Matthew Pyke, of
Stowmarket
Stowmarket ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket
Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. o ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, was a British student who had lived in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
since 2006 with his girlfriend, Joanna Witton. He was murdered by 21-year-old David Heiss from
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, on 19 September 2008. Pyke's murder was motivated by Heiss's obsession with Witton.
Pyke, known online as Shade, and Witton were administrators on the ''
Advance Wars
''Advance Wars'' is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the seventh title in the Wars (series), ''Wars'' series of video games, and the first in the ''Advanc ...
'' fansite Wars Central, where Heiss was a registered user under the screen name Eagle_the_Lightning.
Murder
Heiss developed an obsessive infatuation with Witton and travelled to Nottingham in both June and August 2008 to meet Witton and Pyke in person. As Heiss didn't have a hotel reservation he stayed one night at the flat of Pyke and Witton. After being admonished and rebuffed by Witton, Heiss travelled to Britain twice more and met Pyke and Witton. During his last visit to the UK, on the morning of 19 September 2008 Heiss forced his way in to Pyke's flat and killed him by stabbing him 86 times. His body was found by Witton later that day.
Killer's arrest
Heiss was arrested at his home in Limburg and in May 2009 he was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in prison.
See also
*
Internet homicide
Internet homicide, also called internet assassination, refers to killing in which victim and perpetrator met online, in some cases having known each other previously only through the Internet.http://www.napavalley.edu/Projects/189/Chapter_022_4t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyke, Matthew
English murder victims
Year of birth missing
2008 deaths