Kill Me If You Can
Hold on to your seats, this story will blow you away. Kill me if you can is a docu-drama, which follows two boys (John and Mark), addicted to an Internet chat room.
There, they develop a close friendship, meet in real life, and hit it off. But what happens next is more shocking and extraordinary than anything you could ever imagine.
On the afternoon of July 16 2003, police arrest John for the attempted murder of his best friend Mark. What drove him to do it?
An incredible story emerges of how Mark has been recruited over the web to be a secret service agent by a spy mistress called Janet Dobinson. She promises him sex and riches if he passes an initiation test: to kill his friend John. The schoolboy is propelled into a world of espionage; his bland suburban surroundings become a landscape of mystery and intrigue.
But in court, facing charges of attempted murder, Mark finally learns the truth – Janet and a host of other people he met on the Internet are all fictitious characters invented by someone bent on manipulating his every move. But who would know enough to trick him into attempting murder?
Sorry, but I take exception to the woman who suggests that teens should visit chat rooms as a way of 'discovering who they are.' I came of age in the 70s and am thereby totally old school; ours was a generation considered wild then and uber-tame now, an era when PC didn't even mean personal computer let alone politically correct. The Internet can be a handy tool for research and email, especially if you learn how to sift through the junk, but otherwise for young people it may as well be the wild, wild west, unregulated and dangerous and certainly not a place to learn about anything vital regarding self esteem. That ought to be the job of parents, older family members, teachers and mentors. Weep for humanity; this speaks volumes for the future.
It isn’t the 70’s anymore. Times have changed.
I went to school with "John". It was crazy when he got stabbed because we live in a decent area and went to a nice school. He actually came back to school after the trial using the fake name and acting like nothing happened. There is no doubt he has mental issues and should probably be in an institution.
They should've stabbed each other to death. M*rons with nothing better to do.
Thanks for the link. WOW! I'm glad there were no chat rooms when I was a teen! I could have gotten into so much more trouble with a tool like that.
one of the best doc I have seen.
Thanks to all you people for ruining the film with your spoiler comments. I know the comments section is designed for talking about the film but some of the one liners brought nothing to the table except for ruining the ending.
Lack of courtesy or intelligence, not sure which.
how bout watching the thing before reading the comments about said thing. Lack of intelligence or common sense, not sure which. sorry just saying
Regardless of how he skated on serving 'Hard Time for the Crime' I have seen that People like HIM will later go on to do many crimes against others. Child Molesters/abusers work in the same way.
They first gain the trust of an individual and then start molding that person to do what they want. I would suggest even though he was just a teen, That this boy should be watched for a long long time even after his probation ends.
The second part is that some who lack a father figure in their lives will then try to dominate others with their POWER.
The real Problem today is the Kid's have no Positive influence towards growing up and applying what is right in life. Shows like (My 3 Son's, Father knows Best, Even the Rifleman as well as Family Affair) and many Others all taught how children were to deal with the many problems in life. Notice I cited mainly shows that were from Split Families.
All they have to view is FICTION, Vampires, X-BOX Games that are violent, Even the Disney show "CARS" is full of Violence. Children believe that is the way to interact with others.
Then we have the Worthless STATE of the Nation that places Parents in Jail for disciplining their children. Schools don't teach what the Parents Should teach. When whipping a child is called abuse is a joke. For those that are as old as I am and remember how we got our Butt's tanned for getting out of line. Today you just have to watch what kids do, Like Divorcing their Parents because it gets too tough at home. Personally as a Christian, I would rather discipline my Child then have God Kill them. Spare the Rod?
Final note: United States is #1 for having more people in Jail/Prison. 1 out of 5 people have a family member in Prison/Jail. This is caused from high Divorce Rates and children doing as their parents do as it seems to be the Accepted thing in life. I raised 3 Beautiful Daughters with a firm hand and I am proud of my kids, Even WHEN they got in trouble because they learned how to interact with others in a non-violent way. i.e. we had the Internet but NO X-Box type devices. Our Neighbors were different and sadly a few of their children are dead some in jail and can't hold a relationship together. No I don't solely blame x-box either. But there is more in life then also being on American Idol as a ONLY GOAL in life.
i agree that society, media, peer pressure, lack of parents / teaching and negativity have more to do with crimes and drugs/acholism than anything. On the other hand, children that are forced to be good - go to school / church, good upbringing are very likely to rebel also, so you cant assume or stereotype as each persons thoughts, values, actions, influences and environments are different.
As you mentioned, postive role modelling and influences with a hint of ass whooping go along way.
Ps. If i see american idol i just want to shoot the tv like elvis
That guy John is a very dangerous individual. It boggles the mind that he got off so lightly.
Actually if you recall, He "Got Off" Twice... :)
wow, never saw that coming. fascinating and of course unfortunate.
Seriously how come no psychiatric evaluations have been done? or even mentioned??? Amazing documentary really strange and I can't quite believe that Mark could be so stupid, a lot of the messages were actually laughable
Mark is a total id**t , what astounds me is the fact that no mention of psychiatric testing was done on either boy, though they clearly displayed not normal behaviour.
Astounding that someone could be so st*pid
What a complete m*ron Mark was - There seems to be no mention of psychiatric assesments which is very concerning , clearly both boys has psychological issues
wow just wow! this story is so crazy! how could someone be that dumb though to fall for that?they say because mark was young,because of his age but come one! how could you think that was all real! even though john is a physco sick person that was actually pretty brillant for him to keep that up! he should become a writer he would probably be the best their is lol. i hope that they are doing better now,hopefully
who's the director of this docu-drama ?
How mother f--king idiotic do you have to be to believe stuff like that on the internet. Surely Mark had some sort of mental disorder or something of that kind to believe such far fetched stories. Likewise with John, who plots their own death? And blowjob? AND WANKING ON WEBCAM.
Jesus Christ. /rage
sabina, finally an intelligent comment!
you re moving in the right direction. seems to me john wanted to get cot the whole time:
1. its obvious he purposely mispelled the word, since he is described as a bright kid.
2. maybe i listend to Sgt.Pepper too often but...MYBYE... MY BYE... as in "my goodbye".
3. we mite want to erase the contents of your pc before or after the stabbing (if it was possible) if we didnt want to get cot, wouldnt we john?
;) we know you're watching us john, busting a gut laughing
the moral is: learn to spell :))
Pretty twisted, interesting doc. Like others who have commented here, I would like to have seen a less whimsical summing-up from the lawyer at the end! John's motives could have been analysed much more. Mark's gullibility is momentous! I would recommend it though, as something compelling to watch.
It is obvious to me, that John was afraid to say that he had gay maybe bi thoughts. I think he brought Mark to oral sex etc and that is something which is not really mentioned. I think John was afraid to explain his gay thoughts. It is a tragedy, but i believe it is a big part of that all.
I think "John" showed all the signs of a brooding sociopath. Why in gods name he wasn't psychoanalyzed is beyond me. If they had been adults, "John" would most certainly have been reprimanded to the fullest degree. And "Mark" is just an example of a brooding gullible idiot. Poor schmuck.
fascinating and scary
I fully agree. I am a criminologist, and I am bewildered as to why John was simply let go. He is CLEARLY a sociopath. This is not the sort of thing that simply wears off after "adolescence". This is serious mental disorder and it will manifest itself again in the future, I am certain of it! And then they will see that they made a mistake to take it so lightly.
Also, it is obvious that John struggles with his sexuality as a homosexual. There is no other way to explain his deviant actions (gay stalker character, oral sex to his friend episode...). And as we all know, you don't simply "grow out" of being homosexual. Therefore his lawyer's claim that "all is good now and he even has a girlfriend" is all very naive.
I am utterly disappointed at the way the justice system reacted in this case.
You are CLEARLY not a criminologist or you would be a little more intelligent. John was CLEARLY not "simply let go."
Damn ... that's some gullible kid.
does anybody else c the gay underlying issue? he forces his friend to do 2 very sexual things thats something that needs to be addressed in therapy
The kid executed an elaborate scheme over months, testing the limits of what he could get his friend to do ... and you're only response is essentially: "Wow that kid must totally be gay"?
THAT's what you find twisted about this story?
i hope this isnt going to be scary. i'm going to lock my doors first.
it wasnt scary-just deeply disturbing to think that 2 apparently normal kids cd do such a twisted thing. it seems to me that my boundaries wd have been much stronger as an adolescent-and i'm not even sure i've ever been normal. it reminds me of another film based on a true case about 2 also normal teenaged girls from new zealand who killed 1 of the girl's mother. i forget the name of that film. it was scary and i had to shut it off midway. [1 of them became a famous author with the pen name anne perry, i think. the other became a strange, sad recluse.]
i think there's a lesson here somewhere, but i dont know what it is. we already know normal ppl can do very abnormal things-and i think that's scary.
That was really weird..
I agree with the judge however, because if you think about it, what benefit to society would we have by putting either of them in jail? The event itself was punishment enough, one losing his innocence to the deepest form of betrayal, the other almost losing his life. Incarceration would only overwhelm them and make it even harder for them to move on with their lives.
thanks for the spoiler. I love having the endings of documentaries ruined for me.
what have u learned? watch the doc b4 reading the comments. how would u even know what people r talking about if u dont watch the docs first. thats like clicking on a doc about Intelligent Design, reading the comments first, and agreeing with someone who supports it or doesnt.
Strange But I think I may have put them both in jail, Obvious there not going to learn from just getting banned from the net, come on I bet there using the internet and people would be stupid to think dif!
I'm more outraged and astonished by the last things that lawyer said than I am about the whole story! And that's saying alot!
Bizarre indeed! What a strange tale. Something's wrong with the dismissive 'lads will be lads' attitude that was evident in the documentary, though. These are 2 deeply troubled-even delusional kids (one of them suicidal!) in desperate need of help. Unfortunately, I see a booby hatch in these boys' future. One was prepared to murder the other because the spy-mistress (who was allegedly the queen's agent) told him to. That's a hair's breadth away from hearing voices coming from the toaster, donning the cliched aluminium foil helmet & setting out on a mission to slaughter the evil alien agent who is cleverly disguised as an 84 yr old church bingo lady! The 'victim' turned out to be a variety of dodgy characters; he engineered his own sexual assault & his own murder (he almost died!)
Forbidding them from seeing each other won't even prevent them from further contact: they'll simply go online from a friend's home or public setting (like a library or community centre) & the folie a deux will resume.
I just cannot believe he didn't get any time. And from what was said, it sounded like everyone was sympathetic to him masterminding this whole thing with the whole ''we've all done stupid things''! I'm just astonished.
Bizarre. Good chance there will be a sequel in the years to come as I think there are some deep seated issues here that are in most probability going to arise again. This reminds me of the boys who kidnapped and killed a toddler. Seems to me biological instincts at the most basic level have become befuddled. Parents should be wary of the harm that other children can inflict on their children.
they should mainly raise their child to a strong person which is able to think by itself...n give the child security in form of trusting base ( from parent to child n from child to parent) that is the best u can give
Sounds like John, though intelligent, is a bisexual schizophrenic -- as a result of his dysfunctional upbringing (father leaving, multiple step fathers, etc). He will likely have demons to live with his entire life.
What a load of s*** you're talking. Someone's sexuality is not shaped by a dysfunctional upbringing (which every human has to some extent) nor is schizophrenia. Educate yourself. Muppet.
ur right. Peter Sarandis is WRONG! im gay and i was raised by a father and mother. i had a happy childhood. i wasnt molested. i had no traumatic experiences in my life b4 i realized i was gay. Peter is just a bible thumper!
hey Pete!
im straight and i think you're full of sh*t. take your homophobia elsewhere.
there are numerous instances of that or similar things occuring because of upbringing...in fact there is a schizophrenia doc on this site that has a common thread amongst all patients of family abuse causing disorders
I think JK's original comment was that HE THOUGHT THIS instance was because of upbringing not all instances.
Sorry to say but you my friend are the closed minded one (based on what i read) and if you are (im not sayingyou are) god help your patients
@ Peter Sarandis: What immature assumptions you like to make about people! For a start, I am not gay. So that blows your shite thinking straight out of the water. I also hold a Phd in clinical psychology and am a qualified psychotherapist. You are clearly indicating you no nothing about the workings of the human brain on a mental or emotional level. Time for you to change your narrow minded thinking.
I agree Jaime..also not gay but if one part of parent is missing...it depends what was replacement
not having amother or father figure is a total lame excuse to come up with , this boy clearly had low self esteem and was naive nothing to do with lack of parents
So in your highly intelligent view - he is abisexual schizo as a result of his father leaving? get a grip - I am a psychologist in a top London clinic ,my father left us. What a warped sense of society you have
those boys don't need jail - they need a better education :/
"Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 49 minutes)" but this sentence is not lit up. How do I proceed to watch this?
the video is a playlist. Just watch the first and the rest will follow automatically :) that's the way most of the youtube docs on this site function. peace x
Edit, didn't see this docu yet. Really interesting docu:P
But it looks kinda old as in, this will really never happen again xD
This documentary looks very familiar...It's still very interesting.
The world of today ruins the view on young people. You can't do anything fun anymore:S
We couldn't possibly have all been this completely ignorant, gullible & just plain stupid when we were young. Could we? As a teen I believe I was adventurous & perhaps some what impressionable but I still had a functioning brain & was able to reason to a certain degree of clarity. Of course all things sex are all consuming for a teen age boy. Is this just another example that this generation really is living in a fantasy world due to computers & video games? Life & death is a game? There are no real consequences for our actions?
@Ozyxcba1 You make a good point with your statement.
I'm glad that both boys survived this experience and will get another chance at life. I wonder what will become of both of them?
That's unbelievably mind baffling. I can not fathom what I just seen/heard.
Wow what a story.
Mind Blowing "There is a large safe at the bottom of the ocean and only a 14 year old boy can open the door" the 16 year old must be borderline retarded to believe a story like that
brilliant, a documentary with a hint of laugh your ass off comedy!!! 100%
Weird stuff, internet or no, and age not withstanding, the issue should be the pure gullibility of simpletons.
Pfft...
I totally disagree with this lawyer's assessment of John at the end of the short-doc claiming
"I put all this down to the problems of adolescence."
I disagree totally, I think John's a Psychopathic individual, who clearly feeds off the manipulation of others, and this will continue long after adolescence. I do agree he will probably be successful, and instead of manipulating people on coatrooms he will find another outlet for his jollies.
'MYBYE' he will become a CEO executive when he grows up.
Alternatively, Mark is Gullible ordinary teenager, who has probably/hopefully grown as a result of his manipulation and loss of innocence.
Crazy story though.. lol
I agree most with you. My only question is: Are true pyschopaths ever suicidal? Or was John even suicidal? Truly mind-boggling to the outer limits of my imagination! He must have some repressed homosexual issues to make Mark perform sex acts on him. I just don't know what to say.
Whether or not John is truly a psychopath would have to be to determined by a professional and hopefully they are both getting counseling.
Adolescents, according to one teacher I knew, aren't "human" between the ages of 13 and 20. He was being funny, and trying to reassure a friend that her problems with her teenaged daughter would be outgrown, but neurological science has shown that just as there is a huge die-off of brain cells shortly after birth, there is a corresponding growth spurt of brain cells in early adolescence. A neurosurgeon who regularly scanned his own growing child likened it to 'filling in' the empty spaces. He attributed his own child's suddenly forgetful and erratic behavior to this growth spurt. It certainly doesn't help that they are suddenly swimming in a hormone bath, either.
Someone in the doc did say that they were in a 'folie a deux', so that as John came up with his stories, Mark responded in such a positive way that it set up a feedback loop, and both kids were enmeshed in a mutual fantasy. Mark may have been the older, but he was also described as 'not the brightest kid', and a younger, creative boy with a more dominant personality such as John, could easily have drawn him in. But remember, Mark gave John positive feedback that encouraged him to keep inventing stories.
As far as homosexual leanings, experimentation doesn't turn a kid gay. John may in fact have been exploring that possibility for himself, and since a much higher percentage of gay teens commit suicide than do straight teens, the fear (or certainty?) of being gay may have fed into his suicidal tendency, especially if the culture around him was overtly homophobic.
All that being said, both the boys and those around them are lucky that a. they both survived and b. it didn't turn into a Columbine-style mass murder. I feel sorry for their families. They all had a close call that could have been truly tragic.
Bleah, I think I got the boys names mixed up (they were fake names anyway...)
lol love it - you are so right
This is why parents should stop thinking of their children as mature adults and letting them alone to do whatever they do.
I can say with authority, that kids in chat rooms are amazingly nieve and, well, stupid...and it is clear their parents do not take an interest in their computer conversations.
There are a lot of bad parents in the world. One wonders why adults have children if they have no intention of maturing them.
@ KsDevil
While I agree with the gist of your comment, one word about your understandable criticism of some parenting that goes on(or, should I say, that does not go on!), and it is this:
For the first time in human history, we as a species watch language, and culture, and technologies, change at such pace, yesterday is perceived as ancient and we no longer forecast what tomorrow may hold, but what tomorrow might be.
An Egyptian living 3000 years ago, falling into suspended animation, awaking a hundred years later, would see a world recognizable. We look out our windows today and watch as history speeds past, before our very eyes.
I exaggerate. But there is an element of truth in what I say.
Half the time parents don't understand what is going on. We're all of us growing ever more quickly out-of-touch. For kids growing up today, mom and dad are as out-of-touch as our grandparents seemed while we were growing up.
My personal inclination is to afford parents of young families an initial benefit of the doubt.
Just take an overall look on the situation...a complete control is impossible...lots of parents are both working or both being at home..but the daily worries keeping them occoupied..the grandparents ?..lots dont no about PC...time is moving to fast in change...it brings disorder n confushion...which make it easier for them to have influence...
Based on the summery I have one thing to say, WTF?
Simply based on the title and the summary,
I would assume Mark has manipulated John on the internet to attempt to kill himself (Kill me if you can).
Is this for REAL? Before I watch this, is this a true story? Sounds really twisted! Not sure if I should watch it before bed. I bet Geoffrey is right. Suicide by deception (if you can) Now THAT is twisted.