Casefile True Crime - Case 104: Mark & John

Episode Date: December 22, 2018

In the early 2000s, the internet became increasingly affordable and readily available, which led to online chat rooms soaring in popularity. Logging into the local Manchester Teens chat room became a regular occurrence for 16-year-old Stockport student, “Mark”, who longed to find a girlfriend online. ---  Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Episode researched and written by Eileen Ormsby, author of ‘The Darkest Web – Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives: The inside story of the internet’s evil twin.’ For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-104-mark-and-john

Hey friends, Kaylin here from Teach Me How to Adult and we talk a lot on our show about how to live your best life while also balancing being a financially responsible human. So if you've been dreaming of that epic vacation or you want to explore a new city while still keeping your bills at bay, listen up because we've teamed up with Airbnb to share some ways on how you can easily become an Airbnb host. So when we took the big leap into adulthood and bought our first home, we purposely looked for a place that we could Airbnb whenever we're on vacation or just if we want to try working out of a different city because we both work from home and we love traveling.

And it's honestly the perfect way to have the freedom and flexibility to travel or just go wherever you want while giving you that second stream of income and covering your cost while you're away. And you don't need a mansion or an entire floor of your home. It could honestly be as simple as just renting out a spare room or just occasionally doing it if you are traveling for a little bit. You could honestly be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. So whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little

more fun, your home or spare room might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca forward slash host. Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. On June 29, 2003, in the United Kingdom town of Ultringham, patrons were enjoying a beer in a corner pub affectionately known as the Fishbowl due to its large floor-to-ceiling

glass walls. It was a stifling hot day by English standards even for the height of summer, and the Fishbowl was the perfect place to escape into air-conditioned comfort and refresh with a cold drink. The Fishbowl was situated in Goose Green, an enclave nestled in a quiet yet fashionable part of Ultringham, a market town in Greater Manchester. The town featured the Redbrick buildings typical of Manchester, filled with independent and artisan businesses, including a deli, a butcher, and a café. It was frequented by shoppers wanting to get away from the more sterile, commercialized

environment of nearby Trafford Centre shopping mall. A brick-paved, pedestrian square featured a sculpture of a flock of geese at its centre, surrounded by benches where local workers gathered and enjoyed their lunch in the sunshine. Aside from the odd shoplifter, crime and drama were not something the regulars at Goose Green were accustomed to. So, when an ambulance and police cars came roaring into the area with their sirens blaring and pulled up at an alleyway entrance 30 metres away from the Fishbowl pub, onlookers were curious.

First responders rushed into the alley after receiving reports of a stabbing. Towards the dead end of the narrow passageway, they found a teenage boy lying in a pool of blood and on the brink of death. Paramedics went to work, fighting to keep him alive as his organs began to fail. He had suffered two severe stab wounds, the first to his chest and the second deep into his abdomen. A large kitchen knife lay on the ground beside his body. The victim was rushed to Manchester's Withenshaw Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Blood pulled inside his stomach cavity, restricting the function of his lungs and diaphragm. Whilst on the operating table, the patient's heart stopped twice as surgeons removed his gallbladder and fought desperately to stabilise him. The teenager emerged from the operation in a critical condition and was taken to the intensive care unit where a respirator was used to assist his breathing. The attack in the alley was witnessed by the victim's teenage friend, who told police the pair had been walking through Goose Green sipping on soft drinks they had bought from a nearby McDonald's when they were accosted by a man aged in his twenties, wearing a black

woody, black jeans and white baseball cap. The unknown man had tried to grab one of the teenagers and drag them into the alley. In the ensuing scuffle, the assailant pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim twice before fleeing the scene. Following the attack, Greater Manchester Police put out a public appeal to identify the suspect. Newspapers were soon reporting alleged sightings of the perpetrator, with the Manchester Evening News announcing someone who fit the description was later seen at Uldringham's MetroLink station. With no clue to suggest a motive, police worked swiftly, concerned the unknown assailant may

strike again. Investigators retrieved footage from the few CCTV cameras in the Goose Green area and discovered they were in luck. One camera faced directly towards the alleyway where the teenager was attacked. In the early 2000s, the internet had become more affordable and available in homes throughout the United Kingdom, and as a result, online chat rooms soared in popularity. Chat rooms were not completely new, they had been around in some form since the late 1980s and had spawned an entire language of their own.

Online conversations typically started with the ubiquitous greeting, hi ASL, which stood for age, sex, location. The response would generally determine whether communications between participants would continue. In the days before Gmail, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, teenagers were turning in droves to MSN chat. One of the first computer services to allow online users to communicate directly from their web browser, with little to no technical knowledge.

Users simply logged in under nicknames and were instantly able to create or join hundreds of chat rooms reflecting every sort of hobby, interest and demographic imaginable. Popular rooms were a never-ending flow of scrawling text recorded in real time, as users typed questions and comments to one another, peppered with emoticons, abbreviations, acronyms and changing text colors. Online active users within a room were listed in a box to the right of the screen, with alerts informing others whenever someone logged in or out. Clicking on a username would allow you to initiate a private chat function with that

person, known as whispers. Users didn't have to provide any identification and could log in under any screen name or profile they liked. This anonymity came with both pros and cons. People could adopt an alias, ensuring they were safe to interact online without fears of being identified in the real world. Yet, this meant users were not always who they said they were. Online chat rooms were a hotbed for adult predators pretending to be much younger than

they were in order to have sexually charged conversations with unsuspecting teens. Mark was a typical 16-year-old from Stockport, one of the more sought-after postcodes in Manchester. Tall, fair-haired and with a powerful build, Mark was the only child of working-class parents who provided him a good upbringing. His school grades were average and aspirations modest, hoping to do well enough at business college to find work. Although not academically inclined, Mark was still well-liked by his teachers, stayed

out of trouble and was passionate about sport, especially soccer. He was popular with the girls at school but wasn't always sure how to interact with them. In 2002, the computer Mark's parents had bought to help with his schoolwork opened up a whole new world to the teenager. Once he connected to the internet, Mark was introduced to online chat rooms where he could talk to strangers from all over the world from the safety of his bedroom. The computer screen provided a barrier that allowed Mark to be more open and at ease than he was in his real-life interactions, and he found himself spending most of his spare

time online. In February 2003, Mark was logged into one of his favourite online chat rooms for Manchester teenagers. He was one of the millions of teenage boys who went online hoping to meet girls, and whenever a new person with a feminine username appeared in the chat room, Mark would strike up a conversation, hoping to turn successful online interactions into real-world hookups. Mark perked up when a new user logged into the Manchester teens' chat room under the screen name rachel underscore west.

After Rachel introduced herself to the room, Mark summoned the courage to initiate a private chat, discovering she was also a 16-year-old Manchester local. Rachel worked at a gymnasium, and her uploaded photograph showed a slim, fresh-faced teen girl with long blonde hair. Mark couldn't believe his luck that out of all the people in the chat room, Rachel seemed to want to speak to him the most. The banter came easily, and Rachel seemed open to more provocative conversation. Mark turned on his webcam so that she could see him, but Rachel wasn't keen on video

chatting, alluding it was due to troubling online interactions she had in the past. For the next two days, Mark loitered in the Manchester teens' chat room awaiting the words Rachel West has entered the room to appear on screen. Days after Mark and Rachel's first online encounter, another new person entered the Manchester teens' chat room, 14-year-old John. Rachel introduced the newcomer as her little brother, but John later clarified their relationship as step-brother and stepsister. The step-siblings lived in a well-to-do neighbourhood in Manchester in a comfortable double-story

brick house with a garden. The family were firmly middle-class, not rich by any means, but affluent enough to send the children to private schools. John's childhood was marred by instability and poor father figures. His parents split when he was seven years old, and later, John stumbled across his birth certificate and discovered the man whom he grew up believing to be his father was actually not at all. It turned out John's biological father was a violent man who had once tried to abduct

him as a baby, leading his mother to flee the situation. John's mother had a string of unsuccessful relationships over the years, before settling down with a plumber when John was 11 years old, who remained his step-father ever since. John was given a laptop to help with his studies and soon began frequenting internet chat rooms, meeting Mark online just a few weeks later. Their households both had broadband internet connections, quite a novelty at the time, which meant they could be online for hours without tying up the phone line or running up massive bills.

Although there was a two-year age difference between them, John and Mark shared mutual interests in gaming, girls, and football, and quickly struck up an online friendship. They bonded over movies they both enjoyed, especially the crime drama Catch Me If You Can, a film based on the true story of a teenage prankster who grew up to become one of the world's most wanted con men. The pair turned on their webcams during interactions, proving they were exactly who they claimed to be. These webcam hangouts were spent gaming or searching internet forums together, and made

the two feelers though they were in the same room. When it was just the two of them, conversations were dominated by x-rated topics typical of teenage boys. Although Mark liked the younger John and the pair soon became best friends, it was Rachel who Mark hoped to see whenever he logged in online. Mark had a tendency to become infatuated quickly, and he had come to think of Rachel as his girlfriend. Their conversations would carry on late into the night, and occasionally turn to sexual.

At Rachel's request, Mark would sometimes stand before his webcam and strip off his clothes while she watched. Throughout their many online interactions, Mark and Rachel's teen romance deepened, hidden from onlookers in whisper chats and personal emails. One night, Mark summoned up the courage and declared his love for her. When Rachel responded, I love you too, he couldn't have been happier. Over the following weeks, Mark, Rachel and John spent nearly all their spare time in the Manchester teens MSN chatroom.

Although they interacted with other visitors, they were a tight trio who had their own inside jokes and special language. Mark and Rachel discussed plans to meet up in the real world. Mark was willing to skip school to make the time, but Rachel had a much busier schedule to work around. Instead, Mark and John took their friendship offline for a face-to-face meeting. In many ways, the two teenagers were an unlikely pairing. 14-year-old John was small and slight, while 16-year-old Mark was tall with a strong build.

Mark was an only child of a stable parental relationship, whereas John had never known his biological father and didn't get along with his stepfather. Mark was an average student at a modest school, while John excelled at his more exclusive grammar school, earning grades that put him on track to gain entry to a prestigious university. Considered polite and well-behaved, Mark was easygoing and popular, whereas John was sullen, withdrawn and prone to disobedience. John was at the mercy of racist school bullies who taunted the young teen over his olive-colored skin.

As most of John's friends were female, he was also bullied about his perceived sexuality. In April 2003, a new user joined the Manchester teens chat room. Kevin McGregor stood out by writing exclusively in pink-colored font, telling the room he did so because he was openly gay. He adopted a shock-and-horror online persona, wherein he boasted crudely about his foot fetish and claimed to be a stalker, quote, a real stalker, a proper stalker. Members of the chat room were generally dubious of Kevin's outlandish claims and perceived him as little more than a novelty character in their virtual world.

But Mark soon discovered that his friends, John and Rachel, had reason to be quite scared of Kevin, who had been threatening them. John even suspected Kevin was following him home from school. Mark reassured the pair that Kevin McGregor was unlikely to be truly dangerous, but was forced to reconsider when Kevin started targeting Mark, taunting him with personal information about the lives of Rachel, John and himself. Kevin had no way of knowing these insider details, unless he really had been stalking them.

With Mark now convinced that Kevin presented a genuine threat, Kevin ordered Mark to show him his feet and to masturbate on webcam for him, threatening to kidnap and rape Rachel if his demands were not met. In a private message, Mark told Rachel about Kevin's threat, feeling he had no choice but to do as he was told to protect her. Mark asked, what else can I do? Rachel was touched, replying, you don't have to do anything for me. But Mark responded, I do, Rach, I love you.

Rachel said she loved him too. Mark went through with the humiliating act as demanded by Kevin McGregor, satisfied that by doing so, he had saved Rachel from danger. The ordeal strengthened the love shared between the young couple and propelled them to finally meet outside MSN chat. Their real world introduction was to take place in the upmarket town of Uldringham, a popular shopping and meeting place eight miles southwest of Manchester's city centre. Mark boarded a public bus and took the 40-minute journey to Uldringham to meet his love.

Upon reaching their designated meeting point, Mark waited in nervous excitement for Rachel to arrive, yet hours passed and there was no sign of her. Eventually, Mark accepted Rachel was not going to show up and returned home to his computer, hoping there was a message from her with an explanation. But there were no emails, no private whisper messages, and she wasn't in their usual chat room. However, there was an email from Kevin McGregor, the psychopathic Manchester teen's chat room regular who had blackmailed Mark into performing sex acts over webcam to ensure Rachel's safety.

Kevin's email revealed he had gone through with his plans to kidnap Rachel after all, adding that the 16-year-old had been gang-raped and murdered. Kevin taunted Mark with the gruesome details of her death, describing how he kicked Rachel in the stomach and held her head under freezing cold water. In a final blow, Kevin said, You weren't there for her, however much she screamed for you. Mark replied, How could I have been there when I didn't know where she was?

Feeling unable to go to the police or tell his parents, Mark privately mourned the tragic murder of his online girlfriend. His overwhelming guilt spiraling him into a deep depression. His school grades led down into these and deaths, dooming him to inevitable failure for the year. John was also grieving the sudden traumatic loss of his stepsister, and the best friends found some solace in each other, but Mark remained withdrawn. His distant behaviour began to concern John, who reached out one night over webcam chat. Mark brushed off the worry, explaining he was just tired.

John made a lighthearted joke, and his friends' mood instantly lifted, a smile appearing across his face. John asked, Why are you so happy? To which Mark replied, Cause I got you as a mate. Since losing Rachel, Mark was less inclined to hang out online, but when he did frequent the chat rooms, he wanted to talk to girls. He struck up a friendship with an older teenage girl called Lindsay East, a recent newcomer to the Manchester teens chat room.

Lindsay consoled Mark over the loss of his previous relationship, and the pair soon began flirting. Mark slipped into the familiar routine of falling for a girl he had never met. The feeling was reciprocated, with Lindsay confessing she was falling in love with him, leading Mark to perform sex acts in front of his webcam for her. Trusting Mark wholeheartedly, Lindsay revealed to him a highly confidential piece of information. She was a junior secret service agent for the British intelligence service, more commonly known as MI6.

Mark was intrigued, he loved movies and had seen plenty of James Bond films, but had never met a real-life spy before. Lindsay revealed the real reason she had originally joined the Manchester teens chat room was that Mark's best friend, 14-year-old John, was under government protection. John was unknowingly being targeted by Kevin McGregor, the psychopathic chat regular who kidnapped and murdered Rachel. Lindsay was hoping Mark would help her track down the confessed killer, expressing how important it was that John never found out he was under threat, or being secretly observed

by government spies. Just days after their first online meeting, Mark received a post-dated email from Lindsay, which had been arranged to be sent to him in the event she was killed in action. The email revealed the young spy had failed in her mission, and urged Mark to complete her objective to protect John. At the end of April 2003, Mark's bizarre online world took an even crazier twist when his recently deceased girlfriend Rachel suddenly reappeared in the Manchester teens chat room. Mark was initially overjoyed that she was alive, but once they started talking, he realized

something was very wrong about her story. Rachel claimed to have been held captive whilst in a coma, and she had since given birth to Mark's baby. This presented multiple red flags. Firstly, Rachel had only been missing for a few weeks, and secondly, they had only known each other for a couple of months and had never met in real life. It was impossible for them to have conceived a child. Mark didn't know what was going on or what to believe, but before he could get answers,

Rachel vanished once again. Janet Dobbson joined the Manchester teens chat room with a flourish, typing in capital letters and making it known that as an older woman, she had no time for idle adolescent chit chat. Janet was looking for someone special, and a 16-year-old Mark fit the bill. In a private chat with Mark, Janet confided that she too was a member of the British Intelligence Service, holding a much more senior position than the now deceased junior agent Lindsay.

As number three in the hierarchy of the British Secret Service, Janet's cover as a real estate agent gave her the freedom to travel around, and although she was in her 40s and married, she specified that she was still very sexy. Given Mark's recent string of bizarre experiences in the chat room, he was skeptical of Janet's claims, but went along with them out of curiosity. There that Mark once held Lindsay's confidence, Janet felt he could be trusted to keep a secret. He was being covertly tested by the Secret Service, and they now wanted to recruit him. The teenager would be well compensated for his work, with paychecks in the millions of

pounds and opportunities to meet Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Tony Blair. After speaking at length, everything slowly began to make sense to Mark. Convinced Janet Dohertson was the real deal, his initial suspicion about the whole spy drama dissipated. Although it seemed too good to be true, Mark accepted the once-in-a-lifetime offer. Before Mark could be taken to London for his MI6 briefing, he needed to prove himself capable of completing top-secret assignments. Only then would he receive his agent number and a license to kill.

As a part of his initiation into the British Intelligence Service, Mark was required to act as a bodyguard for an important Manchester teenager and a fellow MI6 operative named James Bell. It was imperative that nobody, including James himself, knew that Mark had been contracted to keep an eye on him. Although he was up for the job, Mark was curious as to what made James so important that he required a bodyguard. After receiving authority from her superiors, including the Prime Minister himself, Janet

Dohertson confided that a huge safe containing jewels worth a staggering £568 billion lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. A few countries knew about the safe's existence, but only the Queen of England had the combination to open it. As she could not personally access the safe, the Queen had entrusted its code to just one other person, James Bell. Janet Dohertson told Mark, only James can walk through the door. That is only half of why he is so important.

This loads more that we will leave for another day. Mark was stunned to discover that the James Bell he was assigned to covertly protect was not a complete stranger, but none other than his best friend, 14-year-old John. Therefore, it would be easy for Mark to guard John, as it would look like he was simply socialising with his mate. The British intelligence recruit was quick to get started on his classified government work, asking John if he wanted to hang out more often. Oblivious to what was truly going on, John eagerly agreed to the offer, and the two boys

started meeting up after school, and spending all their spare time together. The teenagers' sudden and intense friendship raised the concerns of their respective mothers, who insisted on meeting one another to ensure their boys were in safe and acceptable company. Relieved to find that each boy came from a respectable family, the mothers were glad their children had bonded in real life, hoping it meant the pair would spend less time inside on their computers. Taking his new responsibility to protect John seriously, Mark reported his whereabouts and actions back to agent Janet Dobbenton, who approved of his progress, but also warned

other British intelligence spies were always keeping an eye on Mark to ensure he was carrying out his mission. To prove it, Janet specified the locations where the two teenagers had been spotted and what they had been doing at the time. Mark was both spooked and excited to learn that he was under surveillance. His next initiation assignment was to get his target out of school without raising suspicion. Convincing the school administration that he had been sent by John's mother to take the 14-year-old to a dentist appointment, Mark successfully completed this mission.

John was delighted to skip school, and the two friends went shopping and spent the day together. John's mother was alerted that he had left school early for the day, and checked his computer for hints as to where her son might have gone. After discovering online messages involving a woman named Janet Dobbenton, she headed the Stockport, where she found her truant son at Mark's house and demanded to speak to his parents. A search of Mark's laptop revealed similar messages from Janet Dobbenton, claiming to

be a female secret service agent. The two boys were warned that not everyone online was who they claimed to be, and were banned from having any further contact with the so-called spy. Hey friends, Kaelin here from Teach Me How To Adult, and we talk a lot on our show about how to live your best life while also balancing being a financially responsible human. So if you've been dreaming of that epic vacation, or you want to explore a new city while still keeping your bills at bay, listen up, because we've teamed up with Airbnb to share some ways on how you can easily become an Airbnb host.

So when we took the big leap into adulthood and bought our first home, we purposely looked for a place that we could Airbnb whenever we're on vacation, or just if we want to try working out of a different city because we both work from home and we love traveling. And it's honestly the perfect way to have the freedom and flexibility to travel or just go wherever you want while giving you that second stream of income and covering your cost while you're away. And you don't need a mansion or an entire floor of your home, it could honestly be as simple as just renting out a spare room, or just occasionally doing it if you are traveling

for a little bit. You could honestly be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. So whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills, or for something a little more fun, your home or spare room might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca forward slash host. After a short break from their computers, the teenagers ingeniously got around to their parents' restrictions and were soon back online and logging into chat rooms. Upon his return to the digital world, Mark was once again under Janet Dobbinson's command.

His latest assignment was regarded as a matter of national security, and if he didn't complete this urgent task, Janet could lose her job and possibly even her life. Although she wasn't allowed to say why, Mark's new mission was to make John look gay by performing a sex act on the younger boy. She reminded him that undercover agents were watching at all times to decide if the 16-year-old truly was ready to join MI6. Once spending the weekend over at John's house, Mark carried through with his latest assignment, and Janet was very pleased to learn that the boys watched pornography together

and engaged in oral sex. With this mission now complete, Mark had successfully passed his initiation into MI6. As a reward, he would meet the Defense Secretary and Prime Minister and be awarded with a gun £500,000 in cash and a license to kill. Mark was ready to rise further up the ranks, but the stakes were immediately and drastically increased. When pressed to consider whether he was capable of killing someone close to him, Mark responded, Yeah, I could.

There's my answer. As it turned out, this question was not rhetorical. When Doberton handed Mark his first official mission as a secret service agent and assassination, the target of all people was James Bell, otherwise known as Mark's best friend, John. The revelation threw Mark's world into a tailspin. He hadn't even gone through weapons training yet and presumed spies killed bad guys in foreign countries, not their best friends. Mark thought Janet might be joking, but she was adamant his country was depending on

him to carry out the kill. Upon completion, Mark would be given an employment contract for the secret intelligence service, a payment of £80 million and sexual favours, perhaps even supplied by Janet herself. Mark asked Janet, Ain't it murder when you kill someone? She responded, Not in your case. According to Janet, John had an inoperable brain tumour that would result in an agonising death, thus giving moral justification for the hit, but Mark was still reluctant. Then days later, the two teenage friends were chatting online when John wrote,

I got a letter today from my doc, I went in a few weeks ago because I was depressed and shit, I got a brain thingy tumour, it's big. Janet was telling the truth, Mark was shocked and saddened by the grim diagnosis, but felt killing John would now be a sort of mercy killing. This rationale strengthened Mark's resolve to carry out his first official mission and he discussed the intricacies of the plot with Janet, who provided every single detail. Stabbing was deemed to be the ideal method as it was up close and personal, something only a close friend of the victim could carry out.

Mark was ordered to say the words trust me to John as he died. On June 28, 2003, the British secret intelligence service formally welcomed their newest agent, 16-year-old Mark from Manchester, who was assigned agent number 47695. In preparation to carry out his first assassination, Mark made arrangements to meet his target in Ultringham the following day. Equal parts proud and terrified, Mark spent the day before the assassination chatting online to his superior, Janet Dobbinson, making sure all the plans were in place for the kill. He'd insisted a pocket knife would not suffice as the murder weapon, advising Mark to buy

a larger knife. He was also instructed to purchase a pair of gloves to wear during the stabbing so he didn't leave his fingerprints at the scene. Not entirely convinced of the plan, Mark wrote to Janet, You want me to take him to Trafford Centre and kill him in the middle of Trafford Centre. That's what you're asking me. What should I say to him? Wait in there a minute while I stab you.

Janet told the reluctant young assassin to carry out his mission somewhere quiet and to tell John that he loved him before he drew his final breath. Mark responded, I love him, but this has to be done. Mark was ordered not to call an ambulance straight away and to remain put after the stabbing as Janet would arrive disguised as a detective superintendent to ensure he would not be arrested. At 9.57pm that evening, Mark received word of a change to the original plan. He was told to commit the act bare-handed and tell police the attacker wore gloves, accounting for his being the only fingerprints on the knife.

The scene was set. The next day, Mark would stab his best friend to death under the orders of the British government. If at any point Mark heard the code 6969, he was advised to immediately abort the mission. The code could come from any source, but would most likely be shouted over a loudspeaker. Sunday June 29 proved to be an uncharacteristically hot summer's day in Britain's west. My six secret service agent Mark arrived to Trafford shopping centre in Ultringham where his unsuspecting target was eagerly awaiting, beaming with happiness when he saw his friend. Mark felt the dreaded task would be a little easier if John chose his own implement of

death, so he asked for John's help to shop for a knife with a long, sturdy blade. John picked out a six-inch Sabartier chef's knife used for slicing through thick cuts of meat, and Mark paid for the item. As the day wore on, Mark felt increasingly sick and dizzy, remaining on constant alert for the announcement of the abort code 6969. He nervously eyed age-seemingly nonchalant shopper and store employee, presuming any one of them could be a fellow undercover MI6 agent tasked with tracking his progress. Seeing his usually laid-back friend was on edge, John questioned Mark's strange behaviour,

who brushed off concerns by cryptically remarking that he might have to do something that day. The code had not sounded for Mark to abort his mission, so he carried on, suggesting they take a stroll in a secluded wooded area nearby. Upon arrival, Mark panicked, realising he might not be able to hear the abort code announcement if they wandered too far into the isolated woods. As such, the teenagers returned to town, heading towards the fashionable goose-green enclave, where a deserted, dead-end alleyway presented Mark the perfect opportunity. It was quiet enough that nobody else was likely to come by, but close enough to civilisation

to hear the abort code announcement if it was made. Direct with nerves, a thought crossed Mark's mind. What if the whole ploy was simply another test that would be stopped at the last minute once he had proven his loyalty and willingness to carry out his government orders? As the teens entered the alleyway, Mark pulled out the knife and told John what he had to do. His target looked at him, then at the knife, but said nothing. Mark told his friend, I love you, bro, before thrusting the knife into John's chest, feeling

it pierced through his ribcage. The 14-year-old crumpled to the ground, crying out for an ambulance, kneeling down alongside the badly injured body of his friend. Mark whispered, Shush, people will hear, please be quiet. John cried out, you've killed me, Mark hugged him and said, don't say that, don't let that be the last thing you were saying. Realising one stab wound wasn't going to be enough, Mark gingerly drew John close and dragged him back up to a standing position, whispering, trust me, trust me.

He then plunged the knife into John's torso for a second time, piercing his kidney and liver, before lowering his dying friend to the ground. Mission accomplished, Mark sat and waited for British secret intelligence service super spy Janet Dobbinson to arrive and tell him what to do next. Having been ordered not to call an ambulance straight away, Mark patiently waited as blood pulled around John's body in a steady stream. As there was no sign of Janet Dobbinson, Mark decided to call emergency services, alerting her to arrive on scene as a pseudo detective.

He walked to the entrance of the alleyway and called triple nine from his mobile phone, telling the dispatcher, me mate's been stabbed. When police descended on Goose Green, Mark wondered which one of them was Janet Dobbinson. He lied to officers, stating an unknown man dressed in black clothing and a baseball cap randomly attacked his friend. With no reason to suspect the crime was actually an assassination ordered by the British secret intelligence service, local police released a statement to the media about the apparent unprovoked street attack, along with a description of the phony assailant.

As John was rushed to hospital where he received a life-saving surgery, his distraught mother fronted the press, stating, you never imagine it will happen to someone you know and love. Police reviewed the CCTV footage collected from security cameras located throughout Goose Green at the time of the attack. Footage taken from a camera directly facing the entrance of the alleyway showed Mark and John enter. Yet nobody else went in before or after them. 25 minutes later, Mark reappeared in frame, making the triple nine call to report the

stabbing. There was no indication an unknown man dressed in black had confronted the teens, and given Mark was the only other person in the alleyway with John, police were certain of his involvement. The 16-year-old was placed under arrest and charged with the attempted murder of John. Although Mark denied the allegations, he was refused bail and placed on remand in a young offenders institution. John's life-saving surgery was a success, and he was transferred to Pendlebury Children's Hospital where he remained in a critical but stable condition.

During subsequent questioning by police, the 14-year-old also denied that his best friend was responsible for the crime. But when presented with the footage taken from the alleyway CCTV camera, he eventually broke down and admitted Mark had been the assailant. It was during Mark's second round of police questioning that he confessed, revealing voices had told him to do it. He stopped short of revealing his involvement with the Secret Service amidst fears divulging his highly confidential information to low-level police officers would put him in big trouble

with MI6. He remained confident that Special Agent Janet Dobbinson would arrive at any moment to have him released. Initially, Mark waited patiently in juvenile detention, expecting Superspire Janet Dobbinson to appear at any moment. A month after the stabbing, Janet was still missing in action, who were abouts unknown. Unable to carry the enormity of his secret any longer, Mark finally cracked and told police everything.

Detectives were incredulous of the story of Secret agents sunk in treasure, orders from the Queen and a license to kill. But they soon realised Mark genuinely believed his own extraordinary tale. Investigators seized the teen's computer in the hopes that Mark contained some clues as to the identity of his puppet master, the mysterious Janet Dobbinson. When they discovered Mark had sent intimate webcam footage of himself to various contacts, detectives held concerns he may have been a victim of a ring of pedophiles who groomed and manipulated teens online.

Criminal intelligence analyst Sally Hogg started the tedious process of investigating the 193 separate email addresses Mark had been in contact with leading up to the attempted murder. She also sifted through 133 gigabytes of data relating to the Manchester teen's chat room found on his hard drive. Hogg deciphered the complex and secretive teenage lingo in the thousands of disjointed and fragmented communications, making her way through 57,000 lines of text to determine there were six chat room users central to unraveling the bizarre story. Analyzing Mark's computer data, Hogg struggled to find a clue that could lead to the true

identities of his online companions, or provide a direct link between them. Each chat room user who interacted with Mark had their own unique persona with distinctly different conversational manners, indicating there were many conspirators involved in the elaborate deception. But Hogg eventually made a breakthrough discovery. Five of the six chat room users she had been investigating had misspelled the word maybe, spelling it as MYBYE. It was near impossible that five separate individuals had made the same writing error

or had the same unique affection of speech. It became clear that all of the different internet characters Mark had been interacting with were created and managed by just one person. The most important character in the Sword Art Affair was Janet Dobbinson, who at the very least was guilty of incitement to commit murder. According to the perplexity, were claims that Janet Dobbinson had been in touch with John, the very person she had orchestrated the murder of. John's mother gave investigators permission to examine her son's laptop, where they made

an alarming discovery. Someone had logged on to John's laptop via the username and password of Janet Dobbinson. Police now suspected their elusive suspect was someone who had easy access to John's computer and the home's broadband internet, likely a member of his family. Following this theory, investigators identified which family members were home to access the device at the time Janet Dobbinson was active online. On the night of June 28, 2003, the person pretending to be Janet Dobbinson finalised their murderous plans with Mark for the following day, and the only person home at the time

of this interaction was John. When confronted by police, John seemed almost relieved to admit to everything. After a lonely childhood, marred by relentless bullying, John found solace in online chat rooms where he could be anyone other than himself. The 14-year-old spent all his available time online, to the point of addiction. John barely left his bedroom, emerging only to grab a meal before immediately returning to his computer, where the food usually remained uneaten beside the keyboard. John's obsession made him moody and sullen, causing tension within the home.

In a futile attempt to curb John's online addiction, his parents seized his laptop and disabled the home internet. But whenever he had the house to himself, or when everyone else was asleep, John would sneak downstairs and enable the internet, so he could log back on and get his fix. One day, John entered the Manchester teens' chat room under the username Rachel Underscore West, taking on the persona of a local teenage girl. He caught the attention of 16-year-old Mark, who truly believed he was talking to an attractive female who was interested in him romantically.

Posing as Rachel gave John a stronger sense of emotional connection with others than he'd ever had before. All of a sudden, someone was falling in love with him, instead of ignoring him or bullying him. What's more, once John introduced himself as Rachel's youngest stepbrother, Mark had genuinely seemed to want to spend time with him. Their blossoming friendship soon became the most important thing to John. However, his immense desire to maintain the only worthwhile friendship in his life caused

John to become trapped in his own web of lies. If he confessed the truth, Mark would hate him for being deceptive. Furthermore, Mark would be absolutely shattered if he realized he had masturbated on camera for a 14-year-old boy, rather than his beautiful girlfriend Rachel. As John shed the few school friends he had, and the arguments with his family became more frequent, he retreated even further into his virtual world. John felt that Mark was the only person he could confide in, and soon found himself falling in love with his best friend, who had completely fallen in love with Rachel.

John felt himself becoming jealous of his own creation, and eventually killed Rachel off to get her out of the way. John used any ruse he could to ensure Mark was interested in chatting with his aliases and with him, instead of others. Whenever it seemed like Mark was losing interest in one alias, John would create another. Most of these characters would make fleeting appearances in the chat room and then disappear forever. But others would stick around to wreak havoc with the gullible, kind-hearted teenager.

John lived in constant fear of Mark discovering the truth, though was often confounded by how easily duped the older boy was, even when the things he said under different aliases didn't add up. The 16-year-old's naivety was defended by forensic computer inspector Sally Hogg, who said even she was fooled by all of John's online personas. Each style of conversation was totally different, I really believed it. That was the stumbling point for me. At no point could I find he made a mistake.

Sometimes it would be a week or a few weeks before that character came back. The continuity and his memory were phenomenal. As the tangled web of John's deceit tightened, his deep feelings for Mark prevented him from coming clean. The emotional and mental burden of his overwhelming secret took its toll, throwing the 14-year-old into a downward spiral of depression and suicidal thoughts. That's when he invented a Janet Dobbinson and concocted the ultimate plan to end his life.

By now, John was savvy with the right tricks to fool and manipulate Mark. He set about convincing his unsuspecting friend to murder him, providing Mark with exact details of how it should be done, right down to the precise words he should say as he plunged the knife in. John wanted the last words he ever heard to be Mark telling him he loved him. Three months after the stabbing that almost took his life, John was placed under arrest. After some initial confusion over exactly what crime he could be charged with, the 14-year-old eventually made legal history when he became the first person in the United Kingdom to

be charged with incitement to murder himself. He was not remanded in custody. Meanwhile, Mark was preparing for his day in court for the attempted murder of his best friend when he discovered the enormity of the swindle he had fallen for. High-ranking MI6 agent Janet Dobbinson, junior spy killed in action Lindsay East, depraved rapist and murderer Kevin McGregor, and Mark's beautiful girlfriend Rachel West. We're all 14-year-old John. The teens saw each other for the first time in 11 months when they both arrived at court

on May 28, 2004. Mark arrived to Manchester Courthouse dressed neatly in a blue and white jumper. His body fit from working out during his time in custody. John sat in the dock wearing a tie, hunched over and crying. The pair were not given the chance to speak to each other. Standing before Justice David Madison, Mark pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of John. John pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, and then entered the history books by pleading guilty to incitement to murder himself.

Justice Madison heard the fool convoluted and bizarre tale before handing down his sentence. In passing judgement on the two teenagers, Justice Madison stated, quote, Skilled writers of fiction would struggle to conjure up a plot such as that which arises here. It's staggering to be dealing with a case that arises out of a 14-year-old boy's invention of false personalities, false relationships and events arranged for his own killing, at the hands of a 16-year-old boy who he had met via an internet chat room. Justice Madison had considerable sympathy for Mark, whom was described as gullible for his age, while John was regarded as sophisticated beyond his.

The word genius was thrown around in the courtroom when discussing John's ability to control and influence other people. Justice Madison was convinced Mark genuinely believed he was working for the British Secret Intelligence Service and had been subjected to exploitation and manipulation by his own supposed victim. The Judge told Mark, I accept that, fantastic as though it seems when looked at now in the cold light of day, that such a plot was presented to you. So convincingly were the characters presented that you really did believe you had been recruited by the Secret Service to kill your co-accused and face the consequences if you did not do so.

Justice Madison believed both boys had a higher probability of rehabilitation. John was now seeing a psychologist with positive results. He had friends and was doing well in school, with eventual plans to study at university. During Mark's time in juvenile detention, he had been a model prisoner. Justice Madison acknowledged that in regular circumstances, the charges facing both boys would normally warrant a severe penalty that included prison time, but explained this was not a normal case by any stretch of the imagination. The Judge accepted that John had been determined to kill himself

and had ensnared Mark into his elaborate suicide attempt. In handing down non-custodial sentences, Judge Madison said each of the boys was a victim of the other. John was given a three-year supervision order and in another legal first was banned from using all online chat rooms. For the term of his order, he would only be allowed to use the internet under strict supervision. Mark was given a two-year supervision order and was also banned from entering online chat rooms, though it was unlikely he would ever want to set foot in one again. The ex-best friends were forbidden from ever having contact with one another. Mark and John are not the real names of the teenage boys involved in this case.

The court placed an indefinite order prohibiting the true identities of anyone involved from ever being published. Outside court, an investigator told reporters, quote, It was tragic that a 14-year-old boy, for whatever reason, would concoct such a story to have someone try to kill him. It has devastated his family. It has devastated the life of the person he manipulated. In late 2003, MSN, the world's leading internet chat provider at the time, announced that would be terminating service in 28 countries, citing rising levels of inappropriate communication between users. MSN acknowledged that open, free, unmoderated online chat rooms could never be completely safe for children. The only way the company could be certain it wasn't unwittingly providing a facility for pedophiles to groom new victims was to shut down their service entirely.

Perhaps taking heed of Justice David Madison's comment that skilled fiction writers would be hard-pressed to craft a more bizarre tale. The story of Mark and John was turned into a theatre production named I Love You Bro, an opera titled Two Boys, and a 2014 movie called You Want Me to Kill Him, based on a Vanity Fair magazine article of the same name. Although the court's oppression order withholds the real names of Mark and John, some accounts indicate that John is happy and successful, living with a male partner and their pet pup. What became of Mark remains unknown.