Mousetrap weblog: Don't blame the internet for murder

A German computer gamer is being questioned by police over the murder of a university student after an apparent argument on an online discussion site.

Matthew Pyke, 20, who was found stabbed to death at his home in Nottingham, ran a website with his girlfriend dedicated to discussing the computer strategy game Advance Wars.

Days after his body was found, a German gamer calling himself David Heiss sent a message to Mr Pyke’s girlfriend apologising for “having caused so much trouble lately”.

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed yesterday that they had arrested a man in Germany over the killing and a link with the internet was one of several lines of inquiry being pursued.

Mr Pyke’s body was found by his girlfriend, Joanna Witton, 20, in the flat that they shared above a pub in Nottingham city centre on Friday evening. There were no signs of a break-in and police believe that he may have known his killer.

The couple’s website included a forum where players could discuss tips and strategies for the chess-like game, in which armies of cartoon characters battle against each other.

The Advance Wars games were originally played on the Nintendo Game Boy and Nintendo DS handheld consoles, although the latest versions can also be played over the internet.

Detectives are investigating if another fan of the game may have fallen out with Mr Pyke in cyberspace and then taken extreme revenge in real life.

Mr Pyke also published science fiction on the Wars Central site using the name Shade, and Mr Heiss, 21, contributed to the discussion forum under the name Eagle the Lightning.

One anonymous poster on the site forum suggested that other members may have known who was behind the killing. “We may know a lot of what was going on prior to the killing, but I, for one, am not going to say any more,” he said.

At 10.32pm on Tuesday Mr Heiss, from Limburg an der Lahn, near Frankfurt am Main, posted a message on Ms Witton’s Facebook page. “I will pray for you. You must be suffering unbelievable pain,” he wrote. “I’m sorry for having caused so much trouble lately. I hope you won’t lose all your hope. We will be there for you.”

It was the only time that Mr Heiss, who lists his main activities and interests on Facebook as the internet and video gaming, had contacted Ms Witton.

Mr Pyke, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, was to start a course at Nottingham Trent University after failing to finish a physics course he began in 2006. Ms Witton, who grew up in Selby, North Yorkshire, is studying environmental sciences at the university.

Yesterday Mr Pyke’s parents, William, 52, and Kim, 49, left a tribute on his Facebook page, saying: “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.”

A message on the Wars Central website said: “Matt, you were a great friend, and a great man. I cannot image this place without you. I hope whoever did this to you is brought to justice swiftly.”

Last year an American was accused of murdering a university student whom he met on an internet gaming site. John Delling, 21, told the FBI that he used the internet to track down his victim, Bradley Morse, 25, to Boise State University in Idaho.

In 2005, an online gaming player in Shanghai was given a suspended death sentence for murdering a rival over the use in a game of a “supreme weapon”.

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