chill down my back, as I wow, this is no date.". Twitchells first wife was Megan Casterella, from Illinois, US. They revealed his fascination with the fictional character Dexter Morgan an obsession that Lillebeun and police say Twitchell carried over into his real-life crimes. MURDERER Mark Twitchell was obsessed with the TV show Dexter about an avenging serial killer, even going so far as to have a "kill room" for dismembering bodies - just like the fictional character. from Altinger, explaining that he had met a woman who was taking Though he made headlines for. filmmaker Mark Twitchell plans to appeal his first degree-murder It has no bearing whatsoever on what actually happened. [8] Altinger's friends broke into his condominium, where they found his passport, dirty dishes, and no indication of his having packed for a trip. It has no bearing whatsoever on what actually happened. up the body and dumped it down a sewer. Once there, he hit him on the head with a pipe Twitchell had a daughter, Chloe, who was born in 2008, with his second wife Jess. [17][18] Tetreault testified that he was lured using the website Plenty of Fish, expecting a date with a young woman named Sheena, only to be attacked by a man in a hockey mask with a stun baton when he arrived at the garage in Edmonton rented by Twitchell. Twitchell stated that he had caught up on every Dexter episode that he missed since he was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder. "If I had a sense Mark Twitchell | Wannabe Serial Killer - YouTube planning, failed first attempt, and successful second attempt at "So, I'm like, 'Oh no, what am I gonna do now. The directions led police to Twitchell's garage, where they found his so-called kill room. Killer filmmaker appeals Now, "48 Hours" contributor Troy Roberts reports on those letters and gets a revealing look at what one retired FBI criminal profiler believes motivated Mark Twitchell in "The Dexter Killer. Twitchell trial hears of blood spatter in cars, garage Mark Twitchell - Biography - IMDb Filmmaker Mark Twitchell cried in court Friday as he watched a police interrogation video of a detective telling him he was going to be charged with homicide. Twitchell's laptop despite being deleted. Police believe that Johnny Altinger was hit over the head with this pipe shortly upon entering the darkened garage. But a conviction of attempted He had this kind of processing kit that was very similar to what Dexter uses. Twitchell also took part in it. Twitchell made headlines again this month after writing numerous lettersto journalist Steve Lillibuen. First published on April 21, 2022 / 2:08 PM. concludes. About this period, Chris Durham, his former instructor, later said, He transformed our news studioThere were sewing machines. An important piece of evidence was the hockey mask the killer wore when he attacked his two victims in October of 2008. between himself and SKconfessions was not discussed. MARK Twitchell, also known as the Dexter killer, was married twice before being convicted of first-degree murder. defence to affirm or refute specific aspects of the actual Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. Johnny Altinger's older brother said that family and friends last heard from Johnny on October 10, 2008, when the 38-year-old headed out on a date with a woman named "Jen.". Before his marriages, Twitchell dated Traci Higgins, when they were students at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in the late 1990s. Mark Twitchell | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers While outwardly unimposing, his writings were dark. ", After his arrest on Halloween day in 2008, police recovered a deleted file on Twitchell's computer called "SK Confessions." Altinger. Today, The Journal continues a . His first wife was Megan Casterellla, a woman from Illinois, USA, whom he married on 4 January 2001. "The Crown's theory leans on too many fallacies This came through when they found Johnnys blood in Marks trunk and other biological evidence in the garage. Jess testified at his murder trial that on the days he was committing his crimes a note on the family kitchen calendar stated that he was seeing his psychiatrist. "[28] He abandoned his appeal in 2012. Seeing the hockey mask at this police press conference is what prompted Gilles Tetreault to finally come forward. The man, he wrote, was "a twisted old fart who As his victim entered the garage, he attacked him with a stun baton, wearing a hockey mask. While doing joint projects, Twitchell very often failed to do his part. In 2008, Twitchell was a 29-year-old aspiring filmmaker living in Edmonton, Canada, with his wife and young daughter. Prior to the criminal trial taking place, Crown prosecutors and Mark had also been lying to Jess about being employed. Photo by John Lucas . Mark Twitchell, then 29, was an aspiring filmmaker. Tetreault said Twitchell, wearing a black and gold hockey mask, ordered him to the ground at gunpoint inside the garage. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. It is what it is and I am what I am. Who are Mark Twitchell's ex-wives? | The Sun attracted substantial media attention due to the fact that They don't have the During their investigation, investigators learned that Mark Twitchell was a devoted fan of the Showtime series "Dexter" about an avenging serial killer. no chance of parole for 25 years at a Saskatchewan prison - sent a As police were still trying to nail Twitchell for the crimes, Tetreault saw Johnny's murder and the hockey mask on the news. Tetreault was also shocked with a stun baton. The couple's divorce wasn't finalized until December 2010. He had been married to Jess Twitchell, but their relationship had been rocky recently, with them sleeping in separate rooms. Twitchell was inspired by the character Dexter Morgan, of the "Most people be in a position to properly diagnose himself. In it he writes, "I diligently set up my kill room," explaining how it included "several rolls of painters plastic sheeting" and "a forty five gallon steel drum for the body parts" as well as a "game processing kit which contained a butcher knife a fillet knife and a serrated saw for the bones. [27] The media fought the application, but the judge agreed to both a sealing order and publication ban, stating in his ruling that "there is a real risk that pretrial publicity will undermine the accused's constitutionally protected right to a fair trial. Who is Mark Twitchell and why is he called the Dexter killer? "He just said straight out, 'If you're gonna be writing a book about me, you might as well come straight to the source,'" a stunned Lillebuen tells "48 Hours." "And that's when somebody came out, attacked me from behind. self defense and that much of the document was a fictionalization Twitchell, then 29 years old, a married man with a young daughter, had used the garage as a set for a recent movie project. One passage spoke of the killer trying to burn remains in a barrel; police found this burned barrel inside Mark Twitchell's garage. ready.". He lures men who think they're going to be arriving for a date. Days before Altinger's murder, on October 3, Twitchell invited another man named Gilles Tetreault to his garage. on state of mind and credibility.". In it, he Mark Twitchell was a film maker from Canada, who, one day, decided he wanted to turn one of his short films into a reality. In a panic, Mark claimed to have cut up the body and then tried to burn it. events in Twitchell's life surrounding the death of Altinger. The womanfought back tears as Inglis asked about her daughter and cried when viewing photos of the house they once shared. Mark Twitchell - Wikipedia Twitchell was convicted in April 2011. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. According to Lillebuen, "he's still pushing that narrative He still blames Johnny for what happened." Pictured here is the beginning of "SK Confessions," which would become a key piece of evidence in the case against Mark Twitchell. Actually carrying out a murder, he said, doesn't make sense. It presented an account of its narrator's planning, failed first attempt, and successful second attempt to lure a man to his garage and murder him, with fake online dating profiles used as bait. Her whereabouts or other details are not known. Three months after his conviction in 2011 for first-degree murder, Twitchell made the same argument to Lillebuen, writing "I killed Johnny Altinger in a horrific accident of self defense. The 29-year-old Canadian man had a wife and a young daughter, and aspirations of becoming a filmmaker. Twitchell claims his computer knowledge is He failed to report the scare to the police out of embarrassment. effect. The police soon learned that Mark was a married father. [2] His trial attracted particular media attention because Twitchell had allegedly been inspired by the fictional character Dexter Morgan.[3]. dating service to lure Altinger, 38, to a rented garage on the (CBC) Aspiring filmmaker Mark Twitchell has been found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for bludgeoning, stabbing and dismembering a stranger. In his letters, the convicted killer also claims that he killed Johnny Altinger not in an act of cold-blooded murder, but in self-defense. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. On October 10, 2008, Twitchell posed as a woman online to lure 38-year-old Johnny Altinger to his death. 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Most read in The US Sun MIGHTY MARCH The other major consideration is his work, he said. authoring the document. Extensive media coverage of the case created debate both inside In April 2011, Twitchell was found guilty of first-degree murder. On June 17, 2011, an attempted murder charge against convicted Serial killers have always fascinated us, and films and television shows have taken advantage of this. ", He talked about cutting open the torso of the When confronted, Twitchell refused to acknowledge that. Much of that day's program focused on Twitchell's methods and featured interviews with Gilles Tetrault, his first intended victim, and Steve Lillebuen, author of the book The Devil's Cinema, which focused on the case. Through the trial the jury heard 18 days of testimony and saw 111 exhibits. However, the latest installment of Crime Junkie shows how a popular show about a serial killer inspired a person to try and be a copycat. Twitchell became known as the Dexter killer as cops said the Canadian was obsessed with the fictional TV killer Dexter Morgan and aspects of his real life crimes followed parts of the show. Court heard Twitchell juggled the life of being A jury returned the. The horror wasn't yet over for Tetreault. fight back and flee the garage, just as described in the document. An initial search of the garage uncovered what appeared to be blood spatter, which Twitchell told police came from the "House of Cards" execution scene he was filming. Former wife weeps at Twitchell murder trial | CBC News Find that person, the police thought, and you've proved that "SK Confessions" is real and not the fictional screenplay Mark Twitchell claimed it was.
