Vampire 'Bites' Like Twilight, 'Scream' Murder, Crime Patrol: Amid Delhi 'Dexter' Case, Other Real Crimes Inspired by Reel

As gruesome details of the Delhi murder case emerged, the surprising mention of an American crime show found mention. Aaftab Poonawalla, who killed his live-in partner Shraddha and cut her body up in 35 parts to dispose off her corpse had apparently taken inspiration from the serial killer series called Dexter to safely hide his heinous crime.

However, this is not the first time that ‘life has imitated art’. Crimes inspired by fictional or documentary series/movies have been recorded in the past, with some horrific mentions. News18 takes a look at some of them:

Teen Boy Kills Mom, Sister After Crime Patrol Inspiration

In a shocking incident in Tripura’s Dhalai district, a 17-year-old boy was accused of killing four people, including his mother and sister in November, this year. According to a report by Times of India, the minor was a drug addict who planned to murder his mother and sister. Police said he ended up taking two more lives in order to conceal the crime.

To commit the double murder undetected, the boy watched the crime anthology series “Crime Patrol.” He repeatedly hit his mother on the head while she was taking her afternoon nap on Saturday. He then murdered her sister with the same stick that he used to attack her mother. According to police, the accused turned on loud music to ensure that no screams could be heard outside.

Killer Models Crime on Slasher Movie Scream

In November 2001, a lonely Belgian truck driver Thierry Jaradin, 24, brutally murdered a 15-year-old schoolgirl Alisson Cambier, inspired by a scene in the 1990s cult horror film Scream.

Wes Craven’s 1996 film follows a’slasher’ who terrorises a sleepy American town while wearing a black tunic and a ghoulish mask inspired by Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream.

When she paid Alisson a visit at his home, Thierry proposed to him. He excused himself to another room after she refused, where he donned the iconic Ghostface costume. He stabbed her 30 times with two large knives, just like the victim in the film’s opening scene. He confessed to the police after the murder that he had modelled it after the film. He had no criminal history or mental health record, the Sun reported.

Vampire ‘Bites’ Like Twilight

Twilight is a romantic fantasy series about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. The cult film was also blamed for driving one Iowa teen to some insane actions in 2009. After a 13-year-old girl was bitten by a male classmate in Des Moines, the school’s headmaster investigated and discovered the boy had bitten 10 others in a month.

When contacted, the boy’s father stated that his son’s love of Twilight caused him to nibble on fellow students. The child was later referred to a juvenile correctional facility.

American Psycho, Silence of the Lambs

Michael Hernandez, 14, lured a schoolmate into a bathroom stall and stabbed him more than 40 times in 2004, a heinous murder for which he was sentenced to life in prison. The adolescent admitted to basing his actions on the serial killers from American Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs.

The South Florida student said he identified with the horror movie murderers and wanted to play out their roles in his real-life plan to become a serial killer, the Sun reported. Michael believed God had given him special abilities and agreed with his decision to murder a classmate.

The Dark Knight

In July 2012, a deranged James Holmes opened fire and terrorised a movie theatre in Colorado. The orange-haired killer sat in the front row for a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises and then shot dead 12 innocent moviegoers twenty minutes later. He was sentenced to life in prison.

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