'Dexter' copycat killer allowed to watch 'Dexter' in prison

• Tweet

Mark Twitchell, who mimicked fictional serial killer Dexter Morgan from the Showtime series "Dexter," has purchased a television for his private cell so he can continue watching the series inside the maximum-security wing of Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Canada.

The 33-year-old wrote in letters that he’s watched every episode of the four "Dexter" seasons he missed since his arrest and first-degree murder conviction, even praising the show for its “innovative writing,” reports the National Post.

Twitchell had been an aspiring filmmaker in 2008 when he wrote and directed a short horror film about luring men off dating websites. His script was loosely based on "Dexter," a series about a police blood-spatter expert who kills killers in his spare time.

The "Dexter Killer" later returned to his film set alone to re-enact his script in real-life. In 2011, a jury found he murdered and dismembered Johnny Altinger in a “kill room” based on the Dexter series. Gilles Tetreault was lured in the same way but managed to escape. The would-be serial killer had a hit list of more intended victims when he was apprehended.

“He’s reliving his fantasy whenever he’s watching that show,” said Staff Sergeant Bill Clark of Edmonton's homicide unit. “It’s ridiculous to think that he would be allowed to do that. Maybe he’s refining his skills?”

Wilfrid Laurier University criminologist Stacey Hannem says the show does not pose a security risk inside the prison. “As much as people might find it reprehensible that he continues to consume this type of media, he has the legal right to consume it," she said.

“They know nothing about me,” Twitchell wrote in a prison letter. “They are merely bureaucrats who update my file.”