Back in spring 2010, two teenage boys—Kruse Wellwood and Cameron Moffat—raped and killed 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor before mutilating and burning her body under a bridge. Then, one of the boys told a friend on World of Warcraft what they did. Their crime was gruesome, but that's only half the terrible story.
In the latest issue of Vanity Fair, writer David Kushner, author of the excellent Masters of Doom, examined the horrible crime in a piece titled "Murder by Text". The article, in the link below, is fairly explicit and not for the faint of heart.
Kushner, who writes extensively about games, didn't cop out with an easy blame-WoW-for-the-murder like a lesser writer would, but rather, detailed both boys' past history. Both boys did not have happy or healthy childhoods. Kruse's father, for example, was sentenced to life in prison for raping and killing a 16-year-old girl—a crime Kruse knew about.
From the Kushner's piece: "In February 2009, Kruse posted an entry on a WordPress blog entitled, 'Early Warning Signs of a Serial Killer.' He listed common traits including animal abuse, fascination with fire, abandonment by a father, and an intense interest in sadomasochistic porn. 'The peculiar thing is I meet all fourteen criteria' of a serial killer, he blogged. "Apparently though meeting all criteria makes it unlikely for the subject to be a serial killer. I suppose only time will tell.'"
An awful, disturbing story well told by Kushner. Read the full article in the link below.
Murder by Text [Vanity Fair]
You can contact Brian Ashcraft, the author of this post, at bashcraft@kotaku.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.