Teenager Who Killed Parents Over Halo 3 Found Guilty

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Teenager Who Killed Parents Over Halo 3 Found Guilty


A teenager who claimed that his addiction to Halo 3 [http://www.halo3.com] caused him to shoot and kill his mother and wound his father has been convicted of the crime.

Daniel Petric was 16 years old at the time of the murder, which reportedly resulted from a dispute [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/88151] over his parents' refusal to let him play Halo 3. The teen bought the game anyway and was caught trying to sneak it into the house; his parents took it away from him and put it into a lock-box in their closet, in which they also kept a 9 mm handgun. According to prosecutors, Petric later went to the box, retrieved both the game and the gun and then shot his mother and father in the head. He then tried to blame his father for the shooting by pressing the gun into his hand and telling his sister and brother-in-law, who arrived at the house shortly after the shooting, that the elder Petric had pulled the trigger; his father ultimately survived but his mother died of her injuries.

At the trial, Petric's defense attorneys admitted their client had shot his parents but claimed that a bad snowboarding accident a year prior had left him effectively disabled and stuck at home with nothing to do but watch television and play videogames, and that his resulting "videogame addiction" and young age diminished his responsibility for the crime.

But earlier today, Lorain County Judge James Burge rejected the claim, saying that videogame addiction isn't a valid defense and also noting that there was evidence of premeditation in the killing. Petric was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated attempted murder and other charges, and now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. No sentencing date has been set.

Source: GamePolitics [http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBEGwAeIVyB1tboxTgOotp97ykvAD95LOBKO0]


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Lvl 64 Klutz

Crowsplosion!
Apr 8, 2008
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Let this be a lesson that blaming video games won't work... although it unfortunately probably won't deter lawyers from trying it anyway. *sigh*
 

Rajin Cajun

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Sep 12, 2008
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Save me Jack Thompson you are my only hope!

Seriously where is Jack Thompson to save the day...oh wait he got disbarred tough shit for this retard.
 

Avatar Roku

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Jul 9, 2008
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Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Let this be a lesson that blaming video games won't work... although it unfortunately probably won't deter lawyers from trying it anyway. *sigh*
You took the words right out of my mouth. Unfortunately.
 

Solo508

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Jul 19, 2008
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Lets face it, the game had nothing to do with it. The guy was just a delusional asshole.
 

dalek sec

Leader of the Cult of Skaro
Jul 20, 2008
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Good, glad to this is ass clown got what he had coming for him for his crimes and trying to use a lame excuse to try and get out of it.
 

Lyiat

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Dec 10, 2008
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Video games are indeed addictive, but not that bloody addictive. Jesus christ, I'm tired of this defense. Its unreasonable.
 

k3v1n

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Sep 7, 2008
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this psycho deserves to be tortured, raped, burnt and killed....I just don't get how can you dare to even shoot your parents and kill your mother over a game...
 

DigitalSushi

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Dec 24, 2008
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Solo508 said:
Lets face it, the game had nothing to do with it. The guy was just a delusional asshole.
I don't know who feels worse about it now, himself, or his father?. His guilt or his fathers pain of having lost both his son and his wife?.

I hope I never go through that, or anyone else for that matter.
 

Guy32

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Jan 4, 2009
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Solo508 said:
Lets face it, the game had nothing to do with it. The guy was just a delusional asshole.
Thats what I started to think about halfway down. Unfortunatly, there are bound to be parents that will see the title and assume the game made him do it.
 

the jellyman

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Jul 24, 2008
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Oh, god it's a bad day for this sort of thing. only an hour ago I saw that post on a Chinese teenager who swallowed saw blades. I admit violent video games make you more prone to violent acts. (no, really. I tend to poke my sister a lot harder when I lose at Mariokart than when I lose at poker)
 

Padfoot13

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Aug 14, 2008
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stupid people playing games and not being able to distinguish the difference between real violence and video game violence. I remember when i was 13, i wanted to rent god of war, my mother knew that i knew the difference and that i was not going to go swinging knives around on strings just because i played it. If you want to play video games you should have to have a certain IQ to play, not just a certain age.
 

ertxz18

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Dec 24, 2008
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Solo508 said:
Lets face it, the game had nothing to do with it. The guy was just a delusional asshole.
I completely agree with you! people tend to immediately blame video games for anything. Yet they don't look at other things, such as family relationship, mental state, environment, if the person is a dickhead! I mean japan has a crap load more video games than America and yet Japan's crime rate is low compared to America's. (No insult implied to any Americans since I'm also one)
 

KarmicToast

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Nov 11, 2008
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My client was injured in a snowboarding accident, really bored at home, wanted to play Halo 3, Mom and Dad said no, so he shot them in the face. Clearly this is not the fault of my client due to the aforementioned reasons.

Did that really come out of someone's mouth? How long is law school again? 3 weeks?