Denver murder spree predicts crimes in books – The HuffPost

via Associated Press

UNITED STATES – Writings that unfortunately weren’t just fiction. Lyndon McLeod, identified by the police as the author of five murders committed this Monday, December 27 in the Colorado, had predicted his misdeeds in a series of science fiction novels, according to the police and the American media.

In his trilogy entitled “Sanction”, published between 2018 and 2020 under the pseudonym Roman McClay, he had named some of his victims. “We are aware of the books written by the suspect under a pseudonym, which are part of our investigation,” a Denver police spokesperson told AFP on Thursday.

According to a comment posted on the author’s website, the plot follows “a politician / billionaire who wants to use genetic technology to rewrite the DNA of criminals, such as serial killers or violent people.”

In the first volume of the trilogy, a man named Lyndon MacLeod kills a character called Michael Swinyard in a Denver apartment building, U.S. media reports. This is the name of one of the victims of Monday’s killing, authorities confirmed, who also indicated that she was killed at the address mentioned in the book.

In another volume, the author recounts the murder of a woman, Alicia Cardenas, also identified as one of the victims. Another element: the name of the suspect also appeared on administrative documents linked to a premises bought a few years ago by the latter.

Hateful writings on social networks

On his site, “Roman McClay” said to mix fiction and “people” and “real events” in order to “blur the line between what exists and what is possible”. The gunman, who on his various social media accounts wears a long beard, brown hair and tattoos, first opened fire at a tattoo parlor in Denver, killing a tattoo artist and salon owner Alicia Cardenas . He then fatally injured Michael Swinyard.

His murderous journey continued in Lakewood, on the outskirts of Denver, where he killed a man in another tattoo parlor and then a hotel receptionist. He was shot dead by a policewoman, herself injured in the exchange of gunfire.

The day after the killing, police explained that the suspect appeared to “target specific people” and he had “personal or professional relationships” with some of his victims. The receptionist was unrelated to the gunman, but he had had “interactions” with the hotel, police said.

Lyndon McLeod had already been the subject of police investigations in 2020 and 2021, but no prosecution had been initiated, said the police who have not yet determined the motive for the attacks. According to The Daily Beast, the 47-year-old man shared theses of the American alt-right on his social networks, including writings on masculinism, violence against those described as “weak” and conspiratorial theses on Covid-19.

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