After more than 40 witnesses and 100 exhibits over the course of four weeks of testimony, a jury found Mark Twitchell guilty of first-degree murder late Tuesday afternoon.
The six-man, six-woman jury walked into the courtroom at 5:30 p.m., about five hours after their deliberations began. After the jury foreperson read the verdict aloud, each member affirmed they agreed and were then lead out of the courtroom.
The plea means the jury accepted the Crown's version of events: that Twitchell, as part of a dark, twisted plan, lured John Altinger to a southside Edmonton garage and beat him about the head with a metal pipe before fatally stabbing him.
Twitchell did not react noticeably when the jury announced its verdict. He was led back into cells shortly after they left.
Altinger's family wept and held tightly to one another with his mother weeping openly. She also firmly embraced Crown prosecutor Avril Inglis.
During a brief sentencing hearing, Crown prosecutors read several victim impact statements.
"I have the same recurring nightmare of not being able to help when he was in need," wrote Altinger's brother Gary, who was not present for the verdict.
Crown prosecutor Lawrence Van Dyke read his statement into the record. Altinger's mother Elfriede also prepared a statement, which Inglis read.
"The telephone company has not reassigned Johnny's number. I still call it just to hear the voice message."
Twitchell stood briefly and, after a long pause, said that he was going to address the court, but in light of the circumstances would not do so.
Justice Terry Clackson declined to admonish Twitchell, saying he did not feel that was his role and explained given the verdict, he had no choice in the sentence.
"You are sentenced to spend the rest of your life in prison and you are not eligible to apply for parole for 25 years," Clackson said.
Closing arguments
The Crown and defence made closing submissions Monday, with the Crown arguing Twitchell was an aspiring serial killer who lied at every occasion. The asked the jury to focus on the facts and ignore Twitchell's bizarre behaviour.
Twitchell has admitted to killing Altinger in a southside Edmonton garage, but said his goal was to have him play a role in a media project. He testified he wanted to create a movie, novel and "online urban legend" that would work together as part of a psychological thriller.
Twitchell told jurors he pretended to be a woman and lure Altinger through an online dating site. When he explained his idea, he said Altinger became upset before a scuffle ensued and he killed the man in self-defence.
Twitchell's lawyer Charles Davison said that despite the large amount of evidence against his client and what the jury might think of his actions, they had to be sure about what happened in the garage.
"We simply cannot be sure of what happened the night of Oct. 10 in that garage."
In her closing statement, Inglis presented a much darker version of the encounter in the garage.
"It is not a plan for a movie or a book or an elaborate urban legend. The plan was to become a serial killer and nothing else. Mr. Twitchell's plan was to lure, incapacitate, restrain, extort and then murder his victims."
As she did during her cross-examination, Inglis pointed to the many lies Twitchell told police, friends and family as one reason among many why they had to dismiss his account of what happened.
"Mr. Twitchell cannot be believed. He did not kill Mr. Altinger accidentally or in self-defence."
Davison admitted his client had an unenviable pattern of deception, but told the jury they had to be completely sure.
Using the fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, he argued the jury could not simply assume Twitchell had lied because he had done so in the past.
"The stakes in a criminal trial like this are too high, we can't turn our back like those villagers."
SKconfessions
Both sides focused attention on SKconfessions, a document entered as evidence early in the trial.
Twitchell has admitted to writing what appears to be a blow-by-blow account of the murder, interspersed with pieces of his day-to-day activities, but contends it is fiction and not fact.
Key to a conviction on a first-degree murder charge is proof the killing was intentional and Inglis encouraged the jury to look at the document as evidence of that.
"It is also a diary and I ask that you find you can rely on it for evidence of Mr Twitchell's extraordinary planning and, very importantly, his state of mind and intent."
Davison pointed to numerous instances where the SKconfessions document is inconsistent with real life and not reliable.
In the document the killer character built a table and chair for his "kill room," but in real life Twitchell had his friends build the table.
In real life Twitchell called police after an online chat when he feared his girlfriend Traci Higgins was contemplating taking her own life. That incident takes places in the document as well, but in it the young woman thanks the man for calling the police, whereas Higgins testified she was furious he had called 911.
Davison asked the jury to consider those variations as if the document were what Twitchell purports it to be — a fictionalized story to entice readers.
"Ask yourself, in that context, what makes a better story?"
Inglis encouraged the jury to common sense and focus on a reasonable doubt.
"The simplest explanation for everything you heard about what happened in the month of October 2008 including and following Johnny Altinger's death is the correct explanation," she said. "The truth is obvious and has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr. Twitchell should be convicted of first-degree murder."
