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Advance Wars killer found guilty photo

You might not remember it, but quite a while ago we ran a story where Advance Wars had somehow been linked to a murder. 20-year-old Mathew Pyke was found stabbed to death last year, and it had been believed that his Internet habits, in particular the running of an Advance Wars fan site, led to the killing.

David Heiss, a 21-year-old German office worker, has been found guilty of the murder, with police saying that he planned the attack "like a strategist." Heiss had, as suspected, met his victim through the Advance Wars fan site, along with Pyke's girlfriend Joanna Wilton. He had become insanely jealous of David Pyke's relationship with Wilton after becoming obsessed with her, driving him to stab the man 86 times in a "savage and sustained" assault. 

"He planned it like a strategist in one of his war games," said Detective Inspector Tony Heydon. "He tried to cover his tracks and has lied continuously to the police and latterly to the court ... Heiss stabbed Matthew 86 times in a frenzied attack. He is the most callous, cold-hearted individual I have ever dealt with."

Just goes to show that dangerous psychopaths can come from anywhere, regardless of whether they play GTA. It's not the games that make the man.








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Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize. Likes PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3 Meet the rest of the team



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34 comments | showing # 1 to 34
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Mr Kite's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:32
Mr Kite
Probably because of how evil all the sprites look...
ChronosWing's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:34
ChronosWing
... pretty sure there isn't any melee soldiers in AW. Now had he bombarded the man's house with artillery shells they may have a case.
Saint Demon's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:38
Saint Demon
Like how he said the guy planned and strategized it, but then he brutally stabbed the guy in a frenzy. Something just doesn't add up there.
Danl Haas's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:38
Danl Haas
Ooh, I like your spin there at the end, Jim. Unfortunately, I don't think the rest of the media is going to take a similar stance.
JohZho's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:41
JohZho
Holy shit, what weird timing Jim. I just chose an advanced wars themed avatar on the forums today O.O
Toneman's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:42
Toneman
Obviously he used his CO power. Otherwise it would have taken him two turns to kill the guy.
fluc02's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:43
fluc02
Remember that one mission in Advance Wars where you stalk this guy's girlfriend, then brutally murder him and have to cover your tracks while lying to the courts and police? Yep, clearly this guy was driven to murder by Advance Wars.
Moofey's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:49
Moofey
Good riddance. The gaming community is better off without this douche.
The Incredible Edible Egg's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:54
The Incredible Edible Egg
Hide in the woods during fog of war until the target gets close, check.

wait for turn and attack target, check.

retreat to city to replenish weapon and gas, check.

yep, game caused murder.
Monte's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:55
Monte
Ya brutally stabbing someone over 80 times does NOT sound like a guy who strategized a murder... sounds more like he just snapped on the spot, or didn't think to much about how he was gonna kill the guy... Just because the guy manages to cover his tracks does not mean "He planned it like a strategist"... it doesn't take a genius to know that you should dispose of the body, clean the mess and get rid of the murder weapon before the cops show up.

A guy who actually did plan a murder like a strategist would probably choose a less messy method to kill someone.... this guy just sounds like a nutcase who, after the murder, had the minimal number of brain cells to know he was in deep shit if he got caught.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:55
Chronic Logic
Apparently David was hiding in the trees so that Matthew couldn't see him in the fog of war. And then when Matthew ended his turn, David activated his CO power "Stabby" and took all of Matthew's 10 hp with one blow.
D-503's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:56
D-503
not only can we link one video game to murder, now we can link ALL of them to it! Hooray!!! :D

I look on the bright side
SuitcoatAvenger's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/15/2009 23:56
SuitcoatAvenger
JESUS CHRIST SOMEONE STOP LUC BERNARD.
Projectexodus's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 00:37
Projectexodus
Christ, I remember that guy. He used to visit Somethingawful forums occasionally (the victim that is), and planned on writing a guide for Advance Wars there.
Magic Whiskey's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 00:42
Magic Whiskey
What a taint stain. Have a great weekend, everyone!
CelicaCrazed's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 00:50
CelicaCrazed
I just passed the 300 hour mark in this game.
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 01:06
Darren Nakamura
What a coincidence, my favorite part of the Advance Wars series is when Max gets jealous of Andy's relationship with Sami and he stabs him 86 times in the chest.
hpv's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 01:18
hpv
Monte: Or maybe he planned it out and then lost his shit when it came to do the stabbing. Clearly the guy is nuts, but that doesn't mean he didn't plan it.
The Amazing Shenazin's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 01:38
The Amazing Shenazin
so I'm willing to bet this has more to do with the fact that he was obsessed with the guy's girlfriend and less to do with Advance Wars
rushtodeath's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 02:05
rushtodeath
murders like this happen all the fucking time... guy obsessed with girl, stabs guy involved with her, lies about it. why is the guy suddenly a "strategist" all of a sudden? When is "lying" a "strategy"?

By this acount OJ Simpson could be considered a "strategist"... He stabs the 2 people, lies about it, and then tops the guy by getting away with it. Hes a regular Napoleon Bonaparte.

I bet OJ would love Advance Wars.
Kaspar's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 03:23
Kaspar
Well, Advance Wars is basically rock-paper-scissors on steroids, so there's your scapegoat.
Conan-san's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 04:04
Conan-san
Clearly, what we need to do is ban the idea of stratagy from Humanity. Every time we have any sort of contest, we need to run at eachother screaming and wielding sticks on rocks and screaming like cavemen.
Dv8thwonder's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 04:42
Dv8thwonder
To those of you who choose humor to mask their shallow meaningless lives, I pity you.
Megadev's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 06:08
Megadev
Personally, I think that all chess players are mentalists obsessed with violent feudal hierarchies and should be stopped.
hbl's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 06:30
hbl
OK, so a German flew to England, marched to Nottingham, stabbed a British guy 86 times and then flew back to Germany? This wasn't a murder, this was an invasion.
The Incredible Edible Egg's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 08:46
The Incredible Edible Egg
you know what, i take back my comment from earlier. I just realized im too busy defending games to realized this is really fucked up. I mean that nerd died cause he was trying to get laid for the first time.
Septon's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 10:08
Septon
This is the part that freaked me out the most.
"As he was dying, Pyke, 20, used his own blood to write the first three letters of Heiss's name on the side of his computer to alert police to his killer's identity."
So he lived long enough after all those stabs to write that. that has to be a hard long way to die.
This is a pic of that zit-fuck
img]http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g80/Septon/captphoto_1242043324647-1-0.jpg[/img]
kavorka's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 11:04
kavorka
Is Advanced Wars responsible when I plan my grocery trip around a haircut and a drop-off at the cleaners? That's pretty strategic.
Naim Master's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 11:21
Naim Master
I stomped a guy to death after playing Mario Bros. .
HiddenAHB's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 11:52
HiddenAHB
I don't believe ANY of this!
If that guy really played Advance Wars he would have used a tank.
CallMeRotten's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 12:35
CallMeRotten
86 times!? god-dayum!
Spectral's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/16/2009 23:09
Spectral
fog of war
Jetsetlemming's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2009 13:04
Jetsetlemming
Advance Wars owns. The latest one is all serious and realistic so I bet that's more to blame than the shown Dual Strike version. :O
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2009 12:57
Holyetheline
That's a lot of stabbing... this blog posted on my birthday which is why I missed it.
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