EDMONTON - A residential garage gaining worldwide fame as the site of an alleged movie-inspired murder has become a drive-by shrine for the morbidly curious.
Rubberneckers in cars and on foot have been inching past the white detached structure in the city's south end since aspiring local filmmaker Mark Twitchell was arrested on Halloween and charged with first-degree murder.
"There are people going by looking in. They're going quite slow," said Lynda Warren, who lives next door to the double-car structure, surrounded by junk, a fallen fence and barred to intruders by criss-crossed yellow police tape.
Police allege 38-year-old John Altinger was killed three weeks ago in a manner that mirrored the plot of a film script Twitchell, 29, had just shot, in which the victim is lured to the site by the promise of an Internet date, murdered, tortured for his computer codes and chopped into pieces.
The body of Altinger, originally from White Rock, B.C, has not been found.
Police say the crime has thematic links to the TV show "Dexter," which they say Twitchell idolized. The show, on the Showtime network, focuses on protagonist Dexter Morgan, who studies blood spatters for Miami police by day and psychotically hacks up evil-doers vigilante-style by night.
"It's very upsetting to think a poor man lost his life. That's what you keep thinking," said Warren.
"And I guess it's upsetting when it's right beside you and you have no clue what's going on."
Police allege Altinger was killed after being lured to the garage Oct. 10 after connecting online with someone pretending to be a woman asking Altinger out on a date.
They have said that, even without a body, they believe they have enough evidence to prove a charge of first-degree murder.
Police wouldn't say Monday whether the killing was filmed, citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation.
They also declined comment on reports Twitchell's production company - Xpress Entertainment - recently ordered online a telescopic stun baton capable of delivering a jolt of 800,000 volts to the intended victim.
Two weeks before Altinger disappeared, Twitchell finished a three-day shoot in the garage for a short mystery-thriller called "House of Cards." The script revolved around a man lured to a garage on the promise of an online date. He is knocked unconscious, duct-taped to a chair and tortured to reveal the passwords to his bank account and social networking sites.
The killer, in the script, then decapitates him and chops up the body and disposes of it.
Warren said they had noticed construction work going on in the summer in the garage - which is rented out separately from the house beside it.
"We thought they were putting up partitions."
Then, in late September, came four young men to shoot the movie.
"They were in a good mood. They were very polite. They certainly weren't in your face.
"It seemed like a perfectly innocent movie they were making."
A few days later, police say they believe the first possible victim came to the garage lured by the promise of an online date.
Witnesses say the man, dressed in a gold shirt and with permed hair, ran out of the garage chased by a man in a hockey goalie mask decorated in black and gold slashes. He drove off in a pickup truck.
A week after that, it's believed Altinger came to the garage, never to be seen again.
Police issued a statement Monday afternoon saying that they located a man who was allegedly lured to the garage on Oct. 3. The statement said that the man had contacted police on Sunday and that investigators have interviewed him in relation to Altinger's death.
It said that the man "may have been lured by a similar on-line ad prior to Altinger, but managed to escape."
Days after Altinger's disappearance, his friends received an email from him saying he had run off with a woman to Costa Rica and wouldn't be back until at least December. They labelled it a forgery, saying the action was out of character for the shy oilfields industry worker and motorcycle enthusiast.
A few days after that, said Warren, police began snooping around the garage. They set up a permanent watch, a car parked in the alley, she said, for two weeks until Twitchell was arrested peacefully at his parents' home in the city's north end.
The married father of two was to appear in court Monday but did not. He is now scheduled to come before a judge Wednesday to enter a plea. None of the allegations against Twitchell have been proven in court.
At the time of his arrest, he had been working on a low-budget, feature-length tribute movie on "Star Wars" unrelated to the world-renowned property owned by Lucasfilm.
Calls and emails to the U.S.-based Showtime network were not returned Monday.
"Dexter," now in its third season, is a cult favourite, its fans buzzing with speculation and gossip on chatroom and blog sites.
They can also go to the show's website and - using their mouse - play games, like seeing how far they can help Dexter toss a body bag of remains. Or they can click on the shopping section and load up on throw pillows decorated in faux blood spatters.
