When a superfan goes too far for his "art" - The Wannabe Dexter Killer
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Uh-oh, better get Mako. Hi friends, how are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian and today is Monday, which means it's Murder, Mystery, and Makeup Monday. If you're new here, hi. My name is Bailey Sarian and on Mondays I sit down and I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin and I do my makeup at the same time. Let me tell you about today's story because I went down a rabbit hole with this guy. Ugh. Ugh.

This guy's too much. This guy's too much. Today we're talking about this 29-year-old. His name's Mark. And he was like a super fan of a TV show called Dexter. Do you remember? No? Okay, great. 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 4th, 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 a 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 um 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 gonna 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 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, 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 Bear's 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 the

this 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 Jess, 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 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.

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All lowercase.

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 going to 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. Uh-uh. Run for the hills. Quit. Okay? Nay, nay. 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. I...

What? You know, what do you, what? What have you been doing? What have you been doing? It doesn't matter. But she finds out. So Jess would later tell the court that,

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 3rd, 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 five foot six 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 Shina 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, it kind of sounds confusing actually. Yeah.

You know, like normally you'd be like, hey, meet me here. And you send like an address or something, or maybe 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, then you're gonna go straight, 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, right?

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. 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 you could just go get one. I don't know what I'm talking about, but he stuns him. Okay. And then Mark 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 on the ground.

Yeah. So when Gilles is on the ground, Mark then puts duct tape over Gilles' eyes. 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,

And then he grabs Mark'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...

He's like right on his ass, grabs his legs and like is trying to, 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 you. 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 haha. 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, "Ha ha ha, my friend is so crazy." "Ha ha ha ha ha." You know, wow. He's like, "Ha 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. He's just like, "All right." And then Mark goes back into the garage. Gilles was able to escape. Sadly, after the fact, 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 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. Yeah.

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 a

October of 2008. Johnny Altinger is a 38 year old former oil field 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 going to 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.

The Garage. Get that Angel Reef special at McDonald's now. Let's break it down. My favorite barbecue sauce, American cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun, of course. And don't forget the fries and a drink. Sound good? Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. I'm participating in restaurants for a limited time. So when Johnny gets inside The Garage, he's in a tact 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, 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 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 13th, 2008 at 8.52 a.m. It says, hey there, I've met an extraordinary woman named Jen who has offered to take me on a nice long tropical vacation. We'll 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 you're a friend, I know, okay, if one of my friends 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 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 of 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 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 people these are some great friends. 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 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 Mark.

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, they're at 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 you know, 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 knows 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 31st, 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 a hold 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 cover on

on Eastern most 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 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 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. Get the Angel Reef Special at McDonald's now. Let's break it down. My favorite barbecue sauce, American cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun, of course. And don't forget the fries and a drink.

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- Get the Angel Reef Special at McDonald's now. Let's break it down. My favorite barbecue sauce, American cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun, of course. And don't forget the fries and a drink. Sound good? Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. - At participating restaurants for a limited time. - What is a good answer?

It doesn't matter really, 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. End quote. 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, nothing.

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 Cinema, 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 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 S.K. Confessions. And this would end up being like the key piece of evidence for the murder trial. S.K. 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 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 Mark's 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, okay, 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 um 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 it, 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 sugar coat 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, 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 Mark 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, Dexter. 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 people

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 fan boy. I know everyone, everyone was talking about that show when it came out and everyone was like, you have to watch it, you have to watch it. And I never watched it. Oh, 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. 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 Mark. And literally how just like a week before Johnny's death, he barely escaped death.

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'd 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

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 12th, 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 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 Mark 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 Gilles. Which is like, I mean...

I'm torn on that. Like, I mean, I get why they did it, you know? But at 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 Jules 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 want to 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. Kind of 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, 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 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 it 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 that

He was an idiot. Mark Twitchell is serving his life sentence at a maximum security prison in Prince Albert, 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, "With 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 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.

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 to poor 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? Yeah.

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 was just sad. Just sad. I hope he's okay. Like after the fact, like surviving that awful crime and then, you know, like survivor's guilt, I'm sure it 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 mate have a job? We gotta make sure, okay? Two, if you're going on a date, share your location. Share your 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 just 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.