OTiS
11-03-2008, 12:06 PM
LINK (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/11/03/twitchell-film.html?ref=rss)
Police are looking for a man who escaped from an Edmonton garage believed to be the scene of a killing that led to the arrest of a local filmmaker.
Mark Twitchell, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of John Brian Altinger in a case that shares similarities to the movie he was making and the serial killer television show Dexter. Altinger's body has not been found.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2008/11/03/edm-hockeymask.jpg
Police allege Altinger was lured to a southside detached residential double garage through a dating website with the promise of meeting a beautiful woman. Instead, police said, Altinger was killed.
The man now being sought, who was allegedly lured to meet a woman at the same garage, was apparently confronted by a man in a hockey mask.
"The male was able to break free and run into the lane, being chased by the male in the mask. At this time a couple was walking by and saw the altercation," said Det. Mark Anstey of the Edmonton Police Service.
"The male wearing the hockey mask backed away and the other male may have escaped."
Altinger, 38, was last seen on Oct. 10, police said Saturday. Originally from White Rock, B.C., he went missing from the area of 40th Avenue and 57th Street in Edmonton, where he had been living for 10 years.
Twitchell had used the garage as a movie set, said Anstey.
"This film was about luring a fellow from the internet, duct-taping him to a chair, killing him and cutting him," he said.
"It was actually filmed and there are actors; we interviewed the actors. We've interviewed everybody and that film actually did take place."
Twitchell was arrested without incident in Edmonton on Friday.
E-mail takes police to garage
Police wouldn't say what they found in the garage, but alleged there is enough forensic evidence to charge Twitchell with first-degree murder.
Anstey said they were led to the garage because Altinger had e-mailed a friend the directions where he was told to go, and the friend kept that e-mail.
On his Facebook page, Twitchell is revealed to be a huge fan of the Showtime program Dexter, which follows the exploits of Dexter Morgan, a blood-spatter expert for the Miami police who also leads a secret life as a serial killer.
"We have a lot of information to suggest he definitely idolizes Dexter," Anstey said.
Anstey also alleged the police have evidence that Twitchell tried to emulate the character.
Police are looking for a man who escaped from an Edmonton garage believed to be the scene of a killing that led to the arrest of a local filmmaker.
Mark Twitchell, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of John Brian Altinger in a case that shares similarities to the movie he was making and the serial killer television show Dexter. Altinger's body has not been found.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2008/11/03/edm-hockeymask.jpg
Police allege Altinger was lured to a southside detached residential double garage through a dating website with the promise of meeting a beautiful woman. Instead, police said, Altinger was killed.
The man now being sought, who was allegedly lured to meet a woman at the same garage, was apparently confronted by a man in a hockey mask.
"The male was able to break free and run into the lane, being chased by the male in the mask. At this time a couple was walking by and saw the altercation," said Det. Mark Anstey of the Edmonton Police Service.
"The male wearing the hockey mask backed away and the other male may have escaped."
Altinger, 38, was last seen on Oct. 10, police said Saturday. Originally from White Rock, B.C., he went missing from the area of 40th Avenue and 57th Street in Edmonton, where he had been living for 10 years.
Twitchell had used the garage as a movie set, said Anstey.
"This film was about luring a fellow from the internet, duct-taping him to a chair, killing him and cutting him," he said.
"It was actually filmed and there are actors; we interviewed the actors. We've interviewed everybody and that film actually did take place."
Twitchell was arrested without incident in Edmonton on Friday.
E-mail takes police to garage
Police wouldn't say what they found in the garage, but alleged there is enough forensic evidence to charge Twitchell with first-degree murder.
Anstey said they were led to the garage because Altinger had e-mailed a friend the directions where he was told to go, and the friend kept that e-mail.
On his Facebook page, Twitchell is revealed to be a huge fan of the Showtime program Dexter, which follows the exploits of Dexter Morgan, a blood-spatter expert for the Miami police who also leads a secret life as a serial killer.
"We have a lot of information to suggest he definitely idolizes Dexter," Anstey said.
Anstey also alleged the police have evidence that Twitchell tried to emulate the character.