Sep 25, 08
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Man murdered over internet arguement
Computer gamer held over student's killing | Technology | The Guardian
This is pretty fucked. Guess the old adage of it being "just the internet" doesn't really hold true for some people.
Quote:
A German computer gamer is being held in connection with the murder of a British university student after an apparent cyberspace dispute escalated into a killing.
The 21-year-old from a town near Frankfurt is accused of travelling to the UK to murder Matthew Pyke, 20, who was found last Friday.
Police are exploring the possibility that the two men fell out over Wars Central, Pyke's discussion forum.
Pyke's girlfriend, Joanna Witton, discovered his body with several stab wounds at their Nottingham city centre flat. There were no signs of forced entry leading to police to believe the dead man may have known his killer.
The two men are believed to have made contact via Pyke's forum, an internet site he ran with Witton.
The suspect, who has not been named by police, was tracked through internet postings and arrested in Limburg-Weilburg, near Frankfurt, on Wednesday evening on suspicion of murder. Extradition proceedings are under way.
A spokesman for Limburg-Weilburg police said: "A 21-year-old man from the rural area of Limburg was arrested by officers from the West Hessen police headquarters in Hünfelden. It is suspected that on September 19 he killed a man in Nottingham with a knife. After intensive investigations in collaboration with Nottinghamshire police it is believed the two got to know each other over the internet."
Pyke, who was due to rejoin Nottingham Trent University next month after dropping out of a physics course, used the online alias of Shade to discuss tips on strategy, characters and plots for the Nintendo game, Advanced Wars. The game pits armies of cartoon characters against each other.
The dead man was from Stowmarket, Suffolk, but moved to the city two years ago. On his MySpace page, Pyke listed his general interests as Guitar Hero, the Ace Attorney series, Gran Turismo 4, Metal Gear, Evil Genius, Unreal Tournament, Super Smash Bros, the Metroid series, adding "and that's just the video games".
His parents, William and Kim, left a tribute on his Facebook site, reading: "Darling Matthew. We love you so much and miss you. You were a truly good, sensitive person. Your smile will live on in our hearts." The Wars Central forum was closed to new entries last night, but a post left by a gamer using the alias "Eggy" said: "I'm not normally at a loss for words but this is something where I just can't speak."
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