Tag Archives: Alberta

Dexter’s fate: Canadian connections?

Dexter Morgan’s final resting place revealed in the series finale stunned a lot of fans, but was the controversial twist ending also a veiled reference to Mark Twitchell — a convicted killer who replicated the show in real-life?

The ultra-violent Showtime television series concluded its eighth and last season with a bizarre final scene that nobody was expecting (warning: spoilers ahead).

In short, Dexter survives sailing into a hurricane and turns up looking like some kind of lumberjack, hiding in a cabin in the wilderness. He has a big beard and is wearing flannel.

The ending stirred up stereotypical images of Canada and fans across social media were quick to point out that silly connection:

And that Monty Python song:

Of course, Mark Twitchell, who built his own Dexter-inspired kill room and assumed the fictional serial killer’s identity online, is from western Canada. He is also a big fan of Wolverine, the Marvel character who once worked as a Canadian lumberjack.

Mark Twitchell, known as the "Dexter Killer," dressed up as Wolverine for Halloween.

Mark Twitchell, known as the “Dexter Killer,” once dressed up as superhero Wolverine (in flannel) for Halloween in Canada.

Is there some kind of Dexter-Lumberjack-Wolverine-Twitchell connection here? Did the show finally acknowledge the “Dexter Killer” case in this round-about way after declining to provide in-depth official comment on the convicted murderer for several years?

There is some evidence to back up this wild theory.

Scott Buck, who co-wrote the final episode, has given Dexter fans a bit of a hint on what he was really thinking when filming that controversial last scene.

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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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Twitchell appeal: media tainted jury

EDMONTON — Mark Twitchell’s appeal of his murder conviction, filed this week, will hinge on proving a miscarriage of justice has occurred.

In his notice of appeal, Twitchell argues that he deserves another trial, this time by judge alone, because unwanted media attention was “so extensive, so blatant and so overly sensationalized that it is unreasonable to expect any unsequestered jury to have remained uninfluenced by it.”

He also raises concerns surrounding his credibility and grounds he believes are sufficient to establish reasonable doubt. (Download: Twitchell Notice of Appeal).

Twitchell is currently serving his life sentence for the luring death and dismemberment of Johnny Altinger at Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. During the trial, he admitted that he lured Altinger and dismembered his body, burned it, dismembered it again and then disposed of the remains down a sewer. He argued, however, that the killing was in self-defence and not a planned attack.

This process of appealing a first-degree murder conviction can take a few months or up to a year to proceed, if it does at all. He will have to convince a panel of three judges that there was an error of law that, had it not happened, would have changed the outcome of the trial.

It may therefore be prudent to revisit an important detail in this case that was not covered at length in the media: who were these 12 people who found Twitchell guilty after five hours of deliberations?

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