Who is Mark Twitchell and why is he called the Dexter killer?

MURDERER Mark Twitchell has become known as the Dexter killer due to his obsession with the TV show.

Cops say his fascination with the fictional TV killer carried over into his real-life crimes.

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Who is Mark Twitchell?

Mark Andrew Twitchell was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on July 4, 1979.

He worked as a Canadian filmmaker and was convicted of first-degree murder in April 2011.

Twitchell graduated from the Radio and Television Arts program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in 2000.

In 2007, Twitchell directed Star Wars: Secrets Of The Rebellion, a full-length fan film prequel to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Twitchell’s film has never been released.

Twitchell posed as a woman on the Plenty of Fish dating site and set up a meeting with John Altinger, 38, on October 10, 2008.

Altinger, thinking he was meeting a woman, was lured to Twitchell’s “kill room” in his garage-turned-film-studio.

Twitchell stabbed and bludgeoned his victim before cutting him up and partially burning the body.

Altinger’s remains were put into garbage bags and dumped in a storm sewer.

Concerns for Altinger’s safety were raised when friends and family received an email claiming to be from him, saying his date had taken him on an extended trip to Costa Rica.

His friends, having broken into his condo and finding no evidence he had packed for a vacation, alerted the police.

While Twitchell was not initially a suspect, he told cops an unlikely story that Altinger sold his Mazda 6 to him for 40 Canadian dollars.

The police, not believing this story, impounded Twitchell’s laptop and car, and found Altinger’s blood in the car’s trunk.

Cops arrested Twitchell on October 31, 2008, and charged him with first degree murder.

According to investigative reporter, Steve Lillibuen, Twitchell enjoyed communicating through writing.

Twitchell wrote numerous letters to the journalist, with Lillibuen telling CBS News that he found the murderer of Johnny Altinger to be very responsive to letter writing.

Lillibuen said: “He wrote me probably 30 or 35 different letters – up to about 350 pages… like an entire book worth.”

Lillibuen read one of Twitchell’s letters: “I killed Johnny Altinger in a horrific accident of self-defense. After cursorily shoving aside my human sensibilities, I dealt with his remains in a disrespectful manner that traumatized me forever.”

Twitchell had attempted to lure another victim to his kill room earlier that month.

When Gilles Tetreault went to meet his online date named “Sheena” at the set location of Twitchell’s garage, he was attacked by Twitchell in a hockey mask.

Tetreault fought back in a violent struggle and escaped the horrific scene, but didn’t report the attack until seeing the hockey mask at a police press conference following Altinger’s death.

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Why is Mark Twitchell called the Dexter Killer?

Both Lillebuen and police say that Twitchell’s fascination with the TV killer Dexter Morgan carried over into his real-life crimes.

His interest in the show was raised numerous times during his trial.

Lillebuen said: “He had a kill room set up with plastic sheeting. He had a table set up for his victims.

“He had this kind of processing kit that was very similar to what Dexter uses.”

The day after Twitchell was arrested in connection to Altinger’s death, police found a suspiciously deleted file on Twitchell’s computer labeled “SK Confessions.”

In the document, the killer wrote about his kill room, explaining that it included “several rolls of painters plastic sheeting” and a 45-gallon steel drum “for the body parts” as well as a “game processing kit” containing multiple different knives and a serrated saw “for the bones.”

Where is Mark Twitchell now?

In April 2011, Twitchell was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

He is still in Saskatchewan Federal Penitentiary.

In May 2013, it was reported by the National Post that Twitchell had purchased a television for his prison cell.

Twitchell stated that he had caught up on every Dexter episode that he missed since he was arrested and convicted.