MURDEROUS MINDS: The Dexter Killer Pt. 1

Mark Twitchell wanted to be a filmmaker. A storyteller. A star. But when fame didn’t come fast enough, he rewrote the script. In Part 1, we uncover the twisted rise of a Canadian director whose obsession with the TV show “Dexter” drove him to turn fiction into murder. Killer Minds is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Killer Minds! Instagram: @Crimehouse https://www.instagram.com/crimehouse/ TikTok: @Crimehouse https://www.tiktok.com/@crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios https://www.facebook.com/crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia https://x.com/crimehousemedia

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Vanessa Richardson?

  Hi, everyone. Before today's episode, there's another show I want to tell you about. It's called What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Plus, Connor's infectious energy that'll make you realize history is the most fascinating thing on earth. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen, or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.

• 0:36Speaker 01

  This is Crime House.

• 0:43Vanessa Richardson?

  Ever since he was a kid, Mark Twitchell knew he was going to be a famous director. He saw it so clearly, walking the red carpet, rubbing shoulders with A-list celebrities, seeing his name in lights. He wanted to be considered alongside the greats Scorsese, Tarantino, and Spielberg. And even though Mark spent years working towards this dream, at some point, it began slipping through his fingers. When that happened, he came up with a new idea, one that would put him back on the path to stardom. He decided to film a movie about a killer, and that the best way to make that art was to imitate it.

• 1:37Vanessa Richardson?

  The human mind is powerful. It shapes how we think, feel, love, and hate. But sometimes it drives people to commit the unthinkable. This is Killer Minds, a Crime House original. I'm Vanessa Richardson.

• 1:51Tristin Engels?

  And I'm Dr. Tristin Engels. Every Monday and Thursday, we uncover the darkest minds in history, analyzing what makes a killer.

• 2:00Vanessa Richardson?

  Crime House is made possible by you. Please rate, review, and follow Killer Minds. To enhance your listening experience with ad-free, early access to each two-part series and bonus content, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. A warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence and the dissection of human bodies. Listener discretion is advised. Today, we begin our deep dive on Mark Twitchell, an aspiring Canadian movie director with dreams of becoming a household name. While his early projects garnered some interest, a lack of funding quickly got in the way. But when Mark came up with a new idea for a slasher movie, he knew this would be the big break he needed.

• 2:45Vanessa Richardson?

  But he wanted it to be based on a true story. And in order to do that, he had to commit murder himself.

• 2:53Tristin Engels?

  As Vanessa goes through the story, I'll be talking about things like the psychological impact of Mark's childhood obsessions, how Mark justified his increasingly strange behavior, and what led him to physically record his darkest desires.

• 3:08Vanessa Richardson?

  And as always, we'll be asking the question, what makes a killer?

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• 3:48Vanessa Richardson?

  From an early age, Mark Twitchell loved playing pretend. Born in 1979 in the remote town of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, Mark has described his home life as idyllic and pleasant. But when it came to school, Mark had a hard time fitting in. He had big glasses and was a dedicated science fiction and fantasy fan, which, according to his friend Kirk, made him a target for bullies. This didn't seem to bother Mark, though, because he had a secret superpower: he could take refuge in his imagination. As a kid, Mark and his best friend Kirk would spend hours after school putting together skits, often based on pre-existing shows or characters.

• 4:32Vanessa Richardson?

  In one memorable clip, Mark played a guy named Judge Fred, a mashup based on two popular characters at the time, Judge Dredd and Fred Flintstone. Mark performed the role with full campy gusto. That's because Mark was never someone who half-committed to his interests. The second he had a new idea for a project, he'd threw himself into it. He'd spend his class time writing down ideas for scenes and stay up late working on scripts. As Mark got older, he began to make content with more violent themes, like his parody of Wheel of Fortune called Wheel of Torture. He and Kirk delighted in coming up with wilder and wilder ideas for horrific scenarios

• 5:14Vanessa Richardson?

  that the doomed contestants would be subjected to. It was a fun pastime for Kirk, but for Mark, it was more serious than that. Making Wheel of Torture took over his entire life, and he became fixated on ensuring the violence of the movie was believable. He needed it to feel real.

• 5:35Tristin Engels?

  So let's talk about the distinction between a hobby and a fixation, especially in children. What it really comes down to is balance and intensity. A hobby is typically something a child enjoys doing in their free time. It's usually a creative or imaginative outlet. Hobbies are generally healthy and temporary. A fixation, or an obsession, on the other hand, goes far beyond that. It's when the child becomes obsessed with a particular activity or subject to the point where it starts to consume them and dominates their thinking, their feelings, and even their behavior. Fixations and obsessions can make it hard for a child to focus on anything else, and it usually interferes with other important aspects of life, like school or social activities.

• 6:19Tristin Engels?

  And it becomes problematic if it disrupts a child's emotional development or well-being. Mark is experiencing a hard time fitting in at school and he was being bullied. Children who are rejected by their peers or are bullied often feel powerless, lonely, and frustrated. So it's not uncommon for them to retreat into a fantasy world or their imagination as an emotional escape. But his fantasy world is dark, and it's possibly even vengeful because of that bully. And he's turning his fantasy into a performative reality, and that's where it becomes concerning, especially when it took over his entire life like you had described, Vanessa.

• 6:58Vanessa Richardson?

  So how does Mark's relationship with his hobbies affect his understanding of what's real and what's fiction?

• 7:04Tristin Engels?

  So it can blur the lines between what's real and what's fiction. Skits by nature are fictional and performative, so they are detached from any real social consequences, which can cause Mark to be detached from that as well. This can also desensitize him to violence because he has turned violence into an outlet. Even though right now, no one's being harmed, it's still giving him a sense of joy or gratification. So he's essentially possibly conditioning himself that in order to get an emotional release, or to feel powerful, or even joy, he needs to do so through reenacting these violent thoughts. The problem with this is without intervention or the introduction of healthy coping skills,

• 7:48Tristin Engels?

  over time, he will more than likely become habituated. Meaning, because of repeated exposure to violent fantasies and those reenactments, over time, it's no longer going to give him the same level of emotional release or control. And it's possible that as a result, he will need to escalate to continue gaining that sense of emotional release.

• 8:12Vanessa Richardson?

  Well, after high school, Mark kept pursuing his love of entertainment and attended Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, where he enrolled in the Radio and TV Arts Program. He spent hours writing furiously in his notebook, coming up with alternate storylines for his favorite sci-fi franchises. Mark was especially fascinated with anti-heroes. He was intrigued by their thought process and the moral questions they posed to the audience. Mark loved making movies that made big impressions. When he showed his creations to his parents, he watched them laugh, gasp, and applaud. The attention made him feel important and solidified his desire to turn his love of filmmaking into a bona fide career.

• 8:57Vanessa Richardson?

  In the year 2000, 20-year-old Mark graduated college with a degree in radio and TV arts. And even though he was brimming with ideas and imagination, he kept gravitating towards an already established property: Star Wars. He was obsessed with the franchise and found a community who felt the same. Around this time, online message boards and forums had become a popular place for folks to share their interests. That's where Mark found his people. He became a prominent member of online Star Wars communities, where he'd discuss the prequels with fellow fans. He frequently came to the defense of his favorite villain, Anakin Skywalker, who, spoiler alert, becomes Darth Vader. In one post, Mark went so far as to defend Anakin

• 9:42Vanessa Richardson?

  for slaughtering a group of children. He wrote, "It's admirable how he manages to have a stomach for it."

• 9:51Vanessa Richardson?

  This was the start of a new chapter for Mark, in which his whole life began to revolve around the internet. He met his first wife in a chatroom in 2001, then packed up his life and moved to Illinois to live with her. But even in this new, exciting relationship, he still spent almost all his time on his computer. At this point, Mark also dabbled in another imaginative pastime: making fake online profiles. It's unclear why he decided to do this, apart from the fact that he thought it was fun. Sometimes he would pretend to be Satan, or even Jesus Christ. Other times, he would pose as a woman, flirting with unsuspecting men online.

• 10:32Tristin Engels?

  So there's something called online disinhibition, and that's the phenomenon that causes people to behave in ways they wouldn't in real-life scenarios because of the perception of anonymity that the digital world can provide. People tend to explore different versions of themselves because they're cloaked in anonymity. And this is why you see so many online trolls and cyberbullies. They say really harmful things that they would otherwise not say to someone in person, but they feel empowered to do so because they can be detached and otherwise anonymous. And when it comes to Mark, this online behavior is actually a clear escalation. He's gone from performing violence in skits with his best friend, where no one was actually being harmed,

• 11:15Tristin Engels?

  to psychologically taunting strangers online, where he is actively causing harm. Both are controlled environments for him. Both are removed from social consequences, and both are giving him a sense of power and control. And the fact that he's choosing Satan and Jesus as identities speaks to this because these identities represent absolute power. So if Mark continues to get reinforced with this online behavior, then it will cause him to possibly even escalate that behavior more.

• 11:46Vanessa Richardson?

  While Mark was widening his online exploration, his personal life was crumbling. We don't know much about his first marriage, but it didn't seem like a happy one. During this time, Mark and his wife went almost $40,000 in debt. And when they eventually split up in 2004, his wife cited the reason for the split as, quote, "extreme and repeated mental cruelty." It's hard to say how Mark felt about it, but after his marriage ended, the 25-year-old decided to move back home to Edmonton and get to work on his filmmaking career. To some, it might have seemed like a strange choice. Known locally by the morbid nickname "Deadminton", Mark's hometown was hardly a bustling metropolis.

• 12:29Vanessa Richardson?

  On the edge of the Canadian wilderness, Edmonton was isolated from the rest of the country and didn't attract the kind of cultural institutions that other places did. Plus, oil was the main employer in the area, not entertainment. But what Edmonton did have was a vibrant Star Wars community, and that was great for him because he had a new, exciting plan. He was gonna make his own Star Wars movie. While Mark had the big idea, he wasn't exactly a writer, and he needed someone else to help flesh out the plot. Soon, he found his guy. While working at a furniture store, Mark befriended Jim Seokos, a local schoolteacher who also loved Star Wars and thought making a fan film was a great idea.

• 13:14Vanessa Richardson?

  The two men quickly started working together. Jim wrote the screenplay, and Mark planned the production of the film he'd titled "Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion." As the project started to take shape, news of it began to spread across the fan forums that Mark frequented. He'd been right about one thing: The Star Wars community was very active in Edmonton, and a lot of people wanted to get involved. Soon, Mark found himself with a dedicated crew and actors who were more than excited to be a part of the project. As for funding, Mark managed to scrounge up $60,000 for the budget and was fully prepared to spend all of it. Filming started in 2006, and over the course of the next year,

• 13:58Vanessa Richardson?

  Mark invested in a green screen studio, special effects, elaborate costuming, and plane tickets to fly actors to Canada. And pretty soon, his enthusiasm paid off. The online interest in this film had continued to grow, and news about this grassroots love letter had spread through digital channels across Canada, sparking interest in fans and would-be actors in the United States and around the world. One of those actors was Jeremy Bullock, who actually played a character called Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy. To the cast, crew, and everyone watching the progress of the film, this further legitimized the project. For Mark, it was proof that his dream of becoming a world-famous director

• 14:43Vanessa Richardson?

  was within reach. During the filming of "Secrets of the Rebellion," things were looking up in all areas of Mark's life. While pursuing his passion as a filmmaker, he also fell in love for a second time. Sometime during this period, Mark started talking to a woman named Jess on the dating website plentyoffish.com, and their relationship blossomed quickly. The pair were wed in 2007 and had a daughter in January of the following year. At that point, the film was in post-production, and there wasn't as much for Mark to do, so he started looking around for other projects. Bolstered by the initial success of his first idea, he started building his own production company, called Express Entertainment,

• 15:27Vanessa Richardson?

  and began courting the interest of would-be investors. Meanwhile, Mark started gestating an idea for his next big film, a comedy to be titled "Day Players." But around this same time, a friend introduced Mark to a new television show that changed everything for him: Dexter. At first, it took some convincing for Mark to try out this new pulpy thriller, but once he started watching, he was hooked. In only four days, Mark devoured the entire first season, which had just come out. Then he re-watched the show over and over again. He was especially enthralled by the main character, Dexter Morgan,

• 16:08Vanessa Richardson?

  a blood splatter analyst turned serial killer who goes after violent offenders. Like the other anti-heroes that Mark loved, Dexter challenged the audience's moral and ethical beliefs. He was smart, witty, and handsome, while simultaneously acting as a cold-blooded murderer, torturing and dissecting his victims in a kill room. Mark wasn't just fascinated by the show. He was inspired, and he knew that this was the subject he wanted to cover in his next movie. The idea of making a slasher film began to consume him, and Mark knew that he had to follow that impulse. After all, maybe this would be the thing that could take him beyond Edmonton and all the way to Hollywood.

• 16:53Vanessa Richardson?

  Maybe this was his chance to become a household name. He was right, just not in the way he thought.

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• 18:06Speaker 01

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• 19:54Vanessa Richardson?

  In the first half of 2008, 28-year-old Mark Twitchell's career was just getting started. He was finally in post-production for his fan-made movie Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion. He was also starting to pitch his new comedy film, Day Players, to potential investors. All the while, the tantalizing idea of a slasher movie lingered in his mind. It turned out, people were actually happy to give Mark money. After all, the production of his fan film had gotten a lot of attention, and he seemed like a young, new talent worth investing in. Even his own family and friends were keen to back him. They handed Mark tens of thousands of dollars to pursue his dream.

• 20:36Vanessa Richardson?

  This influx of cash gave Mark the confidence to dedicate all of his time to filmmaking. So about halfway through the year, he decided to quit his day job at the furniture store. His wife, Jess, begged him not to. They had a young baby in the house, and the couple needed as much financial security as they could get. But Mark did it anyway. And to hide it from his wife, he continued leaving home each morning as if he was going to work. Then he'd spend his days at coffee shops, emailing investors. Sometimes, he'd re-watch episodes of Dexter.

• 21:13Tristin Engels?

  So it sounds like Mark might now have another fixation, and that's on Dexter. However, Mark's continued detachment from reality, first through his fantasy world, then the online behavior, and now in his personal life, has serious psychological effects. He's compartmentalizing his life into different, isolated parts, which can lead to a fragmented sense of identity. Essentially, Mark is splitting his life into sections. He's making it harder for him to understand who he really is, and this creates internal conflict as he tries to balance his real-life responsibilities as a father and a husband with his fantasy-driven goals or desires. And the more he detaches from reality, the more likely he is to become emotionally numb

• 21:58Tristin Engels?

  and desensitized to the consequences of his actions. As he continues down this path, this way of living becomes more reinforced and harder to break. And additionally, by psychologically isolating himself from reality and consequences, Mark is missing the chance to develop healthy coping skills or accountability. And without these, his behaviors are likely to escalate. I know I've mentioned that, and it begs repeating. Over time, living a double life may cause Mark to become more deeply disconnected, where his fantasies start to feel more like reality, and the consequences of his actions are just not important to him, let alone even a factor in his decision-making.

• 22:40Vanessa Richardson?

  Does this seem like an escalation from his previous dishonesty and taking on other identities, like in his fake online profiles that he was doing?

• 22:47Tristin Engels?

  Yes. In both cases, Mark is engaging in deceptive behavior. But the stakes are higher with his wife, because this deception involves real-world relationships and responsibilities. His wife and child are dependent on his income, and he seems to be completely unaffected by this, because to him, pursuing what he wants is more important. His dream is a fantasy in itself, and although it's certainly possible that he could go on and become this famous director and have the income to match, it's less likely and less realistic to happen, let alone in the way he is building it up in his mind. But that's not a reality that he wants to live in.

• 23:30Vanessa Richardson?

  Mark quit his job while he was on a career high, but the entertainment industry is fickle, and things quickly came crashing down. Post-production work on Secrets of the Rebellion stalled, though it's unclear why. And while initial interest in Mark's comedy movie, Day Players, started off promising, it never seemed to materialize into actual financial backing. Additionally, the money that his friends and family had given him was starting to dwindle. So Mark decided to take a different route. His other projects weren't gaining the kind of attention he was hoping for, so it was clearly time for a new idea. And lucky for him, he'd already been working out the details for his slasher film. Soon, Mark started pitching this movie

• 24:14Vanessa Richardson?

  to would-be investors. He sent out emails to his contacts, framing the project as a short film about a killer. The finer details of the plot were hazy, and it wasn't clear if these potential backers even found the idea interesting. But Mark was on a roll, and he wasn't going to wait around for anyone to catch up. For the Star Wars movie, Mark was a producer and the director, working with actors and screenwriters to help bring his ideas to life. But this time, Mark wasn't interested in delegating. He wanted the creative work behind this psychological thriller to be entirely his. He didn't have the resources to actually hire a crew. Actually, he hardly had money to make this movie at all. So when it came to production,

• 24:58Vanessa Richardson?

  he knew he had to get creative. That September, he called in a few favors from friends who'd worked on his previous projects and found an affordable location to shoot in, a detached garage that was being rented out for only $175 a month. Mark planned to shoot for two days at the end of September, and as production drew closer, he started fleshing out the film's plot beats in messages to his crew. The short, now titled "House of Cards", was nearly identical to the premise of Dexter. It centered around a serial killer who targets victims who he sees as being ethically bankrupt. The garage that Mark had rented would serve as the kill room,

• 25:41Vanessa Richardson?

  with the set designed to mimic the one in Dexter. Mark had even decided to cover the walls and floor with plastic sheeting, another nod to the show. The setting was extremely important to Mark. He asked his friends to build him specific props, like a large, heavy table and two chairs, one called "The Killer Chair", and the other "The Victim". He also insisted on buying a specific set of knives to be the killer's chosen weapons, along with a large oil drum. Soon enough, Mark had everything in place. He even had a small, dedicated cast who would play the killer and the victim, Robert Barnsley and Chris Heward, respectively. They flew in for the film and agreed to work for free,

• 26:25Vanessa Richardson?

  with Mark promising that he would prioritize them for roles in future movies. Mark dove headfirst into finalizing the script, which for him involved researching serial killers. He was fixated on understanding the motivation that would lead a person to commit murder. And to his surprise, the more he read, the more he empathized with these killers. He even started to feel like he had the same traits they did and wrote extensively about it on his computer. One especially unsettling passage read, "If my family and friends ever knew the real me, it would damage many of them, some irreparably."

• 27:06Tristin Engels?

  So it makes sense to me why Mark would be so enthralled with Dexter. He identifies with him. There's a lot of parallels with him and that character. They are both leading a double life and hiding their violent fantasies from the outside world. Dexter morally justifies his murders because he chooses people who harmed others. And in a lot of ways, Mark justifies his own violent fantasies also by expressing them in socially acceptable or creative ways. Mark romanticizing Dexter in this way, even writing a film inspired by him, is more evidence that he's normalizing violent or antisocial behaviors. And that quote you shared about if his family and his friends knew the real him, that suggests he has self-awareness.

• 27:48Tristin Engels?

  So he knows on some level that his violent fantasies aren't socially acceptable, but at the same time, he seems to be creating an internal narrative that justifies keeping this secret. He could be setting the stage for denial, believing that because others can't handle the "real him," that he is somehow entitled to act out his violent fantasies without facing the consequences. And the character of Dexter is just reinforcing that idea.

• 28:15Vanessa Richardson?

  Do you think it would be more comforting for him, or maybe just terrifying for Mark, to find himself relating to serial killers?

• 28:23Tristin Engels?

  It depends on how Mark would frame that psychologically, but I believe it's more likely than not that he finds it comforting, and here's why. Mark has used fantasy as a way to escape. He created and immersed himself in fictional worlds to cope emotionally and express his true self in, again, socially acceptable ways. But over time, the boundary between fantasy and reality blurred for him. So it's very possible that the character of Dexter feels less like fiction and more like a real possibility. And I think that became even stronger once he started the film. The fact that he's creating a movie set with a kill room modeled after Dexter could be a form of escalation even for Mark, because he's shifted from abstract fantasy or fiction to actionable ideas.

• 29:07Tristin Engels?

  Now it's important to understand that writing scripts or stories about violence, or horror, or dark topics doesn't automatically mean someone is violent or intends to act out those themes in real life. Many creators, writers, and filmmakers use these themes as a way to explore complex emotions, societal issues, or simply engage in creative expression. And for most, fiction is a way to tell a story, to challenge fears or entertain, and it's not a reflection of personal desires or intentions. Violence in art is often about creating tension or provoking thought rather than encouraging harm. And what separates fiction from reality is the ability to differentiate between the two. And Mark struggles to do that.

• 29:52Tristin Engels?

  He comes with a combination of psychological factors that most creatives don't have, like this need for control, emotional detachment or desensitization, lack of any kind of intervention or accountability, a history possibly of trauma and possible antisocial traits. He's weaponizing creative outlets. And when you consider that with his fiction and his creative writing, it's more than just simple creative exploration.

• 30:19Vanessa Richardson?

  Mark started filming House of Cards on September 26th, only a few months after he first came up with the idea. Over the course of the two allotted filming days, Mark and his crew shot the entire thing in the rented garage. Throughout the shoot, Mark was particular, often stopping scenes and retaking moments to get everything just right, as you mentioned, that control, Dr. Engels. He also chided the cast if they handled props incorrectly, like he demanded they avoid leaving fingerprints on the knife blades. Toward the end of the second day of shooting, the team filmed one of the movie's biggest shots, a close-up of the killer as he plunges the knife into the victim's chest. Mark had mixed up a large bag of fake blood. The actor playing the killer, Robert,

• 31:04Vanessa Richardson?

  would puncture it through a shirt pulled taut to make it easier for him to stab. After a few tries, Robert nailed it, bursting open the blood bag and sending a burst of red ooze through the hole in the t-shirt. The cast was thrilled with the shot, but for Mark, it didn't feel right. He sat in silence for a while as the cast and crew waited for his thoughts. Ultimately, Mark said it was fine and that they should move on, but the shot had bothered him, and he didn't know why yet. By this point, the movie was wrapped. Mark had told the cast and crew that he only needed them for two days, and his time was up, plus he had no money for reshoots. But Mark still felt like that kill shot wasn't realistic enough.

• 31:47Vanessa Richardson?

  And as he mulled over what to do, it hit him. He would redo the scene, but not for the cameras, just for him. Because Mark had just realized that in order to create something truly believable, he needed to experience it for himself.

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• 34:45Speaker 06

  Did you know that if your spouse goes missing and you don't tell anyone? That's not necessarily a crime. That surprising fact is at the heart of the brand new season of Bear Brook, the critically acclaimed true crime podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio. I'm your host, Jason Moon. In this season, Bear Brook investigates another New Hampshire mystery. A Christmas tree farmer with dementia vanishes. His wife never reports him missing. Can he still be found? Don't miss it. Follow Bear Brook wherever you get your podcasts.

• 35:18Vanessa Richardson?

  In October 2008, 29-year-old Mark Twitchell had just wrapped shooting on his new short slasher film, House of Cards. It was his first time writing, directing, and producing a movie himself, a process that both thrilled and inspired him. But unbeknownst to his cast and crew, Mark had also been bothered by the phoniness of the whole thing. So he came up with an idea to reenact the entire story himself, but in real life. He would play the murderer and scout out an actual victim to kill. Somehow, he was convinced this would provide him with a whole new level of understanding when it came to his story and characters.

• 36:00Vanessa Richardson?

  Late one night, after his wife and daughter were asleep, Mark hunched over his computer. It was important to him to follow the plot of his own movie to a T. And in House of Cards, the killer sought out his victims through dating sites. So that night, he went to plentyoffish.com and made a profile of a blonde named Sheena using photos that he found from an account of a woman who lived in another city. While he waited for unsuspecting men to start messaging him, Mark also started writing on his computer. He wanted to document the reasoning behind what he was about to do, and titled his manifesto "S.K. Confessions." The first sentence read like this:

• 36:44Vanessa Richardson?

  "This is the story of my progression into becoming a serial killer."

• 36:50Tristin Engels?

  Okay, so Mark isn't technically classified as a serial killer, but he exhibits many traits commonly seen in serial killers. Many serial killers experience compulsions or recurring urges. These urges often manifest in meticulous planning, rituals, or even acts of violence, which provide a temporary emotional release from the psychological tension they're experiencing. And for Mark, it seems like his compulsion, at least for the time being, takes the form of writing. Writing serves as an emotional release for him, one that is private, again socially acceptable, and perceived as safe for him. By writing, he's able to covertly experience his violent fantasies, especially with his fictional writing.

• 37:33Tristin Engels?

  Writing gives him a temporary emotional release, but it also allows him to frame his actions in a way that is justified, controlled, and rationalized in his own mind. And what you've described sounds like he's attempting, in this manifesto, to frame his violent impulses not as senseless acts, but as part of a logical progression, which allows him to see himself as someone with a purpose rather than just a perpetrator of violence, once again, much like Dexter. And also, remember that Mark has dreamed of being a famous director. He's been imagining himself in the spotlight or on the red carpet. So writing this manifesto could be connected to his desire for attention or immortality. Like many infamous killers, especially serial killers,

• 38:17Tristin Engels?

  Mark may want to leave behind a legacy of his actions, and a manifesto gives him the opportunity to cement his place in history in that way. And it provides a narrative that ensures he's remembered how he wants to be remembered, while also fulfilling his need for recognition, and again, immortality.

• 38:35Vanessa Richardson?

  As Mark continued to write down his thoughts in SK Confessions, he also monitored his fake Plenty of Fish account to see if he got any bites. Soon, he had one. Thirty-three-year-old Gilles Tetro. Gilles messaged Mark's fake profile and the two started flirting. On the other side of the conversation, Mark was thrilled. It was exciting to him that this stranger had no idea what was happening, or what was going to happen. On October 8th, Gilles and Mark, writing as Sheena, agreed to meet up at 7:00 PM at the garage Mark had rented for his shoot and still had access to. Mark gave the young man step-by-step directions, full of visual markers.

• 39:19Vanessa Richardson?

  He explained that the garage door would be left partially open and that Gilles shouldn't worry about the neighbors thinking he was a burglar. After that, Mark hurried to the garage and quietly waited for Gilles. He was wearing the mask his actor had worn for the film shoot, a modified hockey cover that he'd painted gold and black. He held a stun gun in his hand, the weapon he hoped would be enough to incapacitate Gilles when he arrived. Soon, Mark heard the sound of a car approaching on the gravel driveway outside. It was showtime. He rushed toward the garage door, standing to the side so that Gilles wouldn't see his feet. He waited with anticipation as he heard footsteps approaching.

• 40:02Vanessa Richardson?

  And just as Mark saw the young man duck under the garage door, he lunged forward with the stun gun. With just a few hits to the chest, Mark sent Gilles convulsing to the ground. Then, Mark pulled out the prop gun he'd brought with him, pointed it at Gilles, and demanded he stay down. Gilles complied, and Mark placed a piece of duct tape over his victim's eyes. But in a burst of adrenaline, Gilles jumped up, snatching away the gun that Mark had been holding. Mark noted with terror and frustration that the young man could immediately tell the gun was a fake. Gilles dove onto Mark and the two fought ferociously until Gilles broke free of his attacker and scrambled out of the garage trying to get to his car.

• 40:47Vanessa Richardson?

  The only thing was Gilles was still recovering from the electric shock of the stun gun and moved slowly, sort of in a crawl. Mark caught up with him easily and grabbed Gilles' ankles, then dragged him back to the garage. Except, when they got there, Mark realized he had a problem. The garage door wasn't lifted high enough for both men to fit underneath it at once. He tried to lift the door higher, but in his awkward attempt to hold onto his victim and get it open, Mark's grip loosened. It only took that one half-second for Gilles to kick himself free and take off toward the main road. Mark followed swiftly, but as he closed the gap between himself and Gilles, he saw the young man had flagged down a couple on an evening stroll.

• 41:32Vanessa Richardson?

  All of a sudden, Mark must have felt extremely exposed, so he retreated back to the garage and let Gilles escape.

• 41:41Vanessa Richardson?

  In the immediate aftermath of this first failed murder, Mark rushed home and got on his computer. He typed furiously, sending a threatening message to Gilles from Sheena's fake Plenty of Fish account. But moments later, Mark decided to back off. Any kind of message was a paper trail. If Gilles told the police what had happened, these exchanges could lead straight to Mark. In a few clicks, he erased the entire online conversation. For good measure, he deleted Sheena's profile too. The next day, October 9th, the thought of getting caught plagued Mark constantly. He would wince at the sight of a police car or the sound of his phone ringing. But as the day wore on, his anxiety passed.

• 42:25Vanessa Richardson?

  By that afternoon, Mark had managed to talk himself out of worrying. Sure, this first attempt hadn't gone as planned, but he knew what mistakes he had made. The stun gun was too awkward, and the prop gun wasn't real enough. He needed to change up his weaponry when he tried again.

• 42:45Tristin Engels?

  So this reminds me a little bit of Jeffrey Dahmer, our very first episodes. And the reason I say this is because, I mean, they're not similar in motive or method or anything like that, but Dahmer became obsessed with a male jogger he had seen regularly near his home when he was a teenager. And he fantasized about attacking this jogger for a while, until one day, he took a baseball bat to a stakeout spot to carry out his fantasy, except the jogger didn't go running that day. And this left Dahmer enraged. Now similarly, Mark has been fantasizing about this moment for some time. He started that fantasy and that obsession when he started writing the script. And then he built the kill room, and then he acted it out through filming.

• 43:28Tristin Engels?

  And that wasn't satisfying for him, so he escalated into doing it himself, emulating the character, and his plan failed. That was an emotionally charged moment for him. Mark lost control, and in his fantasy or his fictional world, that never happens. Because in his fantasy world, everything happens as it's detailed and as he writes it. He doesn't leave room for mistakes or consequences there, and so why would he in real life? Unfortunately, though, this just reinforced his urge to kill, because even though he failed, he still proved to himself he's capable of carrying it out. Now, all he has to do is refine his approach, which is something we see happen often with serial offenders.

• 44:11Tristin Engels?

  Again, I know Mark is not technically a serial killer, but nevertheless, I think he was well on his way to becoming one.

• 44:18Vanessa Richardson?

  Well, by the end of the day, Mark was ready to try again, but he needed new supplies to replace his stun gun, so he stopped by the local hardware store and bought two large pipes, heavy enough to be able to knock someone out with a few strong blows.

• 44:32Tristin Engels?

  And this is his attempt at refining his approach.

• 44:35Vanessa Richardson?

  Definitely. And he also needed a new fake dating profile. So that night, tucked away in his basement, Mark went back to plentyoffish.com, ready to start over with a different account. Like before, he stole photos from a random woman he found online, using them to create a profile. This time, he chose to be a brunette woman named Jen. In her phony bio, Mark wrote that Jen was looking for an intimate encounter with a man as soon as possible. By the next day, Mark had found a new victim. John Brian Altinger was 38 years old and very interested in Jen. They talked for a little while, sharing their interests.

• 45:17Vanessa Richardson?

  Speaking through the fake profile, Mark made sure to be very impressed that John was such a car guy and that he had a sporty Mazda. Their messages grew flirtier, and soon the pair started talking about meeting up that evening. Writing as Jen, Mark gave John the same directions he'd given Gilles, directing him to the detached garage on the edge of town. He explained to John that since it was their first meeting, it would be safer to go to a neutral location rather than a personal address. Sitting at his computer, Mark hoped that this lie would be enough to convince John. And sure enough, he was right.

• 45:56Vanessa Richardson?

  John said yes, agreeing to meet at the garage at 7:00 PM that night, October 10th. Sitting in front of his laptop, Mark could feel a familiar thrill creep through his entire body. That last failed attempt was nothing more than a dress rehearsal, a rough draft. But tonight would be his masterpiece.

• 46:35Vanessa Richardson?

  Thanks so much for listening. Join us next time as we conclude our deep dive into Mark Twitchell.

• 46:41Tristin Engels?

  Killer Minds is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on Instagram at Killer Minds. And don't forget to rate, review, and follow Killer Minds wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.

• 47:01Vanessa Richardson?

  And to enhance your listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode of Killer Minds ad-free, along with early access to each thrilling two-part series and exciting Crime House bonus content.

• 47:18Vanessa Richardson?

  Killer Minds is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and Dr. Tristin Engels, and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Killer Minds team: Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Laurie Marinelli, Natalie Perczowski, Sarah Camp, Kate Murdock, Georgia Hampton, Sarah Tardif, and Carrie Murphy. Thank you for listening.

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• 48:20Vanessa Richardson?

  If you're looking for your next podcast, check out What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.