‘That man, he was just pure evil’
Victim tells doc series about surviving attack by serial killer Mark Twitchell
They were lonely men looking for a stunning blond.
Instead of hormone-charged hijinks, one of the men ended up on a slab in the morgue, the other scarred for life.
A new British documentary series is pulling back the curtain on the aspiring Edmonton serial killer and Star Wars geek Mark Twitchell.
Twitchell — currently serving a life sentence — set up a honey trap on the dating website Plenty of Fish.
Johnny Altinger was murdered and dismembered by the wannabe sci-fi auteur.
Gilles Tetreault was luckier and told his story on My Online Nightmare on Britain’s Channel 4.
In 2008, the then 26-year-old Tetreault was sucked in by someone he believed to be a 24-year-old blond named Sheena.
The lonely man went to what he thought was Sheena’s house and entered through the garage.
The security guard was then slugged from behind.
“I was just really bewildered. I didn’t know what was going on,” Tetreault told the program. “That’s when I looked back to see this man hovering over me with a hockey mask. At that instant I knew there was no date.”
He added: “I couldn’t believe it. He pulled out a gun and he told me to get down on the floor, put my hands on my back and close my eyes.
“I remember feeling how cold the cement floor was. I heard some kind of jingling noise, metal handcuffs.
“The adrenalin was pumping through me. I was thinking ‘That’s it, I’m dead’.
“But then I realized I could see his gun. Whatever I was going to do, I knew I had to do it right away — so I grabbed the end of it.
“But then I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ the gun was plastic. Then he started to strike me with this baton.”
Tetreault miraculously escaped under the garage door and made a run for it. Two dog walkers came to his aid.
“I knew I needed to go to the police, but I was ashamed about what had happened to me, that I got duped by this man pretending to be a female,” he said.
“So I never told them, I just wanted to get home.”
But just four weeks later, the still-shaken Tetreault read the shocking news that another Edmonton man had vanished — after being lured to the same garage on the weekend after his terrifying encounter.
That’s when he called cops. “As soon as I saw the picture, I recognized the eyes because that was all I could see peering through the mask,” Tetreault said. “I knew it was the same guy.”
He added: “I felt so horrible because if I went to the police earlier I could have maybe saved this guy ’s life. I never thought he would actually kill someone. I was pretty upset and that’s when I came forward.”
Ultimately, it was Twitchell’s diary that torpedoed his elaborate alibi. The tome was called SK Confessions and cops called it “chilling and shocking.”
“It basically detailed the thoughts and feelings of Mr. Twitchell as he was committing the crime. It was a blow-by-blow account,” Edmonton police homicide Insp. Brad Mandrusiak said. “I think at one point he talks about how he laughed to himself as he was dissecting the body.”
Eventually, Twitchell confessed to his heinous crimes.
“I get shivers down my back thinking about it. It should have been me and I should be in pieces right now in a sewer. It’s just horrible,” Tetreault said.
“That man, he was just pure evil. I feel so good about helping put (him) behind bars.”