Saed News: Writers Who Turned Their Murders into Books.
According to the Culture and Art Service of Saed News, distinguishing between a writer's real personality and the characters in their stories has always been a challenge, but there are always traces of a writer's real life in their stories.
The question arises: can this type of information be considered legal evidence?
In the following, we will explore several such cases: murderers who wrote about their real-life experiences!
"The Devil and Sherlock Holmes" by David Grann
Commissioner Jack Werbski, a Polish detective, re-investigating an unsolved murder case from 2000, discovers significant connections between the victim (Darius Janiszewski) and an intellectual named "Kristian Bala" through data retrieved from the victim’s missing mobile phone. The body of Janiszewski was found in a river near the city of Roclac, his hands tied behind his back, and the rope around his neck. It was immediately after this that the victim’s missing phone was sold online by Bala.
During his investigation, Detective Werbski learns that Bala had published a novel titled "Amok," which describes the murder of a man and woman, bearing striking similarities to Janiszewski’s case. Bala’s ex-wife, Stasia, confirmed that Bala had used events from their relationship in the novel. Stasia also acknowledged that she had once had an affair with the victim, which upset Bala.
These details indicated that "Amok" was likely based on real events. The protagonist of the story was named "Chris," a name Bala had also used for his personal email.
In his questioning, Bala stated that he had used news reports and articles to write his novel, but the character in the book had many traits similar to his own, such as being divorced, having a criminal record, and an alcohol problem. Bala was aware of his wife’s affair with the victim, and shortly afterward, the victim disappeared. Bala then published his novel. Further investigation, including phone calls made using Bala's phone card, provided additional evidence that led to his conviction.
During the trial, there was significant resistance to the idea of using a writer’s story as evidence against them. Bala insisted that writers should be free of responsibility for their characters’ actions, maintaining that their stories were entirely separate from their real lives.
However, psychological evaluations during the trial revealed that Bala had a "sadistic jealousy" toward his wife, and a psychologist confirmed that his personality was similar to that of Chris in the novel, exhibiting sadistic tendencies. Behavioral evidence, including the novel, pointed toward Bala as the murderer, and he was ultimately convicted.
Gerard Schaefer, Serial Killer
Another example comes from the case of serial killer Gerard Schaefer, a former sheriff's deputy in Florida. Schaefer was convicted for the murders of two teenage girls in 1972, and his involvement in two additional murders was later revealed. When the police found documents related to the disappearance and murders of several women in his room, Schaefer was charged with other murders as well. Among the evidence found were handwritten notes describing a killer’s perspective, eerily resembling his own actions. These notes became key pieces of evidence in Schaefer’s trial.
"The Fire Investigation Officers" by John Leonard O'Rourke
In another clearer case, the novel "The Fire Investigation Officers" was linked to real events. The story began with a fire at a store in Barksfield in 1987. California fire investigation officers discovered an incendiary bomb made with a match. When two other nearby stores were similarly set on fire, they realized they were dealing with a serial arsonist. Upon mapping the locations of the fires, investigators discovered that they all occurred near a conference on fire investigation.
The list of conference attendees included individuals from various fire departments. As investigations slowly progressed, additional fires occurred near another conference, and among the attendees were ten individuals who had attended both conferences. Using fingerprint analysis, one of these individuals, John O'Rourke, was connected to the fires. O'Rourke, an investigative fire officer, had been seen at most of the fire scenes.
When O'Rourke was arrested, investigators found extensive video footage of the fires at his home, revealing his obsessive fascination with arson. They also found a draft of a novel called "Points of Origin," in which O'Rourke wrote about a character named Aaron Steele, a serial arsonist. Interestingly, the main character in the novel was a firefighter. O'Rourke’s desire to become a best-selling author reflected his real-life obsession with fire. His book helped convict him of three arson-related crimes, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Mark Twitchell
Another case involved Mark Twitchell, who was inspired by the TV show "Dexter" to become a best-selling author. He kidnapped an individual and forced him to star in a film he was making. The victim managed to escape, and Twitchell, undeterred, kidnapped another person to continue making his film.
In the film, a serial killer murders his victims with a sword. The second victim was not as fortunate, and Twitchell killed him, dismembering his body just as he had seen in "Dexter." Twitchell was quickly arrested.
Among the key evidence in his case was a text file found on his laptop, later known as the "SK Confessions." The document began with the sentence, "This story is based on real events. Names and events have been altered to protect the criminal, but this story chronicles my transformation into a serial killer."
Twitchell confessed to killing the unfortunate man but claimed it was in self-defense. He said that he had used real news reports as inspiration for his novel, changing some details to make the text more compelling. During the trial, he tried to distance his story from the events but ultimately failed. In 2011, he was found guilty.
While many authors write fictional dark stories unrelated to their real lives, there are cases where these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to actual events, which have even been used as evidence in real-life investigations.
Liao Yongbiao, Chinese Writer
Chinese writer Liao Yongbiao was convicted of murder, and perhaps readers of his works were not entirely surprised. In 1995, he was accused of killing four people with a hammer at a guesthouse. Earlier, Liao had mentioned in the preface of his novel "The Criminal Secret" that he was working on a book about a female writer who commits multiple gruesome murders and evades capture. He never completed the book but had considered the title "The Beautiful Murderer."
After his arrest, Liao admitted in an interview with Chinese television that some of his works had been inspired by his own violent fantasies. Among his victims was a 13-year-old boy, the grandson of the guesthouse owner.
Liao was not the first writer to commit such a gruesome crime and later incorporate it into his stories. In 1991, Dutch writer Richard Klinkhamer killed his wife and then sent a near-final draft of a chilling book to his publisher, titled "Wednesday, the Day of Spinning," which could easily have been subtitled "7 Ways to Kill Your Wife."
However, real crimes have not only found their way into stories through a writer’s personal experience. Writers with powerful imaginations have taken non-personal events and expanded them beyond the borders of reality. Works like Truman Capote’s "In Cold Blood" and bestsellers such as "Room" by Emma Donoghue and "The Girls" by Emma Cline feature heinous crimes that become even more disturbing when written as stories. These crimes, when transformed into narratives, become even more chilling and haunt the reader’s mind.
