For millions of ordinary fans, hit US crime drama Dexter has been the perfect binge-watch at the end of a long day.
asserted
drama → hit → day
But for a twisted minority, it has ceased to be entertainment and mutated into something far darker: a twisted inspiration for real-world violence.
Within just three months, two British killers who styled themselves on TV serial killer Dexter Morgan have been convicted of gruesome murders – while a 16-year-old obsessed with the show was convicted of attempting to murder a girl he did not even know in school.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was just 15 when he approached his female victim in a corridor at Thorpe St Andrew School while wearing a balaclava, plunging a knife into her back before fleeing the scene.
His two-week-long trial heard he had a 'dangerous interest in killers and killing'; he created video compilations of both real and fictional serial killers, including Dexter, and craved what he saw as the 'admiration' they got for their crimes.
asserted
they → cease → crimes
Just two weeks earlier, forensics student Benjamin Day, 20, admitted to murdering Maria Saceanu, 24, after luring her to a plastic-lined 'kill room' inside a West Midlands Airbnb, inspired by his obsession with the TV show.
asserted
Day → admit → show
His confession came just weeks after another Dexter-inspired serial killer, James Desborough, 40, was convicted of murdering and dismembering two men in his remote woodland cabin in Cornwall.
asserted
killer → come → Cornwall
Astonishingly, two other Brits, Steven Miles and Mark Howe, Canadian film-maker Mark Twitchell, American teenager Andrew Conley and Norwegian Havard Nyflot have all been convicted of killings inspired by Dexter since 2009.
asserted
Brits → convict → 2009
Police on the scene of a stabbing at Thorpe St Andrew School in Norwich - where a teenager obsessed with serial killers including Dexter Morgan stabbed a girl in an unprovoked attack
Benjamin Day was arrested wearing a Dexter-style outfit after murdering Maria Saceanu in a 'kill room' in a twisted 'tribute' to the show about a self-described ethical serial killer
Dexter Morgan, played by Michael C. Hall, wearing a khaki shirt that Day changed into before killing his victim
Canadian filmmaker Mark Twitchell and British teen Steven Miles were inspired to kill by Dexter
Day's confession came just 70 days after James Desborough (pictured) was convicted of a Dexter-inspired double murder
Dexter, which first aired 20 years ago, follows the life of Dexter Morgan, who by day works as a blood-splatter analyst for the police, and by night transforms into a vigilante serial killer who is expertly equipped to cover his tracks.
asserted
who → obsess → tracks
Criminologists have warned that the show – which has produced three spin-offs – could be providing a 'how-to script' for copycat killers and would-be murderers.
uncertain
which → warn → killers
Alex Iszatt, a behavioural criminologist, told the Daily Mail: 'Dexter gives them a ritual.
asserted
Dexter → tell → ritual
They can fully become him: follow the same code and principles, wear the same clothes, and use the same methods of killing and disposing of bodies.
asserted
They → become → bodies
'Dexter provides a usable identity.
asserted
Dexter → provide → identity
They are ready to perform to an imagined audience.
asserted
They → perform → audience
In the series, Dexter works as a blood-splatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, but becomes a vigilante serial killer during the night.
asserted
Dexter → work → night
His actions are strictly governed by a twisted quasi-ethical set of rules taught by his adoptive father, known as 'The Code'.
asserted
actions → govern → Code
He can only kill proven murderers that have evaded justice – and he can never get caught.
asserted
he → kill → justice
In the show, Morgan feels an uncontrollable, innate urge to kill – which he describes as his 'Dark Passenger' – and follows a meticulous routine, using his police network to research suspects beforehand.
asserted
he → feel → suspects
His modus operandi is to prepare a 'kill room', wrapped completely in plastic sheets, to catch all evidence and blood.
asserted
operandi → prepare → evidence
He tapes photos of the victim's crimes to the walls, forcing them to look at what they have done.
asserted
they → tap → what
Finally, he murders them and dismembers their bodies before dumping them deep in the ocean.
asserted
he → murder → ocean
'What makes Dexter particularly useful to a violent personality is that he provides a justification for killing,' Ms Iszatt adds.
asserted
Iszatt → make → killing
'You're not a monster with uncontrollable urges; you're a vigilante, with standards, and the people you kill deserve it.
asserted
you → kill → it
It doesn't matter if they happen to be your mother, brother or girlfriend.
asserted
they → matter → ?
There's something inherently appealing about Dexter's dual identity; he is a dark version of the superhero fantasy, respectable and ordinary by day, secretly powerful and dangerous by night.
asserted
he → be → night
For someone fascinated by control, violence and getting away with things, the fantasy is not simply being a killer, it's doing what everyone else can't, while remaining invisible.'
asserted
everyone → fascinate → what
This week, the series was thrust back into the spotlight after a 16-year-old boy was convicted of attempted murder after stabbing a girl he did not know in the back with a kitchen knife in a horrifying unprovoked attack on March 11.
asserted
he → thrust → March
He was arrested by armed police shortly after fleeing Thorpe St Andrew School, near Norwich.
asserted
He → arrest → Norwich
His victim, who was also 15 at the time, miraculously escaped with only minor injuries to her back and was discharged from hospital the next day.
asserted
who → escape → hospital
He was convicted of attempted murder after prosecutors successfully argued that he had intended to kill the girl – backed up by a cache of evidence police found at the boy's home that showcased an obsession with serial killers including Dexter.
asserted
that → convict → Dexter
Dexter fanatic Mark Howe (pictured) was jailed for at least 21-and-a-half years for murdering his mother, Katrina Wardle, at their home in Leicester in 2014
Andrew Conley strangled his brother to death.
asserted
Conley → picture → death
He too was obsessed with the US crime series Dexter
Prosecutors said he was obsessed with serial killers and had written in a note to himself that he had 'seen serial killers being admired...
asserted
killers → obsess → himself
I want admiration, gratification.
asserted
I → want → admiration
I've wanted this for years.
asserted
I → want → years
I don't care who I hurt.
asserted
I → care → who
'
King's Lynn Crown Court was shown video compilations the teenager had made at home of both real and fictional serial killers, including Dexter.
asserted
teenager → show → Dexter
A video, thought to be made using the AI video editor Viggle.AI, showed the character dancing over a map of the show's setting, Florida, and a 'list of names of the victims'.
asserted
character → think → victims
He made a similar video of actor Jamie Dornan as Paul Spector, a serial killer in the BBC2 series The Fall who, like Dexter, leads a double life: by day he is a bereavement counsellor but by night operates as a sadistic, sexually motivated murderer.
asserted
he → make → murderer
The teen also produced a 'fancam edit' of Dornan in character – a slick compilation of clips usually made by fans of actors and pop stars to share with fellow admirers – which he captioned 'me btw (by the way).'
asserted
he → produce → way
It featured Dornan removing a mask he fashioned out of a neck gaiter and a beanie hat – giving him an appearance not dissimilar to the balaclava the teenager wore on the day he attacked his victim.
He also created a bizarre AI-generated video of US multiple killers Edmund Kemper and Ted Bundy dancing on top of a picture of the Earth alongside a third unidentified individual.
asserted
killers → feature → individual
Other notes found by police expressed 'hatred for women' following the 'failure of a relationship', and hinted at a possible motive with thoughts on 'misanthropy, misogyny, suicide, bullying'.
He is also said to have made a 'victims list', and wrote an essay on arming himself with a knife and stabbing a man to death in the street.
Some of the material was found in a shoebox that appeared to have been stabbed.
asserted
that → find → shoebox
In his opening speech, prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said the boy had an 'obsessive and dangerous interest in killers and killing' and a 'hatred for women'.
asserted
boy → open → women
He added: '[He] went to school not to learn but to kill, taking with him a kitchen knife.'
asserted
He → add → knife
…and 52 more, not listed.
The Aporia
