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Murder, Mystery & Makeup
When a superfan goes too far for his "art" - The Wannabe Dexter Killer
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Bailey Sarian
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No. Okay, great. Well, we'll talk about it. Mark's obsession with the Showtime series Dexter would eventually lead to the media dubbing him as the Dexter Killer. Let me tell you, this guy is a lot. Let's get into it, shall we? Let me tell you about this Mark guy. Okay? So Mark Twitchell, he was born on July 4, 1979 in Edmonton, Canada. It was said from a young age, Mark was obsessed with movies, right? And he dreamed of making it big in the world of cinema. So Mark went on to study at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, and he participated in the school's radio and television arts program. After graduating college, Mark married this woman named Megan in 2001. Now, there wasn't much said about this first marriage situation. I'm assuming they met in college because, like, they got married, like, right after graduating college, but, you know, whatever. But Megan, she was from Illinois, and the two of them, they got married, you know, and Mark ended up moving to Illinois with her. And again, there was, like, not much said about their marriage, but I think it's safe to say it didn't work out because after three years of marriage, they got divorced. And, like, that's all that was said about the marriage. After the divorce, Mark had moved back to Canada. And while he was back at home, he signed up for a dating website. You know, plenty of fish. He was like, I'm going to get back out there and Start dating again. So he gets on this dating website and he ends up meeting a girl named Jess. And this was like 2005, and the two of them, they hit it off and they start dating each other. So then in 2007, Mark, you know, he's still super into movies, right? And he wanted to create his own. It was his passion in life. So he worked on, like, a little passion project, and it was a Star wars fan film that. That was written, produced, and directed by him. Oh, yes, he did it all. Now, when it came to this film of his, I mean, he went off, all the way off. I mean, Mark had a major talent for prop and costume design. For his film, he had created, like, replica suits from the Star wars universe. And honestly, they looked really legit. So the title of this movie was called Secrets of the Rebellion. And it was said that it was receiving, like, some online hype. People were, like, kind of excited about it. But, like, I'm not really sure because the movie, it wasn't ever completed or released, so I'm not sure who or where they were hyping this up. But allegedly, it was hyped. I feel like also Mark probably just was telling people, like, yeah, it was super hyped. Mark loved Star Wars. He would dress up in, like, a costume that he made himself, and he would attend movie premieres or anything that was related to the Star wars world. That was hard for me to say. Star wars world. You get it? He would dress up. That's great. Like, I like, hobby. Like, have your hobby. That's great. But listen, I guess his costumes were, like, really, really good because there were two costume contests that he won in 2007. One was at Bears Hole Halloween Howler, and the other was at Sonic's Monster Mash Halloween Bash. What a name. And, like, each of these were Halloween parties, and, you know, they had awards for, like, best costume. And Mark, he won great. You know. You know the movie Transformers? Yeah, you know the movie Transformers. So I guess his costume, he made a suit that was just like Bumblebee from Transformers. But Mark said that he went through 240 square feet of plexiglass and foam to make this the suit that he made. I'm sure it made him feel good to, you know, when you go off like that and to, like, be acknowledged and win a prize. And good for him, you know, that's the only time we'll be rooting for him, I guess. Anywho, not long after, Mark and his girlfriend Jesse, they would go on to get married. And then about a year later, they would have a daughter. So throughout 2008, Mark started to work on, like, another passion project of his. It was a short crime film called House of Cards. Now, this short film was like, about a killer who lured a cheating man off of an online dating website, attacking the victim with a lead pipe and then stabbed. Stabbing them to death. I know, it was very clue. A lead pipe, Come on. Not sure what the moral of the story was, but, like, that's, you know, that's what he was going with. So with this film, Mark, you know, he would do the same thing. He would write, produce, and direct it. And then on top of that, he was also trying to gather funds to produce a feature length comedy called Day Players, which I guess was gonna be about, like the secret lives of extras in the film industry. So, I mean, that's great, you know, good for him, I guess. Whatever. Well, while following his passions in life, things were not going so well back at home. Jess Twitchell, Mark's wife, would later say that the marriage started to go, like, downhill in the fall of 2008, and that they were at this point sleeping in separate rooms and, like, also trying to go to marriage counseling. Now, during the time of their marriage, she was under the impression that Mark was working as a salesman for a security company. I mean, every day Mark would get up, he would go to work every day. You know where I'm going with this? Because later on she would learn that Mark actually didn't have a job and was just pretending to go to work. For the last five months, she had no idea. She had no clue. She didn't think twice about it. You know, he's like literally getting up every day, leaving the house and going to work and then returning like around five or whatever. Run for the hills, quick. Okay, Nae nae. No. Okay, no. I'm trying to think of, like, if I found out I was with someone and they were lying to me about going to work every day and they weren't going to work, I don't know what the f. I would do. What, you know, what are you. What. What have you been doing? What have you been. What have you been doing? It doesn't matter. But she finds out. So Jess would later tell the court that on the days where he was committing his crimes, there was a note on the family kitchen calendar that said Mark was at his psychiatrist appointment. Oh, yes. You know, the calendar that you keep in the kitchen. Everyone you see, everyone's schedule. His was saying that he was at a psychiatrist Appointment and boy. Boy. On October 3, 2008, a computer company contractor. His name was Gilles. He was looking for love as everyone deserves. So he goes on plentyoffish.com and, you know, he ends up matching and, like, messaging this beautiful 5 foot 6 inch blonde woman named Sheena. Now the two of them, I guess, like, hit it off. They're talking and messaging back and forth, and they decide to meet in person. And Gilles thought it was kind of weird when the Sheena woman, she would not, like, give an actual address of where to meet her. Instead, Gilles was sent detailed directions that would lead him to the location where they would meet. I don't know. So it kind of sounds confusing, actually. You know, like, normally you'd be like, hey, meet me here, and you send like an address or something, or meet me at the McDonald's, like, on the corner. But this was not the case. This Sheena person was like, you're gonna make a left and you're gonna go straight, and then you're gonna make a right and, like, wouldn't give an address. And then Sheena told Gilles that, quote, the garage door will be open for you. It's like, okay, no front door. All right, that's fine. So when Gilles gets to this location, you know, it's a garage. Great. And it's kind of like partially raised, and he can kind of like see inside the garage, and it's pretty dark in there. It's like kind of a weird way to enter. But, you know, this is what Sheena told me to do. So. Okay. You know when there's like a crack in the garage and you got to get down low so you can get into the garage? You get it? So he does that and he gets into the garage. And then as soon as he gets into the garage, Gilles feels someone grab him from behind. Uh, surprise. It was Mark. Mark was inside wearing a hockey mask. As soon as Gilles gets inside, he attacks him with a stun baton as soon as he, like, steps in that garage. Now, a stun baton is, like, I guess, way more intense than a stun gun. Based off of my quick little Google research, I could be wrong, but from what I googled, it said the stun baton is, like, way more intense than the stun gun. I don't know how he got his hands on one of these, but I guess maybe he could just go get one. I don't know what I'm talking about. But he stuns him. Okay. And then Marc pulls out a gun and then orders Gilles to get on the ground. He's like, pointing the gun at him. He's like, get all around. Yeah. So when Gilles is on the ground, Marc then puts duct tape over Gilles eyes. Mm. Mm. Oh, yes. Gilles told himself, like, I'd rather go my way than his way. And, you know, adrenaline is pumping. So he gets up, he rips the duct tape from his eyes. I know. I was like, oh, Ah. Rips that shit off. And then he grabs Marc's gun from his hand. And at this point, Gilles realizes that this gun was plastic. It was a plastic gun, which must be such a relief in that moment, I'm sure. Well, adrenaline's going, but, you know, you're like, oh, thank God this shit's plastic. Anywho. So I guess after this, like, there's a violent struggle between the two of them. So they're fighting each other, and Mark is like, grabbing at him. And Gilles was wearing, like, a jacket, kind of like, I got like a zip on, you know? So Mark was like, holding onto his jacket, and Gilles, like, kind of maneuvers out of it. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, when you can kind of like snake your way out of the jacket, he snakes out of the jacket. And then he rolls out from under the garage door, you know, getting ready to make a run for it. But he, like. He rolls out from under the garage, stands up, and I guess Mark is like, right on his ass, grabs his legs, and like, is trying to, you know, drag him back into the garage. Run. Run, Gilles. Luckily, Gilles, he is able to get that dirt bag. Get off my feet. And takes off running and hollering. Now, at this point, Mark had, like, come outside of the garage. He's still wearing his mask, comes outside of the garage, and he's like, gonna start going after Jill. But he looks. And across the street there was like, this couple who was walking their dog. And they're watching, like, this whole, like, weird situation go down. And they're like, this is like, so weird, you know, you would stop and be like, what the fuck is going on? So Mark actually sees the couple. He's like, oh, shit. You know, and he's trying all of a sudden to act natural. He's like, ha ha. I mean, I guess Mark wanted the couple to think, like, the two of them were friends and they were just playing around. So he's like, trying to be loud and like, hahaha, my friend is so crazy. Ha ha ha ha ha. You know, wow. He's like, ha ha ha ha ha. Isn't that crazy? Like, I'm wearing A mask. Lol. So after taking a few moments to make it look like, I don't know, that was his friend. She's like, all right. And then Marco's back into the garage. Gilles was able to escape sadly after the fact. Jill Gilles wouldn't report like what happened to police because he was embarrassed, which is so sad. You hear about this, like men not wanting to report things because it's embarrassed. They feel embarrassed by it and stuff. And it's just like this. It's just sad, you know, he didn't feel like he had a safe space to like report this. Gilles would later say that, like he tried convincing himself that the attack wasn't as serious as he was making it out to be. Or at least like he was trying to convince himself of that. It's just so sad. I felt so bad when I read that because at first you kind of want to be frustrated with him. Like, why wouldn't you report that? Like, why wouldn't you report that? But I understand and it's just sad. I hope men feel like it's safe to come forward if you're a victim of an attack, catfish, anything like that. Like, you can come forward and you can speak out. Don't be embarrassed. And the couple that was walking their dog, they didn't report anything either because technically they just saw like a weird situation take place. But nothing, I guess, that was worth reporting to police. You know what I mean? Like, you see something weird and you're like, yeah, that's weird, but I'm not gonna call the cops weird. So noted. And that was about it. So then It's October of 2008. Johnny Altinger is a 38 year old former oil field age equipment manufacturer from British Columbia. So he too is looking for love, hops onto Plenty of Fish and starts talking to people. You know, he matches with this nice lady and they start talking to one another, seem to hit it off, messaging back and forth, and they decide that they're gonna meet up and they're gonna meet on October 10th. Now before going on this date, Johnny actually met up with his friends and he told him that he was going to meet this lady from Plenty of Fish. Now Johnny actually gave his friends the address that Mark, who was once again pretending to be a woman, had given him for the meetup. So he's like, this is where I'm going. Like, this is the address. And he gives this to his friends. So once he's done hanging out with his friends, he's like, he heads out, he's Gonna go on this date. Johnny heads to the location, you know, that was sent to him. And kind of like before, Johnny was told to enter through the garage. So he parks his car and then he goes into the garage. So when Johnny gets inside the garage, he's then attacked with a lead pipe. And then, like, once he's, like, knocked out or whatever. Attacked with a lead pipe. And then after that, he was stabbed to death. Brutal. Like, what the. What? Like, he didn't have time to think. Well, it was Mark, okay? It was Mark. Mark then takes it, like, a step further and decides to cut up and dismember Johnny's body. I guess, like, Mark tried to burn some of the body parts. Yeah, he. But we know he tried to. I think he realized it either wasn't, like, a good idea or something because he gave up on that, but he ends up, like, dismembering the body and, like, cutting it up and then putting the remains in different garbage bags. And then he was going to take all those garbage bags and, like, drop them into the storm sewer, which he does. I mean, if you've been paying attention, which I'm sure you have been, this whole attack was just like the movie that Mark had made called House of Cards. Right? Mark had, like, just filmed House of Cards two weeks prior to the. To this attack, to this murder. Sorry. And it was filmed in that garage where the murder took place. I don't know what to say to that. So three days go by, and Johnny's friends and family, they're like, getting kind of worried about him. You know, at first they thought, like, oh, he's busy, you know, whatever. But on day three, they're like, okay, something's not right. Especially because there was an email that went out from Johnny's. Johnny's email account saying that he had met a woman who was taking him on a tropical vacation to Costa Rica. And it's like, okay, what? Right? So Johnny had sent out an email from his account, and I have it in my notes. Don't laugh at me. The email went out October 13, 2008 at 8:52am it says, hey there. I've met an extraordinary woman named Jen who has offered to take me on a nice long tropical vacation. Will be staying in her winter home in Costa Rica. Phone number to follow soon. I won't be back in town until December 10th, but I will be checking my email periodically. See you around the holidays, Johnny. If I could flip this table, I would. So people were like, I don't know what kind of Friends you have. But, like, if your friend. I know, okay, if one of my friends was, like, sent me this type of email, I'd be like, first of all, what? Second of all, where's the invite? Third of all, what? Like, it just. Right. It doesn't. It doesn't make sense. It's just random. And then on top of that, Johnny's boss also received a resignation letter. Through the email, through Johnny's email. And it was like, I'm quitting my job. I'm going to Costa Rica or whatever. The boss writes back asking for a forwarding address to send Johnny his final paycheck, but, like, he never got a response. So all this is not sitting right with Johnny's friends and family. Like, they knew something was up. And, like, these are, like, some great friends. Seriously. Three days and they're worrying, like, I could be missing for weeks. I don't know who's showing up. But, like, these friends, they end up driving over to Johnny's condo and they decide to, like, break in because they think, like, inside they can find some kind of clue or evidence or maybe Johnny's inside, like, in the condo. And, like, no. No one knows or something. You know, they were just, like, going in, looking for something. Now when they go inside, technically they don't, like, there's no evidence found. But what they do notice was that there appeared to be no evidence that Johnny had left for a vacation. Like, all of his belongings were all still there. There was no sign that he had, like, taken off for a long stay somewhere. Nothing. Like, again, bizarre, weird, not sitting right. So they decide it's best to call the police. I know. I was like, these peop. These are some great friends, right? So when they go to police, you know, they tell them everything they know, but they hand over the evidence that Johnny had shared with them. Remember, like, before he went on the date, Johnny had shared the location of the date he was going on, and that was, like, the last time they saw him. So. So luckily, they still had this information. And they go to the police, they give the police the location. And these directions would lead the police directly to the garage Mark was renting. So police, they go out to the location, and when they get there, they come across Mark, you know, and at first, they weren't considering him to be a suspect or anything. They just wanted to ask him some questions. But they knew, like, something wasn't right with Mark's story because Mark told police that Johnny had come by. He's like, yeah, Johnny came by and bought his Mark's Mazda for just 40 Canadian dollars. And then after that, Johnny told him that he was leaving the country with a woman. And Police are like, $40, huh? Red flag. What? That doesn't make sense. So police, they, you know, throughout this garage location, and they're like, can we, like, look around the garage? So they're, like, looking around and they notice that there's blood spatter inside. And the police are like, you know, what's this about? There seems to be, like, blood all over the walls. What's up? And Mark tells the police, like, oh, I just filmed a movie called House of Cards, and we just filmed an execution scene. And, you know, we got fake blood everywhere, you know, because it's for a movie. So the police ask, like, oh, can we collect the names of, like, these actors from the movie so they can go and question them and make sure, like, this movie scene actually happened? And Mark is like, yeah, no problem. Hands over the names to these actors and whatnot, and thinks he's golden. So police, they actually go and they find one of the actors who starred in Mark's film. And the police ask, like, hey, how much fake blood was, like, used in that execution scene? Was it messy? Yeah. Was there blood everywhere? And then the actor responds to police by saying, like, there was no blood. There was no fake blood. There was not. You know, I think you get it. Like, they're like, okay, this Mark guy, weird. We're gonna go back, we're gonna do, like, he's obviously know something. They end up going back to Mark's garage, and they end up doing a luminal test. And the luminal test can uncover blood that isn't visible to the naked eye. Like, they could spray it on or whatever. And then when they do a black light, it'll show you all the blood that used to be there before it was cleaned up. So they do this luminol test, and it reveals that, like, there was excessive amounts of human blood that had been cleaned up around this garage. And they're like, fucking sound the alarm. This is no fake blood. Like, this was real and it was a lot. Well, police, they're like, okay, we have our guy, right? Obviously, they're like, that was easy. Mystery solved. So the police say, no, that this is their guy, right? And on October 31, 2008, Mark Twitchell was arrested and charged with first degree murder on Halloween. I know. I was like, wow, that's very fitting. Kind of, you know, like, all right. Once the media gets ahold of this story, it's out there. It's circulating, you know, it's getting around. And you know who sees it? Gilles, Mark's first victim. He sees the story. He sees the story and he's like, oh, my lord, like, this is the same dude who attacked me. So once he sees the story, Gilles goes to police. He decides to come forward and see what happened to him. And he does this on November 3rd. So just a few days after everything went down, you know. So when Gila came forward, the media gave him the nickname the One who Got Away, which is like, okay, yeah, I mean, spot on. And Gilles would later write a book called the One who Got Away Escape from the Kill Room. He got to share his story. Poor guy. I was thinking he probably had so much, like, guilt, you know, maybe. I don't know. I don't want to make assumptions, but I could only imagine. So Mark ends up sitting in custody for like, quite some time. And during this time, he's like, swearing he's innocent. He's telling everyone that, like, he, quote, unquote, accidentally killed Johnny in self defense. And it was like, make it make sense. But he wasn't trying. He was just like, it was self defense. But after two years behind bars, Mark finally, like, cracks. And he ends up giving police handwritten directions as to where he dumped Johnny's remains. Because at this point, they didn't find his remains yet. So they print out this little, like, Google map. And then what's his name? Mark. He, like, he wrote handwritten details at the bottom of the page, and it kind of like drew like, where the remains were at. So at the bottom, he like, hand wrote the location of where to find the remains. In an alleyway between 86th and 87th street south of 130 Avenue, where two manhole slash sewer covers are in close proximity. The only area in the alley where this occurs, the COVID on easternmost edge of alley on private property. Fifth light post from 130 Avenue indicated by red circle above. And then he signed it and then he dated it. They were able to uncover the remains. Then in June 2010, Mark was like, fully ready to take the stand at his trial. Like, he really thought he was gonna, like, say something good that was gonna get him off the hook because he really, like, wanted to argue that he had, quote, unquote, accidentally killed Johnny in a horrific accident of self defense. Like he was gonna fight for this. So while he was in prison, this guy named Steve. Steve was working as like, an investigative journalist with Edmonton Journal. He got wind of the story, wanted to Talk to Mark. So he, like, wrote him a letter and started talking with Mark behind bars. And, boy, did Mark delay deliver. Kind of. Steve said that, like, Mark just, like, straight up called him out of the blue. I was like, hey, got your letter. Would love to communicate with you. And then afterwards, the two of them kept in contact by writing each other letters. So they were sending letters back and forth, and Steve said that he got around 30 to 35 letters from Mark. It was like, a total of 350 pages. Steve said he was trying to push Mark to explain. Explain himself, but, like, he never received a good answer. And it was like, yeah, you know, I don't think you can receive a good answer with these types of people. Right. There is no good answer. I don't know what would qualify as a good answer. I did it for the gram. I don't know what is a good answer. It doesn't matter, Bailey. But there wasn't one. Okay? One of the letters from Mark said, quote, after curiously shoving aside my human sensibilities, I dealt with his remains in a disrespectful manner that traumatized me forever. He was referring to Johnny's murder. And then in another letter, it said, quote, it would appear that I'm unique in the world. There is no key, no root cause. End quote. I know. Have you ever noticed that, like, killers, they always want to be so unique and special? They always claim this shit, you know, I mean, I am talking about him, so I guess, like, I don't think he's unique. Okay, thank you. There was another letter that said, quote, it is what it is, and I am what I am. Wow. I know. He's so deep. Steve, the journalist, he actually wrote about the conversations that he had with Mark in a book titled the Devil's the Untold Story Behind Mark Twitchell's Kill Room. So when police had arrested Mark, they also searched his home and his car, and they took away, like, anything and everything that might have been evidence or have evidence on it. With that being said, at the time of his arrest, they got Mark's laptop. Oh, the laptop. So, of course they search it, right? And they uncover a document that Mark tried to. To delete. And you know how computers go. Like, you think you delete something, baby girl? Lisa, listen. No, it can always be found. Can always be found. So when they searched his computer, they came across a document called SK Confessions. And this would end up being, like, the key piece of evidence for the murder trial. SK Confessions, to their surprise, stood for Serial Killer Confessions. Police are like, Great. You know, confess away. Love that we love a confession. Sk. Confessions starts off with, this story is based on true events. Great. Love that the names and events were altered slightly to protect the guilty. This is a story of my progression into becoming a serial killer. Like anyone just starting out in a new skill, I had a bit of trial and error in the beginning of my misadventures. Allow me to start from the beginning, and I think you'll see what I mean. It's like, go on. I don't remember the exact place and time it was that I decided to become a serial killer, but I remember the sensation that hit me when I committed to the decision. It was a rush of pure euphoria. I felt lighter, less stressed, if you will, at the free freedom of the prospect. There was something about urgently exploring my dark side that greatly appealed to me. And I'm such a methodical planner and thinker. The very challenge itself was enticing to behold. This realization was just the last in a series of new discoveries I made about myself. I just knew I was different somehow from the rest of humanity. I feel no such emotions as empathy or sympathy toward others. For example. Great. So this document literally had Marks planning his failed first attempt and his successful second attempt to lure a man to his garage by using a fake dating profile in order to murder them. Like, it matched line by line to Johnny's murder, line by line in this document. I mean, it included, like, the hockey mask, the attack with a lead pipe, the quote, unquote, Dexter prepped garage. There was a line about the killer trying to burn the remains in a barrel, which police had found a barrel, a burned barrel, inside of Mark's garage. So they were like, check, check. Just kind of like a. It was like a checklist, really. In the confession, it got really dark. He wrote about how he cut Johnny's head and, like, gave details saying, I grabbed his jaw with my gloved hand and moved it while making a funny voice to make it look like it was talking, and chuckled to myself at the total silliness of it all. You know, what the hell do you even say to that? So this document alone is pretty damning. But police, I mean, they found lots of other evidence of Mark's involvement in the murder. Like, they found Johnny's blood on several articles of Mark's clothing. They also found the knife that was used, the murder weapon, and, you know, it belonged to Mark. There was, like, dozens of pieces of evidence tying Mark to Johnny's death, and they were found in Mark's home. They were in his car. They were at his parents house and also the rented garage where the murder happened. There was also like evidence that was recovered from Johnny's car. I guess after the murder, Mark was straight up driving around in Johnny's car. Yeah. Great. So Mark also admitted to accessing Johnny's email after his death and sent out that email telling Johnny's friends and family that he was going away on vacation. Like he admitted to it, which was just confusing to me because he was claiming it was self defense. But then like this doesn't help your case, you know. Oh, oh, oh. And then there was also another document that was found on his computer and this document did not make its way into evidence. I don't know why I didn't, I'm sorry, I didn't really look that heavily into it, why it didn't make it into evidence. Sorry about that. I'll do better next time. But I have it in my notes. It was titled A profile of a Psychopath. Now obviously, investigators, they find it on his computer and they believe like, you know, Mark had written this. It was on his computer. But it went on to say some stuff. It started off with saying, I habitually lied my entire life. Despite my incredibly well adjusted and healthy family life and upbringing. It never stopped. I always apologized, but never meant it and never corrected the behavior. For as long as I can remember, I have always had a distinct lack of empathy. I've always had a dark side. I've had a sugarcoat for the world. I've often fantasized about killing people who have wronged me or threatened to hurt me or my family in the future. But that's where it ends. Well, obviously not. Well, it goes on to say, like, I can direct my dark energies into my film work and like, as a producer, I can profit from the sale of my work and like, blah, blah, blah, no one cares about your movie. Shit. Sorry. He admits to cheating on his wife pretty often, like all the time. And he said, I still cheat, but only for the thrill of it. And then going on to say, I had a conversation with my wife one night where we fully explored my lack of empathy. She asked me a variety of probing questions. Every answer I gave her, although truthful this time, were deeply disappointing to her. No after. No, when she was looking for yes after. Yes. His wife is an excellent mother and the greatest partner that anyone could ever ask for. So it's a little mixed there, isn't it, huh? So they find this now this again, doesn't it? Doesn't get admitted to evidence at all. But they found it, and I think that says a lot too. So the trial. Let's talk about the trial. So the trial began, and through his lawyer, Mark tried to plead guilty so he would get a lesser charge of interfering with a dead body. But the prosecution rejected that offer, and they continued with the first degree murder charge. So the prosecution requested that Marc also be charged with the attempted murder of Gilles in the same case. But for some reason, well, the judge decided to keep the two cases separate. During his trial, Mark admitted to killing Johnny and also to writing the SK Confessions. But he went with his original story, saying that the murder was an act of self defense. Mark also went on to say that the SK Confessions was fiction based on fact, as if to say he planned Johnny's death deliberately in order to write a compelling story. I know. I was like, I'm not sure how. Again, how is this helping you? How is this helping your case? I don't know. At least he's confessing. I'll give him that. The prosecution, they really focused in on Mark's obsession with the television program Dexterity. If you don't know, Dexter was an American crime drama about this guy named Dexter Morgan who was like a blood spatter expert who solved murders, but committed them to, I guess he was a serial killer. But his justification was that he was killing, quote, unquote, bad people. The show ran from like 2006 to 2013. People really liked it. Okay? Everyone talked about it. Mark liked it too. He even posed as Dexter Morgan on Facebook. Like, he was a total fanboy. I know everyone. Everyone was talking about that show when it came out. And everyone was like, you have to watch. You have to watch it. And I never watched it. I'm sorry. I know. I hear it was so good. I'm sorry I missed that boat. Everyone got on that boat. I was like, bye, boat. Bye. I'll be over here watching Full House again. I don't know, I just never got. Maybe I'll watch it one day. I don't know. But everyone loved that show, okay? Everyone loved it. So the prosecutors were like, Mark wanted to become a serial killer inspired by this television program, and like, he was trying to merge his violent fantasies with real life experiences, just like the TV character did. So once again, you know, the Dexter connection. When the media heard about this, they started referring to Mark as the Dexter killer. So keeping the Dexter theme going, many believed Mark's kill garage resembled a scene right out of the show. Like the inside of his garage. It had Plastic sheets, like, all over, covering all the windows. There's a table with, like, blood spatter all over it. And then there were cleaning supplies laid out. So Gilles took the stand and told the court about his experience with Marc and literally how just like a week before Johnny's death, he barely escaped Mark's attack. There was also another person who took the stand. Their name was Renee. And I guess this person was like, kind of friends with Mark, not understanding fully what their relationship was. But Mark felt comfortable enough with this person to, like, talk freely with them. So this person, Renee, told the court that Mark had sent them a message on Facebook saying that he, quote, crossed the line. And he sent this message the weekend of Johnny's death. What line? So then Mark went on to discuss through Facebook messenger with this Renee person the best way to kill someone. So, all right, you know, I don't know what Mark was doing here, but, you know, thank God for, like, receipts. This guy is just an idiot. So on April 12, 2011, after five hours of deliberation, the 12 member jury returned with the verdict of guilty. I mean, right? And they should. If they didn't, we'd probably. I'd be like, what the fuck? So after the verdict came through, that's when the courts did the. The victim impact statements. It's part of, like, the sentencing procedures. Johnny's mother was there and she went on to say, like, it was just really sad. There's, like no words to describe the pain and feeling of horror one goes through. There's no joy in my life. It's been ripped away from me. And then adding, it was her wish that Mark die a slow death in prison. Reflecting on his crime. Makes sense. Yeah, I would probably wish that too. After what the judge called a very difficult case, Mark was given life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. Once Marc was convicted and sentenced to the maximum prison term, the court found that there was no need to try Mark for the attempted murder of Gillespie. Which is like, I. I'm torn on that. Like, I mean, I get why they did it, you know, but the same time, like, as a victim, you'd probably want, like, some kind of justice. Like, but it's fine. Like, he got. Mark got locked away forever. I just hope Gilles is okay and, like, he got the closure and healing that he needed, you know? So mark, who was 31 at the time of sentencing, he was asked, you know, by the judge, like, do you have anything you want to add? And Mark said, I think I'll pass on that. So for someone who likes to talk, he sure didn't wanna talk, you know, so he was being like, walked out of the courtroom, you know, by like the sheriff people or whatever. And one of Johnny's family members yelled, bye, have fun. Kinda nice little dig, you know, fuck that gang. So in May of 2011, this was like, a few weeks after his sentencing, Mark filed a written appeal without the help of a lawyer, where he requested a retrial, this time without a jury. He said, the media attention surrounding my case was so extensive, so blatant, and so overtly sensationalized that it is unreasonable to expect any unsequestered jury to have remained uninfluenced by it, regardless of judge's instructions in the charge. All right? He then added he believed his lawyer did not quote, adequately and satisfactorily addressed key points on state of mind and credibility. Those points include his advanced knowledge of computers, which undermines the implication I would use a computer to carry out a crime. All right? My guy, like, no, no, that ain't it. He's trying. Mark also took issue with how the Crown, AKA the court, presented evidence where he lied to his. His former girlfriend, his wife, and also the police, saying that, quote, this led the jury to make an inappropriate and skewed character judgment, concluding that I'm a lifetime liar, end quote. You know, actually, I believe in those that sk Confessions didn't say, I've been lying all my life. I'm a habitual liar. I think that is what actually made people think that he's a lifetime liar. Just my opinion. Maybe it was that. So Mark tried. He really did. And then he dropped his appeal in February of 2012 when he realized he was an idiot. Mark Twitchell is serving his life sentence at a maximum security prison in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan. Well, while he's been in prison, he's still doing stupid shit. It was said that in prison, Mark continued to watch Dexter. The media reported that he purchased a flat screen TV and also a cable package, which I was like, what? All right. But he would watch, like, reruns of Dexter and then new episodes as they were coming out. Then, two years after his imprisonment, Mark wanted to try and revive his film career. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. So while in prison, he requested access to the hard drives that the police had confiscated, which he believed had hundreds of hours of unreleased film footage on it. There was like a letter from prison. Mark wrote, all the footage is sheer gold. Way too many amazing people gave so much of themselves to make that film magic. I will see it completed if it's literally the last thing I do. All right? Mark believed that his life's work was being held hostage, quote, unquote, held hostage by the courts, and that it was slowly being, like, suffocated in the process. So Mark was like. He's really wanted to get the footage. He was like, my life's work, it means everything to me. And I think, like, Mark went on to say, like, I refuse to let my story, my life, end in a tragedy. Yeah, what a serious clown. What a fucking clown. Sorry, dude, but you're an idiot. Stay locked up. Thank you. I feel bad for his wife and stuff, right? Like, I don't. I didn't really look too much into, like, what happened to her. I kind of like to leave them out of it, because it's like, she didn't fucking know. So there was, like, a staff sergeant who. Who was like, head of Edmonton's homicide unit, who came out and said, like, why would we give anything back to a convicted murderer? He's taken a life and he shouldn't benefit from that in any way, period. And that, my friends, is where this story ends. This was the Mark Twitchell case, AKA the Dexter Killer. The clown, the idiot. Like, may he sit in prison forever, rest in peace, support Johnny, who just freaking wanted to go on a date, huh? It was so sad. I mean, like, luckily he had some good friends and, like, people who cared about him, right? And this really helped, like, catch Mark before he can move on to the next one, which I'm sure he would have done, right? He probably would have kept going because he thought he's something. I thought about Gilles a lot, you know, just for, like, not coming forward when he was originally attacked. I understood, like, why, but I hope that men, like, feel like you guys do have a safe place to come forward if you're attacked. And there's nothing wrong with speaking up if something happens to you, you know, Which I'm sure my little speech means nothing, but I don't know, you know, it's just sad. Just sad. I hope he's okay, like, after the fact, like, surviving that awful crime. And then, you know, like, survivor skill, I'm sure was really hard. Other than that. One, make sure your man's going to work, okay? Like, real talk. Like, this guy was lying. Like, what was he doing? He's being weird. Does your man have a job? We gotta make sure. Okay, Two, if you're going on a date, share your location. Share your location. Location. Okay. Be careful out there. You guys seriously go with your gut feeling. If something doesn't feel right, get the fuck out of there and make sure you meet in a public place. And I don't know. I'm kind of, like, the worst, because when I was, like, doing online dating, I was so dumb. It's not funny, but, like, you think I would be smart? And I was, like, making stupid mistakes. I was like, what, you want to meet in an empty parking lot? Sure. And then I'd be there, like, wait, this is probably not a good idea. Don't be like me. All right? Anyways, well, I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices. Please be safe out there, okay? And I'll be talking to you guys later. Goodbye.