Mark Twitchell, John Altinger: ‘Dateline’ NBC Replays Copycat Killer, Movie Maker Obsessed With ‘Dexter’
Mark Twitchell, the Canadian movie maker turned killer who was inspired by the TV show Dexter, is the focus of another engrossing episode of Dateline NBC. Tonight’s Dateline entitled, “Deadly House Of Cards,” is a repeat show that was aired in 2014. The documentary will retell the real life horror of surviving victim, Gilles Tetreault, and the disappearance and murder of John Altinger— another man who was lured to a garage after answering a dating ad in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The body of Johnny Altinger has never been found. Mark Twitchell was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, where he is allowed to watch reruns of Dexter.
News of this deranged Dexter-like plot made headlines in 2008. That was the year that a man named John Brian Atlinger never returned home. He told friends that he was going to meet a woman that he met online, and even provided a friend with the directions where the meeting was to take place in case something happened to him. Well, something did happen to him. His friends and brother knew that it was unlike Johnny to disappear without a trace. And when his boss received an email, stating that he was quitting his job, his pals knew they needed to go over to Johnny’s place to see if they could locate him. When they were unable to find him, a missing person’s report was filed and a search ensued.
The directions led detectives to a home that was being rented by Mark Twitchell, a filmmaker who had a fascination with Star Wars and the TV show Dexter. During a search of the movie maker’s car, they found a laptop computer with a deleted temporary file that gave them an eerie insight as to what may have happened to John Altinger. In a file marked SK Confessions, the murder of a man who had been lured to a garage after answering a dating ad was spelled out word for word. It read like a script or a screenplay for murder. But with a real victim missing, detectives began believing that this was no movie script but a diary, detailing how Mark Twitchell killed Johnny Altinger. But there was more. The script talked about a man who had escaped the garage after being held hostage.
Detectives knew they needed to take their case to the media in the hopes of finding the victim who had broken free, according to Det. Mark Anstey who released the following news release published by CBC News.
“Mr. Altinger had e-mailed a friend the directions where he was told to go to and the friend kept that e-mail and that’s the only reason we found that garage. This film was about luring a fellow from the internet, duct-taping him to a chair, killing him and cutting him. It was actually filmed and there are actors; we interviewed the actors. We’ve interviewed everybody and that film actually did take place.”
When Gilles Tetreault saw the news report, he immediately recognized the hockey mask—the same mask that was worn by a man who had attacked him in a garage in Edmonton, after he answered a dating ad at the site Plenty Of Fish. In that attack, he’d been hit with a stun baton, which left him weak and barely able to defend himself. Tetreault was able to escape the garage but decided not to tell police about the encounter until after he realized that another man had not been so lucky.
Like something right out of a movie, you’ll want to hear the details of this survivor’s story for yourself. Be sure to make time to see Dateline NBC tonight. The Inquisitr previously reported on another killer who was obsessed with Dexter. The case has been the subject of several documentaries, including CBS’ 48 Hours. Read up on the story of Jason Blu Griffith and the murder of his girlfriend Debbie Flores Narvaez.
[Image via Dateline NBC/Facebook]
