Cold-blooded murderers who were influenced by TV serial killer Dexter
Hit TV show Dexter has made its long awaited return to our screens after over eight years since its original finale brought an end to the story of Dexter Morgan, or so we thought.
Dexter Morgan instantly became a beloved character with his charm and personality hiding his dark serial killer persona from the world.
While Dexter’s Dark Passenger was satisfied by killing those who got away with their crimes, some have claimed the hit tv series helped influence people to commit diabolical murders to truly undeserving victims.
From the filmmaker who wanted to be a real-Dexter to the teenager who dismembered his girlfriend because the voice in his head told him.
There have been many murder cases during and after the Showtime hit series aired that have used the Dexter character, played by Golden Globe winner Michael C. Hall, as an influence for their crimes.
Mark Twitchell
The “Dexter” Copycat Killer was the name dubbed to aspiring filmmaker Mark Twitchell, who murdered Johnny Atlinger, 38, and dismembered his body in Edmonton, Canada.
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Twitchell, who was 31 when he was sentenced to life in prison, tricked his victim into meeting him by pretending to be a woman on an online dating website in 2008.
The key piece of evidence in the case was a recovered document Twitchell deleted from his laptop called ‘SK (Serial Killer) Confessions’.
According to CBS News, the opening paragraph read: “This story is based on true events. The names and events were altered slightly to protect the guilty. This is the story of my progression into becoming a serial killer."
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Police believe Altinger was hit with a pipe as he entered Twitchell’s ‘Kill Room’, which was his garage, before stabbing him to death.
Twitchell then laid his victim on a table and dismembered his body before trying to burn it in a barrel in his parents' garden.
It took Police two years to find the rest of Altinger’s remains after Twitchell later used Google Maps to point them to a sewer.
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Investigators determined that Twitchell’s motive for the murders was so he could make his serial killer movie, which he had been working on, more authentic.
Altinger would have been his second victim had his first attempt not backfired, which was also in his confessions document, when Gilles Tetreault managed to run away.
Tetreault entered Twitchell’s garage to be met with a man in a hockey mask telling him to lie on the ground before he had his eyes duct taped.
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Believing he was going to die, Tetreault ripped off the duct tape and grabbed the gun to discover it was plastic. The two got in a struggle before the would-be-victim escaped and collapsed in front of a couple.
Twitchell’s confessions, although slightly altered, allowed a jury to find him guilty of first degree murder in 2011.
Steven Miles
The teenager was just 16 when a voice inside his head, called ‘Ed’ told him to kill his girlfriend.
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Steven Miles claimed to have a voice in his head telling him to kill and was reportedly obsessed with Dexter, jurors were told.
In 2017, he decided to stab Elizabeth Thomas, 17, to death in his home in Oxted, Surrey.
BBC reported that he killed his girlfriend before dismembering her body with his dad’s tools from his tree surgery business.
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Miles then wrapped up the limbs of his victim and put them in bin bags.
He later told his family that Ed told him to kill someone.
The court was told Miles had wanted to copy the actions of Dexter before the judge sentenced him to life in prison.
Miranda Barbour
The serial killer claims to have killed around 22 to 45 people, who in her words “deserved it”.
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Like the fictional Dexter Morgan, Miranda Barbour claims she only kills people who have done bad things.
However, the Satan worshipper lured a man looking for a female companion through a Craigslist advert before stabbing him to death in Pennsylvania, US.
Her crimes saw her and her husband Elytte Barbour jailed for murdering Troy LaFerrara, who they tricked into meeting in 2013.
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The couple murdered LaFerrara on their three-week wedding anniversary before going to celebrate in a strip club, according to the Daily Item.
As reported by Newsweek, Barbour pretended to be underage, even though she wasn’t, and told LaFerrara she had only just turned 16.
She said if the victim did the right thing and backed off, LaFerrara would have lived but according to her, he still insisted on sex.
Barbour also called herself ‘Super Miranda’ due to a dark and violent side that switches on.
Although the other crimes have never been proven, Barbour has been adamant that she has been on a killing spree of bad people and in interviews has offered to show authorities the bodies.
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