Schizophrenic man kills, says GTA told him to do it

by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 4th 2007 at 5:24PM }

Ezekiel Maxwell, a 17-year-old paranoid schizophrenic on "skunk cannabis," stabbed a woman to death because the "gangster voices" from Grand Theft Auto told him to do it. Although this incident is just being reported now as part of Britain's supposed "skunk cannabis" epidemic, the murder actually occurred last September.

Maxwell believed he was Carl Johnson from GTA: San Andreas when he committed the murder and believed the game was telling him to "stab a woman for seven days, it had to be a black Afro-Caribbean woman." The voices took over his thoughts and "made him do things." According to reports he was playing GTA and smoking skunk cannabis for months to the exclusion of everything else before the killing. Maxwell has since been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yesterday he was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Tags: britain, crazy, england, manslaughter, maxwell, murder, paranoid, schizophrenic, skunk cannabis

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Jason @ Apr 4th 2007 5:31PM

Wow, what a psycho. If I believed there were a hell, I'd wish him to go there. Instead, someone should just torture him.

JodyAnthony @ Apr 4th 2007 5:27PM

what a jerk. just take the blame, murderer. I thought it was only here in america where people tried to blame everything and everyone but themselves for their stupidity, but it must be spreading.

Duncan @ Apr 4th 2007 5:29PM

So... A crazy person does something crazy after doing drugs for months, non-stop... I bet it was the video games.

Grog @ Apr 4th 2007 5:29PM

That's a bit harsh, Jody. For one thing, he's not a man - he's a 17 year old kid. Worse for him, he's a kid whose brain makes him incapable of perceiving reality correctly. On top of that, he was high as all get-out.

He's messed up, and I hope they can get him some help while he's in the system.

Buckshot @ Apr 4th 2007 5:30PM

Stoner killers are pretty rare, maybe the schizophrenia bonus multiplier round took hold of him. But they would blame the weed and games first, it's easiest.

JodyAnthony @ Apr 4th 2007 5:32PM

he became a man the second he decided to stab someone. I can understand if he has a mental problem (MAYBE) and I could buy the drugs, but blaming the game is stupid and a cop-out. Just my opinion though. Obviously I don't have all the facts.

Todd @ Apr 4th 2007 5:32PM

@Jody

Girl, I think your view of the world is askew. America has nothing to do with this crime. This is totally human, especially when addiction comes into play. Anyone, anywhere, is open to idiot acts of stupidity.

PinkSpider @ Apr 4th 2007 5:33PM

Hmm, I wonder what this guys reason for doing drugs month after month was. Just because he has gotten stoned lots/ played lots of games doesent mean these are the reason (both are forms of escapism and that).

Todd @ Apr 4th 2007 5:33PM

Oh... you're a guy... just saw that message. :)

Taylor B @ Apr 4th 2007 5:33PM

I agree with Duncan. He's been on cocaine, "Skunk" cannabis, has a history of mental illness, suffers from schizophrenia in addition to having a history of violent behavior (assault / mugging).

Yup, GTA did it alright! If it wasn't GTA, it would have been Scarface, if it wasn't Scarface, it would have been something else, so on and so forth.

Todd @ Apr 4th 2007 5:37PM

Just once I want to hear a story in which someone uses Mario or Nintendogs as the culprit for doing insane acts of violence.

Duncan @ Apr 4th 2007 5:41PM

Todd, that would be brilliant. I would be quite amused if someone lit someone else on fire, then blamed Mario.

dmbrandon @ Apr 4th 2007 5:43PM

First off, they said no history of mental illness. He was diagnosed AFTER he pleaded guilty.

Second, fuck this kid. I don't care if he's a boy or a man, or a goddamn squirrel. He bought, and consumed drugs, and used them as a gateway to murder. If GTA becomes the light of this, it's gonna mean hell for all of us.

No one is looking to the fact that someone IS DEAD. This person has family and friends, and now they're gonna hate GTA. More often than not, when these things happen, people start rising against the gaming community. Not in a few more eyes, we'll be looked at like thugs and murderers. Great.

oh and uhh... in b4 'did she drop any good loot'

Rahnyc4 @ Apr 4th 2007 5:45PM

"3. That's a bit harsh, Jody. For one thing, he's not a man - he's a 17 year old kid. Worse for him, he's a kid whose brain makes him incapable of perceiving reality correctly. On top of that, he was high as all get-out."

actually. in the media/news, when a 17 year old person, kill or commit a serious crime. the news tend to refer them as a adult-man/woman. calling him a man is correct. if you think about it, its basically a european news at that. euro tend to lable someone who is around 16-17 as adult, while in america there still thought of as children.

Intentless @ Apr 4th 2007 5:45PM

Anyone here about that kid that jumped on top of the other kid and killed him because of Mario? Oh wait it was the shrooms sorry...

Ryoga Vee @ Apr 4th 2007 5:51PM

"Run up in yo spot like CJ from San Andreas!"
Gee, I wonder if the lady dropped any good loot!

Intentless @ Apr 4th 2007 5:45PM

here hear..........

OrganicShadow @ Apr 5th 2007 11:16AM

Love the comments here. "COULDN'T have been the drugs...."

Yes because weed totally makes you kill people. Especially the kind that smells bad.

When I get stoned the LAST thing I want to do is go outside and do something. Play games? Yup. Eat something? Double-yup. Play with my cats and then do the dishes? Indeed. Kill people? No.

If anything is going to be "blamed" it should be his poor mental condition and neither the cannabis nor the games. Schizophrenics can go and kill because they think they are Robin Williams on Mork and Mindy. It doesn't matter what the stimuli is, or what forms the delusions, because both are irrelevant.

I will say though that pot can agitate the condition, as I once dated a girl that later on in our relationship came out and told me she was a schiz. Anytime she smoked pot it was nearly guaranteed that a few days later she would have an episode. Same with being around loud music or a large amount of people.

dmbrandon @ Apr 4th 2007 5:47PM

Ninja add: @grog: wtf? Help? He doesn't need help, he needs to be removed completely. What he has done is the right of his own action. He gave into whatever and started on drugs.

He deserves nothing cept the wrath of his peers.

Illegal drugs + Murder = The Chair.

In most cases it's Murder - drugs. Like, oh well he was high, dock a few years. WTF IS THAT? I hope he fries.

pete @ Apr 4th 2007 6:01PM

skunk cannabis, if thats all he did for months on end how he get the money to continue the habit.
and speaking of the habit, who kills someone when there high on some cannabis, skunk cannabis to top it of is pretty good stuff, any way leave gta outta this and leava good ol cannabis outta this too. the kids a psycho, theres not much to it. theres people out there like that.

that is all.

dontlikeitmodit @ Apr 4th 2007 5:58PM

Why don't these people ever hear the voice that says "Give all your money and your possessions to the next stranger you see. Sounds like they are setting up the sanity defense....

grable @ Apr 4th 2007 5:59PM

Neither drugs nor GTA can make you kill anyone. the chizophrenia though probably could.

dontlikeitmodit @ Apr 4th 2007 5:59PM

@3 Grog,

In most states now 16 is the age at which you can be charged and tried as an adult.

bkirst90 @ Apr 4th 2007 6:03PM

First of all, I think there are a lot of ignorant people condemning this man/boy based on his illegal drug use. Yes its bad. We know. But plenty of people are smoking cannibus and not hearing voices that tell them to kill people. And even if they do, they don't kill people.

Schizophrenia is a disease that doesn't usually surface until around 17/18, meaning this guy certainly wouldn't have a history of mental illness. Many schizophrenics do hear voices that tell them to do stuff, and if they go untreated and undiagnosed, they may become dangerous.

GTA probably had very little to do with this, drugs probably impaired his judgement enough to allow his crippling mental illness to get the best of him. Don't blame GTA. Don't blame the drugs.

Brent @ Apr 4th 2007 6:01PM

It has been my experience that violent games (especially GTA) help subdue my urge to kill, since I am able to commit many "virtual" murders without the effort of actually stealing a car and running somebody down.

Sorry, I'm not trying to make light of somebody dying, but c'mon people, it's time we take responsibility for our actions. If somebody kills another person, it is nobody's fault but their own.

silkylove @ Apr 4th 2007 6:17PM

@^FourthDimensionGod^

Congrats on the first ignorant racist post. Good job man. Pat yourself on the back for that one.

For the rest of you, I don't think we have enough information to judge this case yet. Maybe the schizophrenia is real and maybe it's a copout. Maybe he was using drugs because he was weak willed or maybe he was using them to self-medicate because his mental illness was undiagnosed and therefore untreated.

I understand that some of you are mad because videogames are being blamed once again for real world violence, but you have to understand that this is the media's fault and the politician’s fault as well. They are the ones who latch onto any report linking crime to videogames like a pit-bull with rabies.

Cheesehead @ Apr 5th 2007 9:33AM

Cannabis is known to cause schizoprenia and paranoia, and teenagers in britain are educated about the effects of pretty much every drug available in the UK, this guy screwed himself up.

Mr Khan @ Apr 4th 2007 6:28PM

"One time, i played waaaayy too much Kirby Squeak Squad, and it started telling me to eat everything, so I ate my friends, family, and teachers, then I got their powers,"

I'm not a cannibal, no, Kirby made me do it!

x silence x @ Apr 4th 2007 6:42PM

I bet Schizophrenia is the reason here. Who knows though because the Lawyers job is to take the heat from the client. Once, again though... Schizophrenia is crazy shit. I feel for mental people because "normal" people have no idea what it's like for them. Just think... it could be YOU one day.

john @ Apr 4th 2007 6:30PM

I don't know if any of you know people with schizophrenia, but smoking weed (and doing any recreational drugs) can seriously aggravate their mental condition. It can even be a catalyst for latent mental illness.

AJ @ Apr 4th 2007 6:32PM

liar!

silkylove @ Apr 4th 2007 6:32PM

BTW. Joystiq should add in that this happened just last month as well, but that kid blamed horror movies instead.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/6465783.stm

Grindstone @ Apr 4th 2007 6:33PM

I promise all of you, if I ever commit a grevious crime, I will deliberately blame it on Mario, just so there is fair coverage on the video-games = violence agenda.

If that doesn't work, I'll blame it on the devil. He used to get all the points before, now he's hiding behind others and only getting assists.

hvnlysoldr @ Apr 4th 2007 6:35PM

I could swear I'm experiencing deja vu with this and the previous post...

Paul @ Apr 4th 2007 6:42PM

As bkirst90 stated, the age at which Schizophrenia typically manifests itself is around 17-25. I should know, my brother suffers from this. We can't blame this incident solely on the drugs or the game or the illness. The fact is, Schizophrenia is very commonly drug induced. So, we can't ignore the fact that he was using drugs, but it was ultimately his untreated illness that provoked him to do this.

Schizophrenia is very much an underappreciated illness. The medical world is struggling to understand it, the common public really doesn't even acknowledge it, and those that suffer from it live in a world the rest of us will never understand. If you haven't seen the movie "A Beautiful Mind", you should. My brother hated that movie, not because it portrayed Schizophrenia incorrectly, but because it had such a happy ending. The reality is, most people that suffer from this disease will never live a normal life. The medication that we do have is just not good enough. If you're interested in helping the cause, I urge you to visit http://www.nami.org/. This is a great organization trying to raise awareness about mental illness.

One last thing. I just want to take this opportunity to dispel a common Hollywood myth that Schizophrenia is synonymous with multiple personalities. In case anyone was confused, the two are completely unrelated.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. Time to go pick up GH2 for the 360!

Steve @ Apr 4th 2007 6:44PM

Britian needs to expand its wonderful progressive policies and ban knives too. It worked so well with their ban on guns; no one is ever murdered in the UK with a gun these days!

ginnal @ Apr 4th 2007 6:43PM

Wait so a crazy person does something crazy and people are holding deliberations over it?

This is not the fault of pot or GTA, if anything blame God for making crazy people.

Ryuukuro @ Apr 4th 2007 7:10PM

Well, it's good that they're focusing on drugs rather than on the game. That said, I'm not completely convinced this guy is schizophrenic if he was doing heavy drugs.

But, Alex, you probably shouldn't report on this. Even if the media is riding on drugs instead of games, someone can spin this the other way. Wait until some sane person (i.e. soulless bastard) blames games when he's sober to raise a call-to-gamer-arms.

Ryuukuro @ Apr 4th 2007 7:13PM

One other thing: I'm sure a lot of you (all three of you who read this far down) will agree that this is more proof that games should be kept away from people on drugs. They're a bad combo.

pete @ Apr 4th 2007 7:33PM

bad combo? #37 get outtahere with shit. schizophrenic's and games bad combo, maybe. drugs and games bad combo, ummm how bout naw. who doesnt drink a beer from time to time while playing a game, alcohol is a drug, or smoke a lil cannabis while playing or both. i am not saying all gamers do all three at the same time or even do all three at all. but c'mon its morons like you that add fuel to the fire. people take responsability for your actions, if you wanna pop some shrooms and trip on okami for an afternoon go nutz. but if your stabbing people you got more problems up in the head you should worry about rather than what that cannabis, shroom, pill, alcahol will do to you. oh man im ranting. do i even make sense any more. blaa blaa, blaa, blaa bla.

pete @ Apr 4th 2007 7:36PM

#37 oh i remeber what i actually wanted to write.

"I'm sure a lot of you...will agree that this is more proof that games should be kept away from people on drugs."

this proof NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!11!11oneone

Tanster @ Apr 4th 2007 7:37PM

Nobody hates on God when crazies tell them god told them to drown their own babies.

Todd Rabanus @ Apr 4th 2007 9:39PM

all i wanna know is where do i get this "skunk cannabis" all i can find is downtown brown

Shagittarius @ Apr 4th 2007 7:41PM

I don't think you should blame the game yes I do! I don't care what you think well who asked you anyways shut the hell up we dont have to sit here and listen to this yes you do what army is gonna make me my army fool i wonder if they have any ps3s in stock in NJ who cares PS3 is teh crap oh yeah like i want a wii shut the hell up xbox 360 pwns all you fools. games don't kill people we do

pete @ Apr 4th 2007 7:45PM

lol at shagittarius. lol indeed!!!!!!11!!1oneone!111

Dave @ Apr 4th 2007 8:04PM

I remember reading of a well-known serial killer whose dog told him to kill people. Why aren't dogs illegal?

Also, I'm a little jealous because I think GTA is far more interesting for this guy.

jay @ Apr 4th 2007 8:24PM

Yet again drugs are mentioned in a video games/other media related murder.

I swear. If you take someone who loves these kind of games, give him enough drugs for his mind to start confusing the 2 then you're going to get trouble.

I already accept that some smack head is going to tear apart what I said and defend their precious.

Killer @ Apr 4th 2007 8:37PM

Yeah, it's the video game. Gears of war makes me wants to gernade tag. Or pull out the Hammer of Dawn and take people out. >;> For god sake. Why don't we pin it on movies? I mean seriously? Why haven't I heard that the SAW movies made me kill the person? That's right, because it's not the scape goat. Truth is, It's no one's fault except his. (I know he has a mental illness.) Still, in this day and age, everyone has a mental illness. Seriously, sometimes I truely believe that people don't want to take responsiblity for there action, so they make up an illness that really is just a normal thing. (not saying this guy did) Just saying in alot of cases, they're trying to save there asses by blaming it on something else.