Category Archives: Crime and Justice

A ‘Dexter Killer’ (Devil’s Cinema) Down Under

MELBOURNE — I’m thrilled to see The Devil’s Cinema, my narrative on the “Dexter Killer” Mark Twitchell case, will be published in Australia.

The good people at Penguin Australia have snapped up the rights to release my book in both Australia and New Zealand.

While I was born and raised in Canada, I’ve been living in Australia for the past few years, so this is fabulous news to see this story now shared in my two homes.

There are a few changes to the Aussie release: the cover and subhead have both been altered slightly.

(Apparently Australians are more familiar with the case being called the “Dexter Killer” than by the man behind the notorious moniker, Mark Twitchell.)

In any event, any good Aussie bookstore will have a copy by the August 22 release day. It will be available locally as an eBook too.

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Dates From Hell: Investigation Discovery

MELBOURNE — Gilles Tetreault’s experience of being lured to “Dexter Killer” Mark Twitchell’s kill room under the ruse of meeting a woman is certainly one of the “Dates From Hell” worth featuring on Investigation Discovery.

The new series profiles the young man’s survival story in Edmonton, Canada, during an episode first broadcast on US cable on Wednesday night. (I’m not sure of when or if it will air in Canada, or elsewhere.)

His experience is frightening, unbelievable, and will surely terrify anyone planning on meeting up with somebody they’ve just had a connection with through an online dating website.

But let’s hope this TV snapshot of the case is also the starting point for discussions among those viewers who are hearing of it for the first time.

There is a lot more to this true story explored at-length in The Devil’s Cinema, from the perspective of the killer, the detectives, and the victim, Johnny Altinger, who tragically did not share the same kinds of luck as the man who got away.

Their stories merge, however, through that dating site, in that now infamous garage, and years later, when a courtroom would reveal all.

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Magnotta’s Hollywood links

MELBOURNE — Police are investigating murder-suspect Luka Magnotta’s possible links to a cold case involving the celebrated Hollywood sign, pushing this strange crime story into another country of interest.

This development, reported by ABC and the Toronto Sun, will surely explode commentary on social media even more than is occurring right now. (Update: LA police later downplayed any connection between the two crimes.)

It is astonishing how we are linked to this case through social media, just how we were with the Mark Twitchell case and trial. I first heard of this case via Twitter and have been getting regular updates as much through Facebook as I am through reading the newspaper, and my own research.

I’m continuing to write more on this topic, too, including a CNN op-ed piece discussing our “sick fascination with a death video.”

Seems to have struck a chord with a lot of people.

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