Steve Lillibuen [reading mail]: “It would seem that I’m the only one in the world.” There is no secret. There is no root cause. “
Steve Lillibuen [reading letters]: “It is what it’s and I’m who I am.”
Lillibuen has revealed the contents of Twitchell’s letters for the first time. This rare glimpse into the mind of a killer is amazing.
Steve Lillibuen (reading a letter): “Nobody would support Dexter Morgan if it were possible for him to slaughter schoolteachers or mail carriers at will. “
Police claim Twitchell was attracted to the fictional character in Showtime’s hit series, “Dexter.” Paramount Global owns CBS. Showtime is a division within Paramount Global.
Steve Lillibuen Twitchell has been called “The Dexter Killer” due to the many connections between the television series’ crimes and real-life ones.
How did this young Canadian filmmaker become the victim of such horrific acts? The story began in October 2008.
Det. Edmonton Police: To hear how everything happened … it was like you’re watching the movies … But now we have it happening in real life.
Det. Bill Clark: Gilles Tetreault was on the Plentyoffish.com website… which is a dating site.
Tetreault was 33 years old at the time and was thrilled to meet the woman calling herself “Sheena.”
Gilles Tetreault [driving] : I was late so I drove very fast to get there.
Gilles Tetreault – She said, “I’ll just open the garage door for you.” Then you can just enter the garage.
Det. Bill Clark: He never imagined what would happen in that garage.
Gilles Tetreault : It was dark… I looked around for the door she said to me to go through… And that’s when someone came out and attacked me from behind.
Gilles Tetreault – Finally, I look back and see this man, kinda hovering above me with a hockey helmet… I feel a chill down my back as I realize that this is not a date.
Gilles Tetreault He stands at 6 feet tall and has a black-and-gold hockey mask on his face.
The man in the hockey mask had ordered him to fall at gunpoint.
Gilles Tetreault : He tore a piece tape and covered my eyes with it. Suddenly, I hear different sounds, such as a jingling sound or something similar. My head starts racing. Is he going to do something else? Are you going to give him another weapon?
Tetreault decided that he was not going to wait to find out.
Gilles Tetreault – I can’t do it, I gotta fight for my rights… so I stood up and I tore the tape from my eyes. He was so stunned, he started screaming at me to get off the ground.
Instead, he grabbed his attacker’s gun.
Gilles Tetreault : I felt that the gun was made of plastic when I… grabbed it. This was the best feeling I have ever experienced in my entire life. It made me realize that I had a fighting chance of getting away.
Gilles Tetreault : This was when I was ready for fight… I punched him, and I felt weak. I was like, “Wow! Why is my punch so weak?”
Tetreault did not realize that he was being weakened by the effects a stun baton had on him.
Gilles Tetreault : Then he starts to punch me on the side.
He came up with a plan just then.
Gilles Tetreault – He grabbed my jacket and I jerked forward to ensure he had a firm hold. I thought it was… perfect.
Troy Roberts : This was part of your plan. You’re thinking that he grabs me by the jacket and then I can be free.
Gilles Tetreault: Right. That’s when I got out of my jacket and rolled under the garage door, then got up ….. It worked.
Gilles Tetreault – I tried to run, but my legs would not work. I fell on the gravel driveway. He grabbed my legs, and began pulling me back to the garage ….. I was like “Oh no, what are I going to do now.” I’m dead.”
Tetreault was returned to the garage but surprised when he rolled out again. He managed to get in his truck this time.
Gilles Tetreault I put the key in the ignition and then I just raced away.
Tetreault returned home to discover that the profile had been removed from the dating site. He tried to erase his memory.
Troy Roberts – Why didn’t your police officer immediately call you?
Gilles Tetreault – At first I was shocked. I told myself that I would do it tomorrow. Tomorrow came, and I was… I felt so ashamed that it was a dupe.
Tetreault, embarrassed and confused, decided that maybe it wasn’t as serious after all.
Gilles Tetreault : At the time, I thought it was a mugging.
A week later, Johnny Altinger would respond to a similar dating ad, and then disappear.
Gary Altinger – Where is he? What is the matter? This would be unacceptable to him.
Gary Altinger, Johnny’s older brother, said that the 38-year old left for a date in October 2008 with a woman called “Jen” and was the last time anyone heard from him.
Gary Altinger – Not a message. … and then not showing up to work? Completely outlandish — completely out of character. John was extremely, very, very responsible.
Troy Roberts : When did you become concerned?
Gary Altinger
Troy Roberts – What was it saying?
Gary Altinger : I met Jen. I’m going with her to Costa Rica, and I’ll call your at Christmastime.
Gary Altinger – I thought immediately after reading this that it must be the strangest message I have ever received.
The same strange message was sent to Johnny’s friends. Johnny’s friends were desperate to find answers and broke into Johnny’s apartment.
Gary Altinger They found his passport. They also found dirty dishes. They found all the dishes as if he was going to return an hour later. You have to do something.
Det. Bill Clark: His red Mazda was gone. He had taken his car; it could not be found. This is what we will be looking for. It’s easier to find a car than a person.
Det. Bill Clark: According to the emails, they mention Costa Rica. The officers searched all parking lots at the airport, but nothing was found. All of it is negative.
One clue would prove to be the key to police’s first major breakthrough in this case. Johnny Altinger had sent his friends the directions on the day he vanished.
Det. Bill Clark: John’s friends were worried. His friend even interrogated him via email. Be careful, John replied, “Yeah. Well, here are the directions. You’ll be able to find me if something happens.
Armed with the directions, officers were immediately led to the garage.
Det. Bill Clark: They discovered that the garage was rented to Mark Twitchell.
Twitchell was a 29-year-old married man with a young girl who had used the garage for a recent movie set.
MARK TWITCHELL [graduation film]: “I’m glad that I had the opportunity to work with you all, and I hope to see you all in industry. “
Twitchell claimed he didn’t know anything about a missing person or a red Mazda, and he was fine with police searching the garage.
Det. Bill Clark: They take a look around, and they see what looks like blood. Mark Twitchell explains, “Oh, no! That’s my movie prop. We made a film about… killing a man in here, and I filmed it all. It’s been a while since I finished it …”.
Det. Bill Clark: There are some things that were, well, raisein’ your Spidey senses with this one. You’re going to say, “Yeah! This isn’t right.” … There’s something wrong here.
QUESTIONS FOR FILMMAKER
Detectives from the Edmonton Police Department found that the disappearance of Johnny Altinger was more than one mystery.
Det. Bill Clark: This is a case of missing persons. … We don’t know if there was foul play. We don’t even have a body. We don’t know if there has been a crime.
Mark Twitchell’s garage was their only lead. The amateur filmmaker made a voluntary visit to Edmonton Police Station to talk with detectives.
DETECTIVE [interrogation] – Altinger… Does this name ring any bells for you or have meaning to you?
MARK TWITCHELL:
DETECTIVE: Have you ever heard of it?
MARK TWITCHELL:
Twitchell seemed eager to help. Twitchell had no past of violence and was not a suspect. He was merely trying to boast about his film career.
MARK TWITCHELL: [interrogation] I’m currently working on a comedy. It’s a feature-length film that will have a budget of around three-and-a half million.
Twitchell’s initial film project, a Star Wars fan film, was well-received by the media in 2007.
Interview with MARK TWITCHELL: “The word has spread that I am making a movie of 100 million dollars for 60 grand and that some production and directing positions have come my way.” “
Twitchell’s latest production, “House of Cards,” was more popular with police officers. It is a suspense thriller about a hockey-masked serial killer who lures a man into his garage and then kills him.
DETECTIVE: It’s very odd that you are filming this kind of thing.
MARK TWITCHELL – Mm hmm.
DETECTIVE : We end up going to the garage because of a missing individual who supposedly went there.
MARK TWITCHELL (Yes) It’s also really scary… and as soon as they called me, I felt this strange chill.
Det. Bill Clark: He seemed quite comfortable during the interview. … When it was over, I watched and thought, “Wow, that guy interviewed very well.”
Twitchell agreed to allow officers back into the garage, where he had shot “House of Cards” hours later. They didn’t know that the case would take an unusual twist.
Det. Bill Clark: Detective Murphy meets him and has a conversation with him. Then, there is this big revelation about “Oh yes, I bought a red vehicle off a man.” It was like I still remember the phone call to the police station and thinking, “Holy crap!”
