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GRAND THEFT AUTO COPYCAT KILLER TERRORIZES AMERICA, BAFFLES POLICE

(NEW YORK) It was a night just like any other night for 49 year old Elaine Williamstead - that is until her life took an abrupt end in a hit-and-run that left her dead at the hands of a relatively new serial killer that has been terrorizing the United States now for the past several years.

The murders all began after the game Grand Theft Auto III was released in October of 2001. Immediately afterwards, several killings alerted detectives to the similarities between the type of deaths that were found in Rockstar’s widely popular but highly controversial video game and the kind that were now being paralleled in real life. When over the next several days similar murders were reported, detectives began to suspect that somebody was, in fact, imitating the M-rated video game Grand Theft Auto III.

The first clue came in the form of a loaded handgun found in the Hudson river. A few days prior, Marcel James had been shot to death on the streets of Brooklyn. The bullets found in the victim matched the handgun’s record. However, upon examination, the gun exhibited many similar traits to a pistol used in GTA - encased in metal, capable of firing multiple rounds and finished to make a silvery hue - the detectives understood that there was something awry.

When the next day a man named Tyrone LeBraun was beaten to death with a baseball bat in Detroit, the evidence began to pile up.

But that was only the beginning.

Over the course of the last few years, tens of thousands of deaths have been linked to an almost identical act of violence as that found in GTA3 - shootings, stabbings, hit-and-runs, beatings, emoliation, chainsaw attacks, car (and even plane) crashes - all have occurred in the United States since the release of GTA3 in 2001. And according to police officials - this is no coincidence. According to them, all of these acts have been orchestrated and carried out by a ruthless, sociopathic serial killer that aims to change what was once “virtual” reality, and turn it into “reality reality.”

Though the police have not yet captured the copycat killer, on several occasions they have come extremely close to cracking this dangerous mystery.

For instance, in 2002 a suspect was taken into custody due to overwhelming evidence brought against him in the stabbing and murder of security guard Don Rayman of Chicago, IL - fingerprint samples, eye-witness sightings, security camera recordings - all of it pointed towards the suspect’s guilt, but was rebutted after the court discovered conclusive evidence proving that the suspect had been in jail when the first copycat killings took place in October of the year before. Frustrated police reluctantly accepted the loss but didn’t give up and another lead came only days later when a man named Patrick Reinhold showed up at a Connecticut police station claiming responsibility for another one of the copycat crimes.

Mr. Reinhold collapsed on the steps of the Hartford Area Local Police Station before he could even reach the door, upon which several officers immediately took him inside and questioned him. He claimed to have murdered his wife Sophie and provided “evidence” of his crime, including: a blood-stained hunting knife, zip ties, shavings of sophie’s hair - thick with dried blood - and graphic photographs of the crime scene. Connecticut officers immediately took the man into custody.

However, ultimately the detectives discovered that the man was simply disturbed and vividly imagined the entire scenario.

How could the detectives argue with such conclusive evidence? Police Chief and Head of the Investigation Michael Asburger explains:

“Immediately I knew this guy was distressed,” Detective Asburger told us. “Though the evidence was there, a few things didn’t add up. Firstly, he had no clue what we were talking about when we mentioned the other murders on file.” To determine if Patrick was telling the truth, he had been hooked up to various polygraph machines and tested a dozen times, each of which conclusively determined that he knew nothing of the previous murders, nor had he ever played GTA3. “And as if that wasn’t enough, another copycat killing took place in Los Angeles while he was still in custody.”

Watch The Police Chief’s Reaction to the Not Guilty Verdict

The good news? Previously the police had believed that Mr. Reinhold had been kidnapped by the copycat killer due to his sudden disappearance after his wife’s death. This could have been accomplished if the killer had hijacked and pretended to be a taxi cab, effectively fooling potential fares into the car. But now authorities know that Reinhold is alive and well, free to return to work and get his life back on track.

Since the case with Reinhold, over 3000 different suspects have been questioned in the copycat killings, each of which faced overwhelmingly persuasive evidence against them. But authorities have consistently encountered fatal flaws with the arguments that has thoroughly dismissed each suspect as the real copycat killer.

And so the Grand Theft Auto Copycat Killer remains at large, every day claiming multiple victims and dumbfounding police. Similarly, as time progresses, more and more theories surface about who the killer might be and what are his motives. Doubts have even been raised against whether he is actually copying Grand Theft Auto at all, and some have speculated that perhaps there is even more than one copycat killer at work.

When I asked Detective Asburger about this, he confidently replied “No, we’ve ruled out all other possibilities. One of my cadets thought that it may not really be Grand Theft Auto he’s imitating and that it could even be the old game DOOM. BUt it’s not DOOM. This maniac’s victims are everyday people, just like you and me.” He pauses and then continues. “Maybe if his victims were imps than I could believe it. But they’re not.”

POSTED BY BEN at 7:03 PM (EST) 19:03:09 NEW YORK CITY