Happy True Crime Thursday guys! Hope everyone is taking care in this time of craziness! Sorry I've been MIA the last couple weeks. Been doing things around the house prepping for our little man to arrive next month!
So, I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely loved the show Dexter, I just recently re-watched all the seasons with my husband who had never seen it, while like most I wasn't a fan of the ending I was certainly a fan of the show. Just recently I learned of a man that also was a fan of Dexter, but in a much different kind of way. Today I am talking about Mark Twitchell AKA "The Dexter Killer."
Mark Twitchell was born on July 4, 1979 in Edmonton, Alberta Canada.
He was an aspiring filmmaker who had dreams of making big name movies. In September 2008, he shot a short horror film that he titled "House of Cards." In the film a man is lured from an internet dating site to meet a woman for a date, he goes through a garage where a killer (a police officer) lies in wait. Once inside the garage, the unsuspecting man is attacked by the killer who's objective is to take out bad guys. The killer binds him to a table and murders him with a butcher knife. Sound familiar?
Well on October 10, 2008 this plot line would come to life.
Well on October 10, 2008 this plot line would come to life.
A 38 year old man named Johnny Altinger was on the dating website PlentyofFish when he started chatting with a woman named Jen. The two of them really hit it off, Johnny told his friends about her and that they had made a plan to meet up. Days after this meetup his friends started receiving strange emails from him saying that he was madly in love and that Jen was taking him on Vacation to Costa Rica. These emails seemed strange because Johnny wasn't a fan of hot weather, wouldn't just run off with someone he just met and he signed his name at the end of the emails in which he never did.
In the emails he said he would be in touch, but anytime a friend would write him back they never received a response. An email was also received by Johnny's work with a resignation. His friends tried to go to police to say Johnny was missing, but police didn't think he was actually a missing persons, but rather a grown man that could do as he pleased and had been in contact by email, no report was made. His friends took matters into their own hands and broke into his home, they were overcome with dread when they discovered dishes in the sink, uncovered food in fridge, his luggage and toiletries still there, but one big clue let them know for sure that Johnny was not in Costa Rica. His passport was there.
Finally, police took a statement a week after Johnny went missing. They reached out to airlines to see if there was a record of him flying out, they even called customs in Costa Rica, there was no record of him anywhere. The more they dug the more they discovered. They reached out to anyone that knew Johnny and while some had received the emails, or saw Facebook updates from Johnny no one had actually seen or physically spoke to him since October 10th, the day of his date. They tried to track down where Johnny had gone to met up with this Jen, they discovered through a friend that the woman never actually gave an exact address to Johnny, but gave him directions and told him to go through the garage when he got there.
Police were able to track down this garage, where they learn from neighbors that this garage is a part of a rental property, but the house and the garage were rented by different people, neither by the name of Jen. They find that the renter of the garage was none other than Mark Twitchell, who was using the garage as his film set. They reach out to Mark and ask him some questions, he answered them all and was very cooperative. He tells them he just wrapped up a movie at the garage, and that he has no idea who Jen or who Johnny is. They ask Mark if they can look around the garage, and he agrees to let them in. He meets them there and points to a pad lock on the door and says "that's not mine, somebody changed it." Well, the lock was put on wrong and an officer was able to get in pretty easily. When they enter the garage they notice a large stainless steel table, on this table is a receipt for things such as; gloves, industrial cleaner, plastic sheets. Mark told them it was all for the movie. They also noticed a burnt smell. Other than that there was nothing else suspicious.
They bring Mark in for further questioning, he's a good sport about it and has a great positive attitude. He shares a lot about him self including that he is married to his wife Jess and they have an 8 year old daughter, Chloe. They don't think at this point that Mark has anything to do with it.
But they can't help the feeling that this mans movie is to similar to how Johnny went missing. They decide that they want to search the garage again to see if they missed anything, but are denied a warrant. They reach out to Mark again, and let me tell you this guy is one of those dumb criminals that doesn't cover his tracks very well. Instead of taking them to the garage, he told police that his car had been broken into a couple weeks ago and some things had been taken, and that not long after that he came home to his door unlocked and things missing. He told them he believed whoever broke took garbage bags, duct tape and paper towels, and that's not all they did. Apparently this mystery burglar also tried burning something in an oil drum....Um.....Yeah okay.
It gets better! Mark said that one night he was sitting in his car at a gas station when a man came up to him and asked if he wanted to buy a car. He told police that it was a red Mazda hatchback (which is what Johnny drove) he said the reason the guy was selling the car was because he was travelling with a women and didn't need it. He offered the guy $40 and the guy sold it to him.
Of course police are thinking the same thing we are. They bring Mark in to write an official statement. Even after hours of interrogating Mark, he sticks to his story. They let him go, but soon have a warrant to search his home and car. In the home they find books about serial killers and forensics (only thing I can relate to in this case lol) AND a travel guide to Costa Rica along with blank post cards. They find a black hockey mask, and on this mask they find 2 spots that look like blood. In Marks car they find hand written post it notes, some included lists, like one that said; ship phone, return addy of vic, destroy laptop, use general WiFi for email. Another says kill room, clean sweep.
In the trunk they found a large blood stain and a steak knife. They find a backpack with a large knife inside stained with blood. They also discovered a laptop. Now, if Mark was as into Forensic Files like myself he would have known that when you delete something off your computer, it really isn't gone. On the laptop they found files that Mark thought he had deleted forever, but nope. One of the files was named "SK Confessions."
It was 35 pages long, and at the beginning it stated that it was based off of true events, but names had been changed. It was the story of a man and his progression into becoming a serial killer. This serial killer had a wife named Tess and a daughter named Zoe (Reminder Marks wife was Jess, daughter Chloe.) This killers first instinct was to target married men who were cheating on their wives, but changes his mind when he realizes they would be to easily missed. So he went for single middle aged men instead. His killing attire was a hoodie and a black hockey mask. His kill room was prepped just like Dexter's, covered in plastic sheets. He mentions that his first victim fought back and got away, but he was able to kill his second. He kills him and then drives remains around until he finds a sewer to dump them in.
With all of this in hand police are able to get the warrant for the garage. Where they soon discover much more than last time, including; duct tape, handcuffs, a stun gun, a metal pipe covered in duct tape and blood, full body coveralls and gloves. Everything in the garage lit up during the luminol test.
On Oct 31, 2008 Mark was charged with 1st degree murder and attempted murder. Why the attempted murder you might ask? Well, after a press conference a man by the name of Gilles Tertreault came forward and said that everything that was stated in the "SK Confessions" happened to him and that he didn't come forward before because he was embarrassed.
In June 2010, Mark finally led police to Johnny's body with a handwritten map. What they found was gruesome. Johnny's bones had several breaks, cuts, and saw marks. Some of his body parts were missing. Johnny's body was in a sewer only 2 blocks from Marks parents house.
Mark plead not guilty, but admitted to everything. He said that Johnny's death was in self defense. The lure was a PR stunt for his movie, he wanted to create buzz. The men were supposed to escape. But he said Johnny got pissed and attacked him and that he was a good man that made a mistake. No one bought that garbage and he was found guilty of 1st degree murdered and sentenced to life. If it wasn't for Johnny's friends being so persistent, who knows how many other men might have died by this Dexter wannabe.
Resources:
Crime Junkie Podcast
In the emails he said he would be in touch, but anytime a friend would write him back they never received a response. An email was also received by Johnny's work with a resignation. His friends tried to go to police to say Johnny was missing, but police didn't think he was actually a missing persons, but rather a grown man that could do as he pleased and had been in contact by email, no report was made. His friends took matters into their own hands and broke into his home, they were overcome with dread when they discovered dishes in the sink, uncovered food in fridge, his luggage and toiletries still there, but one big clue let them know for sure that Johnny was not in Costa Rica. His passport was there.
Finally, police took a statement a week after Johnny went missing. They reached out to airlines to see if there was a record of him flying out, they even called customs in Costa Rica, there was no record of him anywhere. The more they dug the more they discovered. They reached out to anyone that knew Johnny and while some had received the emails, or saw Facebook updates from Johnny no one had actually seen or physically spoke to him since October 10th, the day of his date. They tried to track down where Johnny had gone to met up with this Jen, they discovered through a friend that the woman never actually gave an exact address to Johnny, but gave him directions and told him to go through the garage when he got there.
Police were able to track down this garage, where they learn from neighbors that this garage is a part of a rental property, but the house and the garage were rented by different people, neither by the name of Jen. They find that the renter of the garage was none other than Mark Twitchell, who was using the garage as his film set. They reach out to Mark and ask him some questions, he answered them all and was very cooperative. He tells them he just wrapped up a movie at the garage, and that he has no idea who Jen or who Johnny is. They ask Mark if they can look around the garage, and he agrees to let them in. He meets them there and points to a pad lock on the door and says "that's not mine, somebody changed it." Well, the lock was put on wrong and an officer was able to get in pretty easily. When they enter the garage they notice a large stainless steel table, on this table is a receipt for things such as; gloves, industrial cleaner, plastic sheets. Mark told them it was all for the movie. They also noticed a burnt smell. Other than that there was nothing else suspicious.
They bring Mark in for further questioning, he's a good sport about it and has a great positive attitude. He shares a lot about him self including that he is married to his wife Jess and they have an 8 year old daughter, Chloe. They don't think at this point that Mark has anything to do with it.
But they can't help the feeling that this mans movie is to similar to how Johnny went missing. They decide that they want to search the garage again to see if they missed anything, but are denied a warrant. They reach out to Mark again, and let me tell you this guy is one of those dumb criminals that doesn't cover his tracks very well. Instead of taking them to the garage, he told police that his car had been broken into a couple weeks ago and some things had been taken, and that not long after that he came home to his door unlocked and things missing. He told them he believed whoever broke took garbage bags, duct tape and paper towels, and that's not all they did. Apparently this mystery burglar also tried burning something in an oil drum....Um.....Yeah okay.
It gets better! Mark said that one night he was sitting in his car at a gas station when a man came up to him and asked if he wanted to buy a car. He told police that it was a red Mazda hatchback (which is what Johnny drove) he said the reason the guy was selling the car was because he was travelling with a women and didn't need it. He offered the guy $40 and the guy sold it to him.
Of course police are thinking the same thing we are. They bring Mark in to write an official statement. Even after hours of interrogating Mark, he sticks to his story. They let him go, but soon have a warrant to search his home and car. In the home they find books about serial killers and forensics (only thing I can relate to in this case lol) AND a travel guide to Costa Rica along with blank post cards. They find a black hockey mask, and on this mask they find 2 spots that look like blood. In Marks car they find hand written post it notes, some included lists, like one that said; ship phone, return addy of vic, destroy laptop, use general WiFi for email. Another says kill room, clean sweep.
In the trunk they found a large blood stain and a steak knife. They find a backpack with a large knife inside stained with blood. They also discovered a laptop. Now, if Mark was as into Forensic Files like myself he would have known that when you delete something off your computer, it really isn't gone. On the laptop they found files that Mark thought he had deleted forever, but nope. One of the files was named "SK Confessions."
It was 35 pages long, and at the beginning it stated that it was based off of true events, but names had been changed. It was the story of a man and his progression into becoming a serial killer. This serial killer had a wife named Tess and a daughter named Zoe (Reminder Marks wife was Jess, daughter Chloe.) This killers first instinct was to target married men who were cheating on their wives, but changes his mind when he realizes they would be to easily missed. So he went for single middle aged men instead. His killing attire was a hoodie and a black hockey mask. His kill room was prepped just like Dexter's, covered in plastic sheets. He mentions that his first victim fought back and got away, but he was able to kill his second. He kills him and then drives remains around until he finds a sewer to dump them in.
With all of this in hand police are able to get the warrant for the garage. Where they soon discover much more than last time, including; duct tape, handcuffs, a stun gun, a metal pipe covered in duct tape and blood, full body coveralls and gloves. Everything in the garage lit up during the luminol test.
On Oct 31, 2008 Mark was charged with 1st degree murder and attempted murder. Why the attempted murder you might ask? Well, after a press conference a man by the name of Gilles Tertreault came forward and said that everything that was stated in the "SK Confessions" happened to him and that he didn't come forward before because he was embarrassed.
In June 2010, Mark finally led police to Johnny's body with a handwritten map. What they found was gruesome. Johnny's bones had several breaks, cuts, and saw marks. Some of his body parts were missing. Johnny's body was in a sewer only 2 blocks from Marks parents house.
Mark plead not guilty, but admitted to everything. He said that Johnny's death was in self defense. The lure was a PR stunt for his movie, he wanted to create buzz. The men were supposed to escape. But he said Johnny got pissed and attacked him and that he was a good man that made a mistake. No one bought that garbage and he was found guilty of 1st degree murdered and sentenced to life. If it wasn't for Johnny's friends being so persistent, who knows how many other men might have died by this Dexter wannabe.
Resources:
Crime Junkie Podcast
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