A man was using a garage for a “movie” he was making which had eerie similarities to a bloody crime scene, but he was really posing as women on dating sites to lure men into a real-life bloody crime scene. Mark Twitchell was a Canadian filmmaker with big dreams and a production of a Star Wars prequel. In October 2008, John Brian Altinger, a 38-year-old, unknowingly interacted with Twitchell on a dating website. On October 10, 2008, Altinger informed his friends of his plans to meet a woman with whom he had been chatting for a very brief period of time. His friends were skeptical as he was not a total “lady magnet” but they tried to hide their doubts with happiness for their friend. After this date, Johnny was never seen again, but his family and friends received emails about his “woman” taking him on an extended vacation to Costa Rica. At work, a resignation letter arrived by email, but there was no response to a request for a forwarding address for sending a final paycheck. Altinger’s friends broke into his condominium, where they found his passport, dirty dishes, and no indication of him being packed for a trip. A homicide investigation was soon launched by the Edmonton police which would unveil a darker side to a nerdy filmmaker and the father of a young girl.
Twitchell was heavily inspired by Dexter Morgan which was reflected in his “kill room” used to kill Johnny and in the attempted murder of Gilles Tetreault. The most damning evidence came in the form of a document, entitled “SKConfessions”, which stood for “Serial Killer Confessions”. The document had been recovered from Twitchell’s laptop, despite having been deleted. A quote from the intro of the document puts the nail in Twitchell’s coffin; “This story is based on true events. The names and events were altered slightly to protect the guilty. This is the story of my progression into becoming a serial killer.” He was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of Altinger, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole for 25 years.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES:
SOURCES:
https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/infamous-dexter-killer/
https://murderpedia.org/male.T/t/twitchell-mark.htm
https://medium.com/true-crime-addiction/serial-killer-confessions-7ef4f7ee581d
