Police (& Media) Now Playing up D&D Connection to Murder

Yesterday we told you about a nasty rape and murder that occured in South Hill Puyallup, Washington, in which an 18-year old man raped and murdered a 16-year old disabled/developmentally challenged girl. The story mentioned that the man had returned home after the murder to play Dungeons and Dragons Online in order to try and “forget” the crime.

However in a new story published yesterday on The Seattle Post Intelligencer website, detectives in the case (or the author of the piece) appear to be playing up the videogame angle even more, as evidenced by the headline, “Murder Motive May Have Been Video Game Fantasy.”

To quickly sum up the case, Tyler Wolfegang Savage was charged with the rape and murder of Kimmie Daily, who had been missing since August 17. Described as “three years behind a normal physical growth pattern,” and a former Special Olympics participant, Daily’s body was found after Savage led police to her body, which was in a large thicket of brambles, just a few blocks from her home.

Savage admitted to choking the girl after she attempted to leave their short rendezvous and he admitted to having sexual contact with her.

Savage admitted to police about playing D&D online in order to cope with his crime, which sparked the interest of detectives, and they “now want to know if that game somehow became his point of reference on reality.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the world of Dungeons & Dragons, The Seattle Post Intelligencer offered this helpful recap, “Magic and swordplay is present in the violent fantasy landscape that makes up the online game.”

It was also reported that:

Detectives are working with an expert in sexually violent fantasies to explore the video game motive, but the true cause for this crime is still unknown. They aren't blaming a game for this violence, but they are trying to understand what triggered this murder and why.

“They aren’t blaming a game for this violence.”

It sure makes for a great headline though.