The Man in the Black Mask - Ep. 3: Catfishing
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What curious species have we become in the digital age?
What a curious species we have become. Willing, though no eager, partners of devices that somehow control us as we scroll. Devices that spit out bits and bytes of the world, cute puppies, intimations of Armageddon, swirling conspiracies. Some bits true, some not, some fact, some fantasy. and the bright, easy separating line of truth once merely blurred slips away. Mark Twitchell made his living in that fuzzy space where fantasy seems very real and reality? Well, who knows? But of course he did. He was a movie maker, a storyteller, someone who imagined he could turn his make-believe into film and do it for a living. Well, at least he hoped to make a living at it. As he rather excitedly told Detective Mike Tabler, that first time the police came to call, when they asked if he knew anything at all that might help them find the vanished Johnny Altinger. Not a thing, said Mark Twitchell. But if the detective wanted to talk movies, well, Mark was all in.
I love what I do. From the first day that I stepped on the set, that was when I knew that I just slept down. There's no going back. Anything else is crap. Nothing else would make me feel fulfilled in what I was doing, and I love what I do, so I just chased it with everything I had.
Who is Mark Twitchell and what is his story?
A true definition of passion. And it was a passion he happily shared in online chats with Renee Waring, that would-be filmmaker way off in Ohio.
It was, wow, I could be a real writer this time, you know? I could really help somebody develop a character in stories and entertainment.
And by this time, you were embracing, entertaining the idea that you might actually be able to work with this director.
Yeah. He said something about setting up a dedicated server. I wouldn't have to go to Canada. We'd be able to pass ideas and script ideas back and forth like that. Never have to meet each other, you know.
But it could be a paid job.
Yeah.
That had to be pretty darned exciting.
You got it. Yeah. Yeah.
Mark and Renee spent hours and hours together online dreaming up some crazy dark stuff. It was a bit like a fan fiction writer's room in a way. Both loved the TV show Dexter. Both were fascinated by serial killers, everything about them. Renee never did write any of it down. She just reveled in the online creativity in the company of a like-minded soul. It was Mark who went about trying to turn it into something, writing furiously, tap, tap, tapping on his computer. Then he turned out a collection of, well, what were they? Episodes? Plot points for a horror movie? But nothing worth hanging on to, apparently, because at some point Mark simply killed it all, consigned it to the discard file. But, as we know, nothing on a computer is ever really gone forever. Fiction, facts, even those cute little puppy dogs live on as so many fragmented little ones and zeros, possibly to be found and reassembled someday by someone. whether you want them to or not. I'm Keith Morrison, and this is The Man in the Black Mask, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 3, Catfishing. What a disruption it was.
What a surprise. It was as if a giant vacuum cleaner suddenly and without any warning started sucking up Mark Twitchell's treasured stuff. Edmonton police, convinced Mark knew more than he was saying about the disappearance of one Johnny Altinger, burst through the front door and went rummaging around in Mark's house and his car, garage. They took clothing, costumes, computers, and they sent the whole lot of it off to the lab, where... Who knew what might appear? DNA? Suspicious fingerprints? But no, there was nothing like that to tie Mark Twitchell to Johnny Altinger. Instead, hidden among discarded bits of stuff on Mark's laptop, a diligent computer tech spotted and managed to resurrect... That deleted document.
The one with all those horror movie ideas. The whole thing was quite a surprise to Detective Bill Clark.
I mean, the big thing came, I don't even remember the day, but our computer guy called up late in the afternoon and two of the detectives went upstairs and they come out, I believe it was at that time, with a 32-page diary called the SK Confessions.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What curious species have we become in the digital age?
0:03–1:35
2
Who is Mark Twitchell and what is his story?
1:35–6:56
3
What was found on Mark Twitchell's computer?
6:56–8:31
4
What is SK Confessions and why is it significant?
8:31–14:39
5
How did the police investigate the catfishing case?
14:39
6
What are the chilling implications of catfishing in crime?
11:26–16:59
7
How does fiction blur with reality in this case?
16:59–20:03
8
What evidence linked Mark Twitchell to the crime?
20:03–25:21