last link on the left › deadmonton › johnny brian altinger

WARNING

Johnny Brian Altinger, 38, was reported missing October 10th, 2008. On October 31st Mark Andrew Twitchell, 29, was charged with first-degree murder.

As the details of the charges against Mark Twitchell emerged, media sought the wisdom of experts regarding the crime. Local and international criminologists were contacted as well as those familiar with the impact of pop culture.

"For the City of Edmonton, this is a shocking homicide," criminologist Bill Pitt announced to media.

"The jury is still out as to whether this individual ... if this is Act Three, Act Four, Act Five of this play that he has in his mind.

"And it's good he got caught at this point because undoubtably there would be more," he said.

Pitt's assessment was in line with the thinking of the investigator heading Twitchell's case.

"I believe we caught him in the beginning. He would have continued, guaranteed," Det. Anstey said.

As to what clues to Altinger's fate the Mill Woods garage could hold, Pitt offered graphic speculation.

"There could be body parts: blood, semen ... flesh," he said.

"I think a tape would be a logical assumption to make – that there are some in existence if he's been doing this for a while – and I think he has been."

University of Alberta law professor Sanjeev Anand said it would be difficult to prove first-degree murder in a case where the body has not been found.

A primary element in any murder case is the ability to show cause of death, Anand told CBC Edmonton.

However, police seemed confident in their charge.

"This is very rare. There is a lot of evidence to prove he is deceased," Det. Anstey said of Altinger.

Anand told the Edmonton Journal a defence lawyer could argue that the alleged victim simply left town, adding it's hard to prove that the actions of the accused led to a death with the absence of a body.

"A lot of this case will depend on the type of forensic evidence found on the scene," he said.

Forensic psychologist Dr. Liam Ennis called the case "fascinating."

Ennis is a registered forensic psychologist in private practice in Edmonton running the Forensic Behavioural Science Group. His work includes mental health consultation for criminal cases and the evaluation of risk for adult and juvenile offenders. He has provided expert witness testimony in cases heard in Alberta and the United States.

Most murders are impulsive acts, often committed while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. But in this case, a lot of forethought and planning would have been required to execute such an apparently elaborate scheme as police suggested, Ennis told the Journal.

"Across the board, what is described to have taken place is extremely rare," he said.

The allegations – of luring the victim via the internet, eliciting personal information from him and then using it to send e-mails to his friends after he was killed – are so unusual, they can't be compared to other cases, he said.

After hearing of the case, Ennis called a colleague and advised him to look at the story because it was so incredible.

"I don't know what to say," Ennis added. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone asks me to be involved in this case."

Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications, dismissed the apparent link between Twitchell and the Showtime TV show Dexter.

Thompson has been quoted extensively on pop culture matters and said cases where people imitate extreme actions they see in movies or television shows are rare and that Hollywood cannot be blamed for the actions of people.

"The number of people who watch Dexter, who end up trying to become Dexter is really tiny," Thompson told the Journal.

"There may be these isolated cases, but if we were to legislate how stories can be told based on what a tiny minority of obviously disturbed individuals do, we're essentially letting crazy people determine what we can see and not see."

However Born Innocent, a 1974 television movie starring Linda Blair, seemed to inspire copycat behaviour according to Thompson.

In the movie, Blair's character was raped by a group of girls with a broom handle in a shower. That act was later imitated by some young people after the movie aired and they blamed their actions on the movie.

The television network that featured it as their Movie Of The Week was cleared of wrongdoing when the matter was taken to court.

Hovewer, obsession with fictional killers can sometimes degenerate into all-out bloodlust, according to an international authority on serial murders.

The Edmonton Sun contacted Jack Levin, an expert on serial killers and author and co-director of the Brudnick Center on Conflict and Violence at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.

"This is weird," Levin said. "There is a very good chance the killer was desperate to feel a sense of power – a rush."

That Twitchell was alleged to have written emails impersonating Altinger suggested his killer likely felt guilty about hiding his body, he said.

"In fact, he may have gotten pangs of regret – not remorse – after having gone to great pains to hide the body, thinking he needed to give the victim a reason for being missing."

Levin said the matter should serve as a warning to those looking for romance on the internet.

"It represents a field day for pathological liars," he said. "That is the danger in meeting people in chat rooms: You may meet a friend; a lover. But you may also meet your murderer."

All the information presented on this page has been compiled primarily from published media reports and should not be interpreted as having legal bearing or other prejudice against the individuals named on this web site.
The Last Link on the Left practices fair presentation and the disclosure of relevant interests.
Mouseover for image credits.

deadmonton 2008 - johnny brian altingerexpert analysis

deadmonton 2008 - johnny brian altinger
expert analysis