German game-player guilty of student's murder

Published on Monday 11 May 2009 22:11

A GERMAN office worker hatched a plan to kill a British student with the same precision he used when playing computer games, police said yesterday.

David Heiss, 21, was yesterday jailed for a minimum of 18 years for the murder of 20-year-old Matthew Pyke after he became obsessed with his girlfriend Joanna Witton.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Mr Pyke and Miss Witton, 21, met Heiss on the website they ran, dedicated to a computer game called Advanced Wars.

Heiss slowly became infatuated with Miss Witton after looking up photographs of her on social networking site Facebook. Despite her rebuffs, he became insanely jealous of Mr Pyke before stabbing him 86 times in a "savage and sustained" attack at the flat he shared with Miss Witton in Nottingham city centre.

Yesterday, he was found guilty of murdering Mr Pyke and jailed for a minimum of 18 years.

Outside court, Detective Inspector Tony Heydon said Heiss's obsession with Miss Witton was the "sole catalyst" for him murdering Mr Pyke. He said: "Heiss had become so besotted by Matthew's girlfriend that he decided to plan this murder days, if not weeks, in advance.

"He planned it like a strategist in one of his war games. He tried to cover his tracks and has lied continuously to the police and latterly to the court.

The police officer added: "Heiss stabbed Matthew 86 times in a frenzied attack. He is the most callous, cold-hearted individual I have ever dealt with."