Internet homicide
Encyclopedia
Internet homicide refers to a killing in which victim and perpetrator met online, in some cases having known each other previously only through the Internet. Also Internet killer is an appellation found in media reports for a person who broadcasts the crime
of murder
online or who murders a victim met through the Internet
. The first known murder of a victim met online was in 1996. Depending on the venue used, other terms used in the media are Internet chat room killer, Craigslist killer, Internet serial killer. Internet homicide can also be part of an Internet suicide pact
or consensual homicide
. Some commentators believe that reports on these homicides have overemphasized their connection to the Internet.
s are murderers who target three or more victims sequentially, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological
gratification. According to Paul Bocj, the author of Cyberstalking: Harassment in the Internet Age and How to Protect Your Family, "The idea that a serial killer may have operated via the Internet is, understandably, one that has resulted in a great deal of public anxiety." In Harold Schecter's A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, the entry for "Internet" reads in part: "If the Internet has become a very useful tool for people interested in serial killers, there's some indication that it may also prove to be a resource for serial killers themselves." Maurice Godwin, a forensic consultant, argued that "There are some sadistic predators that rely on the Mardi Gras Effect ["the ability to hide one's identity on the Internet"] to lure and murder repeatedly." The first serial killer known to have used the Internet to find victims was John Edward Robinson
, who was arrested in 2000 and was referred to in Law Enforcement News as the "USA's first Internet serial killer" and "the nation's first documented serial killer to use the Internet as a means of luring victims."
, participants in internet suicide and suicide-homicide pacts
, and internet killers may seek out victims through internet forum
s, chat rooms, listserv
s, email
, bulletin boards, social networking sites, online role playing games, online dating service
s, Yahoo groups, or Usenet
.
In the 2006 book Killers on the Web: True Stories of Internet Cannibals, Murderers and Sex Criminals, the author Steve Morris and his co-writer Christopher Berry-Dee examined what they called "the darkest recesses of the world wide web
," and reported cases ranging from "cannibals ordering a human meal by email to mail-order bride
s whose quest for better lives end in grisly murder." Among the cases they covered was the consensual murder of Bernd Jürgen Brandes by the so-called "Internet cannibal" Armin Meiwes
; the two met at a web site called The Cannibal Cafe, where people described their fantasies of cannibalism, and where Meiwes openly advertised for a willing victim.
In 1996, a Maryland
internet entrepreneur
named Sharon Lopatka
arranged for her own torture
and strangulation over the Internet
. The man who killed her was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. A murderer who found victims via suicide chat rooms and/or web sites was the Japanese serial killer Hiroshi Maeue
. One internet killer, Lisa M. Montgomery
, met her victim in a rat terrier
fancier's chatroom called "Ratter Chatter."
In June 2003, a teenage boy in Altrincham, England, identified in the press only as "John," used protracted chat room conversations with another teen, "Mark," to entice Mark to murder him. This was not a case of consensual homicide
, because Mark did not know he was being set up to kill John, but rather thought he was going to be killing for a female secret service agent. John's intended internet chat room suicide-by-homicide failed when Mark only succeeded in seriously wounding him and then called the authorities. On May 29, 2004, John pleaded guilty to inciting someone to murder him and was sentenced to three years supervision; Mark pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to two years supervision. The boys were forbidden to contact each other.
explained in 2009, "Long before there was a craigslist or dot-com dating, there were places where men and women who were too shy or busy to meet face to face could find romance. Calling themselves "matrimonial bureaus," these organizations were known mostly as the "lonely hearts clubs," and they flourished through the middle of the 20th century." It was in venues like these -- print media such as newspaper
classified ads and personal or lonely hearts club ads -- that 20th century murderers such as Harry Powers
, the so-called "Matrimonial Bureau Murderer," and Harvey Carignan
, "the Want Ad Killer" met their victims.
Electronic advertising has gradually replaced printed ads and the internet is now a venue where murderers who employ a similar modus operandi
can meet their victims; in Schecter's Encyclopedia, the entry for "Ads" mentions internet dating and the use of internet ads by the so-called "Internet Cannibal" Armin Meiwes
. Since 2007, several accused and convicted killers have contacted victims through advertising services such as Craigslist
, a popular classified advertising
website
. These killers are sometimes referred to in the media as "Craigslist killers"; the first use of the term Craigslist killings may date to October 31, 2007, when the phrase appeared in a headline in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota
, in reference to the murder of Katherine Olson by Michael John Anderson, who was then dubbed "the Craigslist killer".
Since 2007, several suspected and convicted perpetrators have met their victims or solicited murder through Craigslist. Of these, two were convicted for crimes in the three-month period encompassing February to April 2009 and a further four were accused of crimes
during the 13-month span of March 2008 through April 2009.
the suspected, accused, or convicted perpetrator to be dubbed a Craigslist killer, the actual motivations of these criminals are varied. The victims' deaths may result from a robbery
or a sexual
encounter that turned violent. Some of these perpetrators may not have intended to commit murder, but killed their victims during the course of a struggle or to prevent capture. Each case is different.
, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology
said of the term "Craigslist Killer" that "A great many of the tragic incidents that tangentially involve the Internet have little or nothing to do with the Internet itself. The Craigslist case is the latest example of that phenomenon. Craigslist is an innovative and valuable resource, which frankly, is being unfairly smeared because it is an Internet site." The book Hypercrime argues that "The more one looks, the more these widely circulated instances of 'cyberkilling' appear to vanish into the smoke of a 'cyberspace'." Susan Brenner, a professor of law and technology wrote that "Is it a cybercrime for John to meet Mary on the Internet, correspond with her and use e-mail to lure her to a meeting where he kills her? News stories often describe conduct such as this as a cybercrime, or as 'Internet murder.' But why is this anything other than murder? We do not, for example, refer to killings orchestrated over the telephone as 'tele-murder' or by snail mail as 'mail murder.' It seems that this is not a cybercrime, that it is simply a real-world crime the commission of which happens to involve the use of computer technology," but she conceded that "there may be reasons to treat conduct such as this differently and to construe it as something other than a conventional crime."
, but they may also have resulted from a robbery
, insurance fraud
, or a sexual
encounter that turned violent.
The following examples are listed by date order of publication or broadcast; three of them predate the arrest in 2000 of John Edward Robinson
, thought by law enforcement to be "the first Internet serial killer":
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
online or who murders a victim met through the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The first known murder of a victim met online was in 1996. Depending on the venue used, other terms used in the media are Internet chat room killer, Craigslist killer, Internet serial killer. Internet homicide can also be part of an Internet suicide pact
Internet suicide
An Internet suicide is a suicide conducted in full view of the public via the Internet, or pursuant to a cybersuicide pact, which is a suicide pact made between individuals who meet on the Internet.- Background :...
or consensual homicide
Consensual homicide
Consensual homicide refers to a case when one person kills another, with the consent of the victim.-Euthanasia:The more common form is assisted suicide, in which terminally ill people seek assistance from their doctors to alleviate their suffering by ending their lives...
. Some commentators believe that reports on these homicides have overemphasized their connection to the Internet.
Serial killers
Serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s are murderers who target three or more victims sequentially, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological
Abnormal psychology
Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought, which may or may not be understood as precipitating a mental disorder...
gratification. According to Paul Bocj, the author of Cyberstalking: Harassment in the Internet Age and How to Protect Your Family, "The idea that a serial killer may have operated via the Internet is, understandably, one that has resulted in a great deal of public anxiety." In Harold Schecter's A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, the entry for "Internet" reads in part: "If the Internet has become a very useful tool for people interested in serial killers, there's some indication that it may also prove to be a resource for serial killers themselves." Maurice Godwin, a forensic consultant, argued that "There are some sadistic predators that rely on the Mardi Gras Effect ["the ability to hide one's identity on the Internet"] to lure and murder repeatedly." The first serial killer known to have used the Internet to find victims was John Edward Robinson
John Edward Robinson (serial killer)
John Edward Robinson is a convicted serial killer, con man, embezzler, kidnapper, and forger who was found guilty in 2003 of three murders and received the death sentence for two of them...
, who was arrested in 2000 and was referred to in Law Enforcement News as the "USA's first Internet serial killer" and "the nation's first documented serial killer to use the Internet as a means of luring victims."
Venues
Online predators and paedophilesOnline predator
An online predator is an adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.Online victimization of minors can include child grooming, requests to engage in sexual activities or discussions by an adult, unwanted exposure to sexual material ,...
, participants in internet suicide and suicide-homicide pacts
Internet suicide
An Internet suicide is a suicide conducted in full view of the public via the Internet, or pursuant to a cybersuicide pact, which is a suicide pact made between individuals who meet on the Internet.- Background :...
, and internet killers may seek out victims through internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s, chat rooms, listserv
LISTSERV
LISTSERV was the first electronic mailing list software application, consisting of a set of email addresses for a group in which the sender can send one email and it will reach a variety of people...
s, email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, bulletin boards, social networking sites, online role playing games, online dating service
Online dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
s, Yahoo groups, or Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
.
In the 2006 book Killers on the Web: True Stories of Internet Cannibals, Murderers and Sex Criminals, the author Steve Morris and his co-writer Christopher Berry-Dee examined what they called "the darkest recesses of the world wide web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
," and reported cases ranging from "cannibals ordering a human meal by email to mail-order bride
Mail-order bride
Mail-order bride is a label applied to a woman who publishes her intent to marry someone from another country. This term is considered offensive by some people. The mail-order bride industry is the economic trade of contracted domestic partnerships, often between citizens of different countries or...
s whose quest for better lives end in grisly murder." Among the cases they covered was the consensual murder of Bernd Jürgen Brandes by the so-called "Internet cannibal" Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes is a German man who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh...
; the two met at a web site called The Cannibal Cafe, where people described their fantasies of cannibalism, and where Meiwes openly advertised for a willing victim.
Chat rooms
"Internet homicide" has been described as crime that occurs when a killer succeeds in "luring a person from a chat room to an actual meeting," which "can turn deadly."In 1996, a Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
internet entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
named Sharon Lopatka
Sharon Lopatka
Sharon Rina Lopatka was an Internet entrepreneur in Hampstead, Maryland, United States, who was killed in a case of apparent consensual homicide. Lopatka was tortured and strangled to death on October 16, 1996, by Robert Frederick Glass, a computer analyst from North Carolina. The apparent...
arranged for her own torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and strangulation over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The man who killed her was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. A murderer who found victims via suicide chat rooms and/or web sites was the Japanese serial killer Hiroshi Maeue
Hiroshi Maeue
, aka "Suicide Website Murderer", was a Japanese serial killer, who lured his victims via the internet and killed three people in 2005.Maeue suffered from a paraphilic psychosexual disorder which translated into being unable to achieve sexual release absent of performing an act of...
. One internet killer, Lisa M. Montgomery
Lisa M. Montgomery
Lisa Marie Montgomery, is a woman from Melvern, Kansas who confessed to the 2004 murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an expectant mother, in an attempt to kidnap her unborn baby....
, met her victim in a rat terrier
Rat Terrier
The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a rich and varied background as an all-around farm dog and hunting companion. Traditionally more of a type than a breed, they share much ancestry with the tough little mixed-breed dogs known as feists...
fancier's chatroom called "Ratter Chatter."
In June 2003, a teenage boy in Altrincham, England, identified in the press only as "John," used protracted chat room conversations with another teen, "Mark," to entice Mark to murder him. This was not a case of consensual homicide
Consensual homicide
Consensual homicide refers to a case when one person kills another, with the consent of the victim.-Euthanasia:The more common form is assisted suicide, in which terminally ill people seek assistance from their doctors to alleviate their suffering by ending their lives...
, because Mark did not know he was being set up to kill John, but rather thought he was going to be killing for a female secret service agent. John's intended internet chat room suicide-by-homicide failed when Mark only succeeded in seriously wounding him and then called the authorities. On May 29, 2004, John pleaded guilty to inciting someone to murder him and was sentenced to three years supervision; Mark pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to two years supervision. The boys were forbidden to contact each other.
Online advertisements
As an article in the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
explained in 2009, "Long before there was a craigslist or dot-com dating, there were places where men and women who were too shy or busy to meet face to face could find romance. Calling themselves "matrimonial bureaus," these organizations were known mostly as the "lonely hearts clubs," and they flourished through the middle of the 20th century." It was in venues like these -- print media such as newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
classified ads and personal or lonely hearts club ads -- that 20th century murderers such as Harry Powers
Harry Powers
Harry F. Powers , also known as Cornelius O. Pierson and A. R. Weaver, was a convicted serial killer who was hanged in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1932. He lured his victims through "Lonely Hearts" ads saying he was looking for love, but in reality intended to take his victims' money and then...
, the so-called "Matrimonial Bureau Murderer," and Harvey Carignan
Harvey Carignan
Harvey Louis Carignan is an American serial killer currently serving a life sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater for the murders of two women. He had been previously convicted for a 1949 rape and murder he committed while stationed in the U.S. Army, in Anchorage, Alaska. ...
, "the Want Ad Killer" met their victims.
Electronic advertising has gradually replaced printed ads and the internet is now a venue where murderers who employ a similar modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
can meet their victims; in Schecter's Encyclopedia, the entry for "Ads" mentions internet dating and the use of internet ads by the so-called "Internet Cannibal" Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes is a German man who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh...
. Since 2007, several accused and convicted killers have contacted victims through advertising services such as Craigslist
Craigslist
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
, a popular classified advertising
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
. These killers are sometimes referred to in the media as "Craigslist killers"; the first use of the term Craigslist killings may date to October 31, 2007, when the phrase appeared in a headline in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, in reference to the murder of Katherine Olson by Michael John Anderson, who was then dubbed "the Craigslist killer".
Since 2007, several suspected and convicted perpetrators have met their victims or solicited murder through Craigslist. Of these, two were convicted for crimes in the three-month period encompassing February to April 2009 and a further four were accused of crimes
during the 13-month span of March 2008 through April 2009.
the suspected, accused, or convicted perpetrator to be dubbed a Craigslist killer, the actual motivations of these criminals are varied. The victims' deaths may result from a robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
or a sexual
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
encounter that turned violent. Some of these perpetrators may not have intended to commit murder, but killed their victims during the course of a struggle or to prevent capture. Each case is different.
Internet dating
According to Michael Largo, the author of Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die, "Internet dating is becoming very popular, but since 1995, there's been[...] over 400 instances where a homicide has been related to the person that [the victim] met online."Criticism of the concept
Several legal and technology experts have questioned the idea that there is a phenomenon of "internet killings". A legal theorist pressed for an "internet angle" on a murder by a journalist related that "I asked her whether, if I called her up and asked her out on a blind date and murdered her, she would think it was a "telephone-related murder"?". Leslie HarrisLeslie Harris
Leslie Harris is the president and chief executive officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, D.C. in the United States. Harris joined CDT in 2005 as executive director...
, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology
Center for Democracy and Technology
The Center for Democracy & Technology is a Washington, D.C. based 501 non-profit public-interest group that works to promote an open, innovative and free Internet....
said of the term "Craigslist Killer" that "A great many of the tragic incidents that tangentially involve the Internet have little or nothing to do with the Internet itself. The Craigslist case is the latest example of that phenomenon. Craigslist is an innovative and valuable resource, which frankly, is being unfairly smeared because it is an Internet site." The book Hypercrime argues that "The more one looks, the more these widely circulated instances of 'cyberkilling' appear to vanish into the smoke of a 'cyberspace'." Susan Brenner, a professor of law and technology wrote that "Is it a cybercrime for John to meet Mary on the Internet, correspond with her and use e-mail to lure her to a meeting where he kills her? News stories often describe conduct such as this as a cybercrime, or as 'Internet murder.' But why is this anything other than murder? We do not, for example, refer to killings orchestrated over the telephone as 'tele-murder' or by snail mail as 'mail murder.' It seems that this is not a cybercrime, that it is simply a real-world crime the commission of which happens to involve the use of computer technology," but she conceded that "there may be reasons to treat conduct such as this differently and to construe it as something other than a conventional crime."
Notable Internet homicides
The following individuals have been arrested and/or convicted of crimes in which police claimed that Internet services such as chat rooms and Craigslist advertisements were used to contact victims or hire a murderer. Despite sharing a similar method of contacting victims, they apparently have varied motivations. In the list below, the victims' deaths may have been premeditated, especially if the perpetrator is a serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
, but they may also have resulted from a robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, insurance fraud
Insurance fraud
Insurance fraud is any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain payment from an insurer.Insurance fraud has existed ever since the beginning of insurance as a commercial enterprise. Fraudulent claims account for a significant portion of all claims received by insurers, and cost billions...
, or a sexual
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
encounter that turned violent.
- Michael John AndersonMichael John AndersonMichael John Anderson is an American, formerly a resident of Savage, Minnesota, who in 2009 was convicted of having murdered Katherine Ann Olson in October 2007. Because Anderson met Olson through Craigslist, a popular classified advertising website, the media dubbed him a Craigslist Killer, a...
was convicted of murdering Katherine Olson in MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in October 2007. According to an article in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, "The 19-year-old Savage man used craigslist to lure Katherine Ann Olson to his home for a fictitious baby-sitting job, then shot her in the back."
- In 1998, Chris Dean, a truck driver from Indiana, was sentenced to life imprisonmentLife imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
for the murder of 17-year-old Chris Marquis from Vermont. Marquis operated a scam in which he would pose as the 27-year-old proprietor of a fictional shop called the CB Shack, and offer to trade merchandise with people online. When people sent Marquis their goods, he would either not send anything back or would send something old or broken. Dean fell victim to this, built a pipe bombPipe bombA pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device, a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion, and the fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially...
and mailed it to Marquis, killing him and injuring his mother.
- Robert Frederick Glass, a computer analyst from North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
killed Sharon LopatkaSharon LopatkaSharon Rina Lopatka was an Internet entrepreneur in Hampstead, Maryland, United States, who was killed in a case of apparent consensual homicide. Lopatka was tortured and strangled to death on October 16, 1996, by Robert Frederick Glass, a computer analyst from North Carolina. The apparent...
by tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and strangulation in a case of apparent consensual homicideConsensual homicideConsensual homicide refers to a case when one person kills another, with the consent of the victim.-Euthanasia:The more common form is assisted suicide, in which terminally ill people seek assistance from their doctors to alleviate their suffering by ending their lives...
on October 16, 1996. Lopatka used the Internet, where she also advertised pornographyPornographyPornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
related to unusual sexual fetishes, to locate Glass, who was later convicted of voluntary manslaughterVoluntary ManslaughterVoluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
for the crime.
- Christian Grotheer, known as "Germany's First Internet Killer," confessed to two murders in 2009. According to an article in the Daily Telegraph, he admitted to "murdering women he met in online chat rooms."
- David Heiss, a 21 year old German office worker, became infatuated with a British girl, Joanna Witton, 20, who along with her boyfriend Matthew Pyke, 20, was an administrator of the Advance Wars series fansiteFansiteA fansite, fan site, or fanpage is a website created and maintained by a fan or devotee interested in a celebrity, thing, or a particular cultural phenomenon...
, Wars Central. After his advances were rebuffed, including two visits, Heiss traveled to the UK once more and stabbed Matthew Pyke to death. He was jailed for life in May 2009. A police spokesman noted that, "While this is an extremely unusual case, one thing is clear and that is that Heiss used the internet to harass and stalkStalkingStalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
Joanna and Matthew. He eventually found out where they lived and other information about them that enabled him to carry out his plans. We should all consider the amounts of personal information we share on web systems like MSN and on internet forums."
- John KatehisJohn KatehisJohn Katehis is an American student who was convicted in 2011 of murdering George Weber, a popular radio reporter in March 2009. Because Katehis met Weber through Craigslist, a popular classified advertising website, the media dubbed him a Craigslist killer, a generic term for murderers who find...
, a teenager, was arrested and indicted for the murder of ABC radioABC RadioCumulus Media Networks is an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. it controlled many of the assets of the former ABC Radio Networks, which Citadel Broadcasting purchased in June 2007...
news reporter George Weber in New York in March, 2009. The two had met through Craigslist, and journals such as The AdvocateThe AdvocateThe Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
called the suspect an "Alleged Craigslist Killer".
- Bernard George Lamp, a 51 year old resident of Troutman, North CarolinaTroutman, North CarolinaTroutman is a town in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,592 at the 2000 census. It is the home of NASCAR driver Josh Richeson.-Geography:Troutman is located at ....
was charged with murder and first-degree kidnappingKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
on March 22, 2008 in the death of a woman of Cornelius, North CarolinaCornelius, North CarolinaCornelius is a town located along Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 11,969 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Cornelius is located along Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County...
; according to news reports, she had "had agreed to meet the man accused of killing her after encountering him on Craigslist."
- Ann Marie Linscott, a 49 year old Michigan woman, was arrested in January 2008 for soliciting murder on Craigslist, where she offered $5,000 "for someone willing to kill the unsuspecting wife of a man she'd begun an affair with online"; in February, 2009, she was found guilty of attempted murder-for-hire and sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison.
- Hiroshi MaeueHiroshi Maeue, aka "Suicide Website Murderer", was a Japanese serial killer, who lured his victims via the internet and killed three people in 2005.Maeue suffered from a paraphilic psychosexual disorder which translated into being unable to achieve sexual release absent of performing an act of...
was known as the "Suicide Website Murderer". According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, this killer utilized "suicide websites [as] an aid to murder". Although he posed online as someone who wished to carry out internet suicide pacts, he choked his victims to death when they met in person.
- Edward Frank Manuel, arrested in January 2003, was dubbed the "Internet suicideInternet suicideAn Internet suicide is a suicide conducted in full view of the public via the Internet, or pursuant to a cybersuicide pact, which is a suicide pact made between individuals who meet on the Internet.- Background :...
chat roomChat roomThe term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
killer" by United Press InternationalUnited Press InternationalUnited Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
and other news sources.
- Philip MarkoffPhilip MarkoffPhilip Haynes Markoff was an American medical student who was charged with the armed robbery and murder of Julissa Brisman in a Boston, Massachusetts hotel on April 14, 2009, and two other armed robberies...
, known as "The Craigslist killer" in numerous news reports, was arrested and indicted in April, 2009 for the murder of Julissa Brisman and for other attacks against women that occurred in MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and Rhode IslandRhode IslandThe state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
; he had met the women through their online advertisements in Craigslist, where they had advertised erotic services. It is unknown whether Markoff was guilty of the charges. He committed suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in jail on August 15, 2010, several months prior to the scheduled trial.)
- Armin MeiwesArmin MeiwesArmin Meiwes is a German man who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh...
, known as the "RotenburgRotenburg an der FuldaRotenburg an der Fulda is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda.- Geography :- Location :...
Cannibal" and "The Internet Cannibal", was convicted in 2004 of the consenual suicide-murder pact crime of killing and eating a man whom he had met through the internet.
- Lisa M. MontgomeryLisa M. MontgomeryLisa Marie Montgomery, is a woman from Melvern, Kansas who confessed to the 2004 murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an expectant mother, in an attempt to kidnap her unborn baby....
, also known as "the Womb Robber", assumed a false persona as an online chat room dog buyer in order to meet with a woman whom she already knew to be pregnant, then killed the woman in order to steal her fetusFetusA fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
on December 17, 2004; she was convicted of murder on October 22, 2007; the baby survived.
- Thomas Montgomery, a 47-year-old married man was convicted in 2007 of murdering a workmate in a case called the "Internet Chatroom Murder". He posed as "Tommy", a 21-year-old marine, and began an online relationship with a 17-year-old called Jessi. A workmate of his, 22-year-old Brian Barrett, subsequently began an online relationship with the same girl after Montgomery's deception was revealed, and Montgomery shot him in their work car park. "Jessi" was actually a middle-aged woman who had been using pictures of her daughter. A police officer said of Montgomery: "he became a completely different person online". Another commented that: "It's very odd that someone would take another's life over jealousy of a person you've never laid your eyes on". A documentary about this case entitledTalhotblondTalhotblondTalhotblond is a documentary released in December 2009.The movie details an Internet love triangle which resulted in a real life homicide, in a case called the "Internet Chatroom Murder". Thomas Montgomery , a 47-year-old married man, pleaded guilty to murdering his co-worker, 22-year-old Brian...
(Jessi's screen name) was released in 2009.
- John Edward RobinsonJohn Edward Robinson (serial killer)John Edward Robinson is a convicted serial killer, con man, embezzler, kidnapper, and forger who was found guilty in 2003 of three murders and received the death sentence for two of them...
, known in the media as "The Internet Slave Master" and "the first Internet serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
", met his victims through the Internet and tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d them to death.
- Korena Roberts was arrested in June 2009 for allegedly killing 21-year-old Heather Snively—who was eight-months pregnant—and her fetus, by cutting open her abdomen. They were reported to have met on through an advertisement by Roberts on Craigslist for the sale of baby clothes.
- In 2009, Anthony Powell, a 28-year-old student at the Henry Ford Community CollegeHenry Ford Community CollegeHenry Ford Community College is a public two-year college located in Dearborn, Michigan. The school, established in 1938, is accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the Michigan Commission on College Accreditation. The school was originally named Fordson Junior College...
in Detroit, shot and killed fellow student, 20 year old Asia McGowan, before shooting himself. Powell had a history of mental illnessMental illnessA mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and used his YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
account to make hate videos against black women and atheists. McGowan also had an account at Youtube. Powell became obsessed with McGowan through her account, and began stalkingStalkingStalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
her on both Youtube and FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. He had decided that black women like McGowan were naturally promiscuous, and had made videos with titles such as "Black Women Don't Deserve Respect", shortly before killing McGowan. It is worth noting that many of Powell's videos were so concerning that many Υoutube users contacted the Detroit police about them.
- In 2008, Hughstan Schlicker, A 15 year old from Mesa, ArizonaMesa, ArizonaAccording to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
, shot his father, Ted Schlicker, in the back of the head. After Hughstan had threatened to kill himself on MyspaceMyspaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, Ted—worried that his son might kill himself—had banned Hughstan from the Internet; as a result, Hughstan had become hateful to his father. Ted also had hidden the family shotgunShotgunA shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
. However, after Hughstan played hookey from school, he found the gun hidden in a shed, waited at home for his father, and then shot him in the back of the head as his father entered the house. Hughstan then planned to kill himself but was unable to follow this through.
Depictions in popular culture
The theme of internet homicide has proven popular in fiction, with examples seen in books, television shows, and movies, in a number of which the murderer is referred to as "the Internet Killer" by other characters.The following examples are listed by date order of publication or broadcast; three of them predate the arrest in 2000 of John Edward Robinson
John Edward Robinson (serial killer)
John Edward Robinson is a convicted serial killer, con man, embezzler, kidnapper, and forger who was found guilty in 2003 of three murders and received the death sentence for two of them...
, thought by law enforcement to be "the first Internet serial killer":
- The second season of the TV series MillenniumMillennium (TV series)Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
featured an episode called The Mikado, about a serial killer based loosely upon the Zodiac KillerZodiac KillerThe Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women...
. The killer would contact people on internet chat groups, kidnap them and then broadcast their death live via a webcamWebcamA webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
once the site counterWeb counterA web counter or hit counter is a computer software program that indicates the number of visitors, or hits, a particular webpage has received...
reached a certain level.http://millennium-thisiswhoweare.net/cmeacg/img/foxstills/213/pic213bl.jpg The killer gave clues to the authorities by embedding video and audio files in website images, as well using the IP addressIP addressAn Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
itself as a clue. The episode was aired on 1998-02-06, thus being the first time an "internet killer" was featured in popular culture. Frank BlackFrank Black (Millennium)Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's...
, the show's protagonist, opined "the Devil has a new playground"
- StrangelandStrangelandStrangeland is an American horror film released in 1998. The movie was directed by John Pieplow and written by Dee Snider. The film focuses on the body modification underground culture's rituals.-Plot:...
was a 1998 film written by Dee SniderDee SniderDaniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...
about a schizophrenic sexual sadist who lures victims via the Internet, forcing them to submit to ancient tribal rituals. "I came up with the idea of Internet crime before anybody had ever committed Internet crime," Snider has said.
- Homicide: Life on the Streets, a television series police drama, featured an extended multi-week storyline in May 1999 in which a character named Luke Ryland was known as "The Internet Killer."
- Diagnosis: MurderDiagnosis: MurderDiagnosis: Murder is a mystery/medical/crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman...
, a television series crime drama, featured a character called the "Internet Killer" in June, 1999.
- Lessons of Love was a 2001 novel in which a female police officer deals with a character named "The Internet Killer" (Police officer Cassandra O'Rourke sighed as she listened to the call on the radio. The Internet Killer had struck again.)
- FeardotComFeardotComFeardotCom is a 2002 horror film, directed by William Malone and stars Stephen Dorff, Natascha McElhone and Stephen Rea.-Plot:Mike Reilly is an NYPD detective who is called to the scene of a mysterious death in the subway system...
was a 2002 movie about a killer internet web site. The plot summary at IMDb reads, Four bodies are found in New York City. Why, why, why? The coincidence? They all died 48 hours after logging on to a site named feardotcom.com. Tough detective Mike Reilly collaborates with Department of Health associate Terry Huston to research these mysterious deaths. The only way to find out though what really happened is to enter the site itself.
- The Card Player (Il cartaio)The Card PlayerThe Card Player is a 2004 horror-thriller directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Stefania Rocca and Liam Cunningham and marks Argento's second giallo feature of the decade . In its Italian Theatrical release it took in 2.926.000 Euro The film features a brief role for Fiore Argento, the...
was a 2004 film made in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; written and directed by Dario ArgentoDario ArgentoDario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
, it tells the story of a policewoman from Rome who teams up with a British InterpolInterpolInterpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
agent to track down an internet serial killer who abducts and kills young women and broadcasts the crimes via Internet web cam.
- The Netroom Predator by Nicholas Bain was a 2007 novel in which the antagonist is a character called "the Internet Killer" (The Taylor homicide was the work of the Internet Killer!" Lee proclaimed. "You got the coroner's report?" Jim guessed. "No, just unofficial confirmation ...)
- Dead Connection by Alafair Burke was a 2007 novel in which, according to the book's cover copy, "a rookie detective goes undercover on the internet dating scene to draw out a serial killer."
- UntraceableUntraceableUntraceable is a 2008 American thriller film starring Diane Lane, Colin Hanks, Billy Burke, and Joseph Cross. It was directed by Gregory Hoblit and distributed by Screen Gems...
was a 2008 Sony Pictures filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Diane LaneDiane LaneDiane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
in which FBI agent Jennifer Marsh was tasked with hunting down a seemingly untraceable serial killer who posted live videos of his victims on the Internet.
- Symphony for the Forgotten was a 2008 book collecting "dark fiction" stories by Angeline Hawkes, with "historical epics slipstreaming into alternate realities mixed with tales modern as an internet killer...
See also
- Computer crimeComputer crimeComputer crime, or cybercrime, refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Netcrime refers to criminal exploitation of the Internet. Such crimes may threaten a nation’s security and financial health...
- Craigslist controversies and illegal activities by users
- Internet suicideInternet suicideAn Internet suicide is a suicide conducted in full view of the public via the Internet, or pursuant to a cybersuicide pact, which is a suicide pact made between individuals who meet on the Internet.- Background :...
- Lonely hearts killer or want ad killerLonely hearts killerThe phrase lonely hearts killer, sometimes also want-ad killer, or matrimonial bureau murderer, is a journalistic term of art that refers to a person who commits murder by contacting a victim who has either posted advertisements to, or answered advertisements via newspaper classified ads and...
- Online predatorOnline predatorAn online predator is an adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.Online victimization of minors can include child grooming, requests to engage in sexual activities or discussions by an adult, unwanted exposure to sexual material ,...