So-called 'Halo killer' gets 23 to life

Today, the tragic case of what the mainstream media dubbed the "Halo Killer" came to a resolution of sorts. According to a report from local Fox TV affiliate WJW-TV, an Ohio judge sentenced 17-year-old Daniel Petric to 23 years to life for fatally shooting his 43-year-old mother in October 2007. ...

Today, the tragic case of what the mainstream media dubbed the "Halo Killer" came to a resolution of sorts. According to a report from local Fox TV affiliate WJW-TV, an Ohio judge sentenced 17-year-old Daniel Petric to 23 years to life for fatally shooting his 43-year-old mother in October 2007. Petric was convicted of the crime back in January, but was spared the death penalty because of his age.

Both Petric's defense attorneys and prosecutors blamed the crime on the teen's "addiction" to the game Halo 3. His lawyers claimed that the teen had become obsessed with the game after playing it constantly while incapacitated for months following an injury. Pleading an insanity defense, they argued he would forgo food and sleep to play the game for up to 18 hours a day, creating a mental state where he didn't think death was permanent.

"The playing of the video games and the reality of shooting somebody in his case was blinded; it was merged," defense attorney James Kersey reportedly argued. "He had no thoughts during this process. During this time, he was blinded that his parents might be dead; that they might never come back."

When Petric's parents began to limit his time playing the game, he became distraught. According to a January Associated Press report, the teen planned the murder for weeks before entering his parents' bedroom and shooting them both in the head. Petric reportedly said "Close your eyes, I've got a surprise for you," before pulling the trigger and then altering the crime scene to make it look like a murder-suicide. He then fled with the game.

"His addiction was so strong, was running rampant in a tired, exhausted young man, that anybody or anything that stood between him playing the video game and not having his way was in peril," Kersey said of Petric's state of mind during the killings.

Petric's 45-year-old father, a local minister, survived his wounds and was in court supporting his son throughout the trial. Judge James Burge took the father's pleas for leniency into account in passing the sentence, which will make the younger Petric eligible for parole in the year 2032. Burge also pinned much of the blame on games themselves, voicing his wishes that game addiction be studied further.

"I feel confident that if there were no such thing as violent video games, I wouldn't know Daniel Petric," said the judge.

1525 Comments

  • solidsnake2050

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 6:07 pm PT

    This is the worst court decision I've seen in awhile. First degree murder; he planned it for WEEKS, and they blame it on mental instability? That doesn't work at all. Crimes due to mental issues are never planned ahead, let alone weeks ahead. As well, someone who just snapped and killed someone wouldn't have the self control needed to adjust the scene so it looks like a suicide.

    I am sick of people blaming things for crimes human beings commit. Its his fault through and through and the fact that he planned it and stuck to the plan after the fact shows that he was in a stable state of mind, even if it was a murderous one. This case is a perfect example of what is wrong with modern legal systems; if you blame something rather than someone, it is easier to attack it and therefore rush the case through.

  • deoxxys

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 4:07 pm PT

    OH snap this isnt good.

    I think they should keep him in there, because think about it. A humans most sexually active years are from 16-35. SO he will be so deprived of what his nature needed that when he finally comes out at age 40, there is the possiblity of him raping young women, because he missed out on that since he was in jail. Secondly, when you finally get out of jail youll be pissed for having so much of your life wasted, and you are going want revenge. who will he direct this at? HUH?

  • Tokyorukin

    Posted Dec 8, 2009 7:33 pm PT

    PS - I would never wish death on anyone! Nobody...Because I would rather have them suffer for there sins, compared to Resting In Peace.

    Sorry to sound cruel, but this is sick.

  • Tokyorukin

    Posted Dec 8, 2009 7:32 pm PT

    Wow. I could never hurt my mother, especially after the death of my dad. This is stupid, as I see everyone agree's, the video game didn't do this, the kid did. If he thought they would respawn, why did he try to make it look like a suicide? Halo + Typical Human = Gaming
    Halo + Insane Mental Human = Addictive Gaming & Murder...

  • eternal_blade3

    Posted Dec 5, 2009 1:53 pm PT

    As SuperYeti22 states the quote "Games don't kill, people do.", I totally agree..

    Also studies show that as the sales of rated-m games (sexual or violent) goes up, the youth crime rate goes down.

  • SuperYeti22

    Posted Dec 4, 2009 5:52 pm PT

    People go around spraying peoples brains out, and their alibi is "oh, GTA4 made me murder someone" How could the father support his son in court after he killed his mom over a game. @The3Sentinel, you are right. Why would he have altered the scene if it was made to look like a scuicide if he thought they were going to come back to life? "He thought his parents were going to come back to life." WTF?!?!? We learned that when people die, they don't come back, when we were freaking babies!!! Banning violent games wont do $#!%. People are still going to murder, but "Oh a violent game made me do it" won't be their alibi. This kid should be found guilty, and rot in jail. Games don't kill, people do.

  • B1ackEagle

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 8:54 pm PT

    This guy is such a dumbass. It makes me mad. Damn shooting your mom over a videogame, stupidass. I hope he gets life.

  • evilish

    Posted Nov 23, 2009 8:00 am PT

    Let him be considered guilty and die a horrible death from the shocker chair. No gamer, NO GAMER, that is that addicted deserves a second chance.

  • The3Sentinel

    Posted Nov 21, 2009 4:39 am PT

    "...and then altering the crime scene to make it look like a murder-suicide."

    Something seems a tad fishy here. If he really was addicted to video games, which is total bs, why would he of altered the crime scene. If in fact he thought that they would come back to life then he would of left the bodies where they were. While blaming video games seems to be the fad amongst teens and young adults who kill, it ruins the image of the rest of us somewhat sane gamers. To be totally serious though, this kid probably had other issues which led him to do this. Video games shouldn't be used in an attempt to escape responsibilities for one's actions

  • Unpure_Euphoria

    Posted Nov 21, 2009 12:51 am PT

    @matrixstream757 you hit the nail right on the head there buddy, that's exactly how I feel. All this crap about kids blaming stuff on videogames is nonsense. It will always be something to these morons, it can never be as simple as the kid was screwed up in his head and they caught him on a very, very bad day. It couldn't be the fact that REAL violence influenced him. No. Has to be the videogame. One part of the article made me laugh particularly loud: "he didn't think death was permanent." Oh my goodness that is the biggest load of bull crap I've ever heard, that is not caused by a game I'll tell you that much.

    And you know, on a personal note, I can say from personal experience that games don't influence you on that kind of scale. I have no friends, I honestly don't. I spend probably 14 to 18 hours a day playing videogames, on top of which I am a caffeine addict and an insomniac. I have previously been diagnosed with chronic depression, and have had lashes of violence in the past -- towards others, and myself. And to top it all of, I LOVE shooters -- XIII, Farcry, Ghost Recon, Call of Duty. But have *I* ever gone on a killing spree? No. Because I'm not bloody retarded.

  • matrixstream757

    Posted Nov 20, 2009 2:37 pm PT

    Actually, I can assure you that videogames were not the cause. Videogames in of themselves do not cause any real violence, it is as simple as that. There is ALWAYS something else behind it when it turns to violence. In my previous comment, I posted about why he might have gotten insane. I narrowed it down to the fact that he was probably mentally depressed, and chose Halo 3 to fill up the space. When people tried to take Halo 3 away from him, he refused to let them because he is only not sad when he playes it. It could have been vertually anything. TV, Music, Drugs, Videogames... It doesn't matter what he chose to fill up his empty space, if anyone tried to take it away from him he would do anything he could to keep it. There is no direct connection to Halo 3 at all.

  • redskinStu

    Posted Nov 20, 2009 9:05 am PT

    What a bunch of BS. There's NO evidence to suggest violent video games encourage violent behavior.
    They tried the same thing in the 80's with heavy metal; heavy metal was to blame for every problem in teen society, including murder, drug abuse etc.

  • ElusiveSmoke

    Posted Nov 20, 2009 7:10 am PT

    I have been playing for an average of 12 hours/day for the past 5 years, between games like Doom, Quake, Halo, among other FPS experiences and I haven't had any urges to kill anyone.....

    If this leads to another ' Ban Violent Video games ', then we should also ban violent tv series and movies.

    He tried to kill his parents, and succeeded in killing his mother because he wanted to, not because the game made him lose touch with reality.

    The first time I played Doom 3 I was 15 years old and in terms of violence there is a lot more in that game than in Halo 3, but I didn't go ' insane ' and started killing everyone around me.

    While I don't think the death penalty is the answer, a life sentence should be enough, without parole that is, maybe that will give him enough time to think about what he did, and they also should get him some psychological therapy.

    I mean if we just kill a murderer then he won't have time to regret what he did, let him wallow in his own misery, some would call this torture, I like to think of this as righteous punishment. Or you can just kill the retard it's not like I care, I'm not even from the same country......

  • Kleeyook

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 2:57 am PT

    Well, retards are everywhere. Don't blame the games for that!

  • matrixstream757

    Posted Nov 17, 2009 7:25 pm PT

    strayfies, the thing is that when you are in that much pain that you would actually get mentally sick, help is the last thing that comes to your mind. The first thing that comes into your head when you do something really bad is "Oh my gosh, everyone hates me! Who could ever love me again?" Because they do not believe that anyone will ever accept them again, they do not seek help. They stay at that train of thought. If no one agrees to help him, those simple thought slowly turn into depression. When you get depressed, you eagerly seek something to fill that sad space and numb your pain. In this guys case, Halo is what he chose. After a long time of being stuck in this pattern, things can start to go wrong. This is probably where he went "mentally insane." By the time he planned and committed the murder, he was so deep in pain, anguish and confusion that he didn't know anything else to do. He was a complete slave to his dark thoughts by that point. So in the end, he needed someone to offer up to help him. It would have been good for him to get some help himself, though honestly, who likes to admit that they have a major problem like that? He was wrong to hide his pain from the beginning, though I do think that he still deserves a second chance.

  • Thermador446

    Posted Nov 16, 2009 7:10 pm PT

    The ratio of people who commit similar atrocities compared to the ratio of people who play video games is a lot smaller than the ratio of people who watch tv. People need to look at real problems in life to find solution, not just find a scapegoat.

  • strayfies

    Posted Nov 16, 2009 3:05 pm PT

    Good. I don't need to pay for a justice system if they let murderers walk around at their own leisure, sane or otherwise. That it was over Halo basically guarantees which it was, but then, that's why you get help instead of violent.

  • matrixstream757

    Posted Nov 16, 2009 12:01 pm PT

    Kenaue, forget not that this guy, no matter how delusional, confused or sick he may be, is still a human being like you yourself. I bet that he looks back at his actions the same way that you look at them. Infact, I can guarantee that he thinks of himself worse than you think of him. But I still think that he deserves a second chance at living a worthwhile life.

  • Kenaue

    Posted Nov 15, 2009 12:59 pm PT

    Hopefully this little freak can rot away in a prison somewhere so society won't have to deal with his delusional self.

  • matrixstream757

    Posted Nov 14, 2009 7:54 pm PT

    People that kill other people without much to any reasoning are sick. It is as simple as that. I don't think that Halo 3 was the complete influence to his actions. He is sick, and needs help.

  • Luther7718

    Posted Nov 14, 2009 7:43 pm PT

    @ SquadbayNinja

    Amen to that! Finally, a little common sense on the Web.

  • Behold

    Posted Nov 14, 2009 5:17 pm PT

    HALO IS EVIL

  • DahlVaughnni

    Posted Nov 14, 2009 9:55 am PT

    "creating a mental state where he didn't think death was permanent." ....so he thought his parents would just respawn in a few seconds in another room? lolol

  • crazy-hiker-49

    Posted Nov 10, 2009 8:35 pm PT

    Insanity! why can't we make the connection that mentaly stable people don't make these kinds of choises? Obviously if he is robbing his body just to play the game then something else must be wrong with him. At least the justice system is taking this one out of the gene pool.

  • SquadbayNinja

    Posted Oct 31, 2009 4:00 pm PT

    I'm a U.S. Marine and a war veteran, and trust me, FPS and the real thing are very VERY different from each other. It's like saying "I watch ER, and that's the reason why I attempted to do surgery on my mother's cancer while she was asleep." Blaming video games is a huge cop out. 17 is not too young to get the death penalty in my opinion. If people are allowed to join the military at 17, be trained to go to war, kill and die, then they are adult enough to do everything else any other adult can do like drink, smoke, and be responsible for their own actions.

  • sleepy808

    Posted Oct 31, 2009 2:32 pm PT

    I am tired of people blaming video games for tragedies! If his parents were paying attention and monitoring his game time these results might not have happened. People need to step up and take responsibility rather than blame their own actions on video games. It is almost as ridiculous as the "Twinky Defense" I monitor my children's game time, which they have to earn through exercise or simply running around outside, and they can earn an hour a day. NO EXERCISE NO GAME TIME! so I wish the parents, the media, and judges would quite blaming violent games for our violent society.

  • DerkaDerkaJihad

    Posted Oct 27, 2009 10:28 am PT

    I play Halo and I don't kill people. I go to school full time and I work 40 hours a week in one of the most stressful environments possible where I get cussed out and yelled at almost everyday. Yet when I come home I can still play video games without feeling the urge of murdering my own mother. I wish they wouldn't have ruled out the death penalty so early because I believe in receiving what you give, and in this kids case that would be death. You take somebody's life from them prematurely and you should have the same thing done to you, it only makes sense to me.

  • PS3callofduty

    Posted Oct 18, 2009 1:43 pm PT

    theres not gnna be much posts on this story lmao

  • kylenn3

    Posted Oct 9, 2009 5:28 pm PT

    halo 3 is not a bad game it did not cause him to do that. he was just crazy sick freak

  • AequusLibra

    Posted Oct 6, 2009 9:49 pm PT

    Regardless of whether or not video games are addicting, one thing is sure. Anything.....ANYTHING....done in excess can lead to problems. I'm not saying Halo is a root of this unfortunate incident. In fact, I think its just a coincidence that video games are associated with this tragedy at all. Back to what I was saying before, I believe that anything you do, should be done in moderation. If you do something sooo much that other facets of your life suffer, problems can occur. In regards to this case, I believe that its merely a coincidence that video games are involved. Moreover, as others have posted, I have to believe that this person has some mental instability and that video games, more specifically Halo, were not the sole catalyst for this truly tragic event.

  • egentwierdo

    Posted Sep 29, 2009 7:02 am PT

    If you play a game so much at that age and don't eat or sleep at all, it's obvious that something is wrong with you. The fact that they gave him 23 is stupid. And Daniel's father supporting him even after he intentionally shot his father and mother shows how much they love him and how crazy Daniel is.

  • DarthMichael20

    Posted Sep 29, 2009 4:12 am PT

    So a WoW freakout just wouldn't do it!?!?!? I'd bet that Petric had mental issues long before he got ahold of Halo. Seriously??? Halo made me do it???? Lawyers will say and do anything. If you are holding an apple, a lawyer will try to convince others that it's a peach (if the money is right). My parents took away my old nintendo once. I didn't try to kill them. You all have some really good points. Let's just call this what it is.... A psycho kid who went nuts and a lawyer trying to profit from it.

  • 00Joseph00

    Posted Sep 29, 2009 12:22 am PT

    "I feel confident that if there were no such thing as violent video games, I wouldn't know Daniel Petric"

    Replace "video games" with "god" or "allah" and we wouldn't know Osama bin Laden. Or replace it with "airplanes" and we wouldn't know 9/11.

    Can't blame murder on the immediate causation of "Petric didn't kill him, Halo made him do it" or "Petric didn't kill him, the bullet did."

  • hardeman

    Posted Sep 28, 2009 8:07 pm PT

    that garbage dosent deserve to live, i could never strike my mother down over a videogame are you kidding me!!, they should drop him in the deepest jungles in africa and tell him good luck!

  • XanderKage

    Posted Sep 27, 2009 6:20 pm PT

    Halo 3 sold MILLIONS, so if violent videogames cause people to murders others, how come there's only ONE case? Video games so not cause addiction! in NORMAL people, at least. I mean looks at him - he's obviously insane - if there were no violent videogames, there would be something else that psycho would obssess about and kill for...

  • DarkEmpress458

    Posted Sep 24, 2009 4:27 pm PT

    Thats a bunch of crap....violent video games don't make ppl murders. I agree with Biskizit, he looks like a spoiled brat!! I have had addictions before on certian games*don't anymore* but when my parents came and turned the game off or took it away I didn't try to kill them...I didn't even get thoughts of killing them!!!

  • lightning_kf

    Posted Sep 10, 2009 8:43 pm PT

    His father represented him. After he tried to kill him in cold blood and murdered his wife, quote, over a video game......end quote. I don't know about you but if my son did that to me over a game and I survived, I'd demand the death penalty on his carcass. He tried to take my life after I gave him it? Well allow me to return the favor, sort of speak.

    Why can't the media stop blaming video games and ultimately admit that this teen is a cold-hearted killer who can't get over his "addiction" over an overhyped, generic FPS in Halo 3?

  • Felaipes

    Posted Sep 8, 2009 6:44 am PT

    Halo killer?? Killzone?!?

  • Joe-two-point-O

    Posted Sep 8, 2009 2:45 am PT

    Its not the fact that he's addicted to the game Halo 3, It's because he's a Whackjob, Whatever you want to call this guy, he's Just plain Mental! thats scary... scarier than the late Michael Jackson.

  • xemnas_kh64

    Posted Sep 7, 2009 6:56 pm PT

    He should have used his Energy Sword instead. lol

  • MattD2779

    Posted Sep 7, 2009 1:07 pm PT

    Why does this only happen with FPS games? "The Columbine kids were influenced by DOOM..." "This fool killed his parents over HALO..." Why doesn't anyone play ever play Devil May Cry and then cut their girlfriend in half with a medieval decoration sword? Why doesn't anyone play Final Fantasy and then set their dog on fire to see if it was ice-weak?

  • Biskizit

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 5:19 pm PT

    What.. No, I would think that if you were so sucked into something like this- you wouldn't spend so long "planning" to shoot someone. I can see the obvious just from looking at his photograph. That face screams "I got away with it." He's just a spoiled brat that didn't like that his favorite game got taken away from him. He let his anger get to him. I see a lot of these comments on here and I whole heartedly agree with most of them- things like he really needed a girlfriend. He needed parental figures to step in as well and tell him he needed to shut the tv off for a while. Do whatever else he could get into. I'm glad this guy is going to prison. Geezus, he deserves it. Imagine what his dad has to go through - knowing his own flesh and blood- his spawn killed the love of his life (if that was the case). I would buy this is he said bizarre things like "And then I tea bagged them lol" or "I couldn't understand why I didn't get two points." Just-- off the wall crap. I don't understand how /anyone/ could have bought that he was mentally unstable from a video game. A blind man could tell you he was full of crap. People are so blind these days..

  • Jeffx14

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 9:52 am PT

    my xbox has been actin funny i was playin a game and an achievement popped sayin kill your parents. . . whatever 25 gamerpoints

  • B3ARwitCHA1NSAW

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 9:05 am PT

    Damn he needs a girl

  • DaRk_NiTeMaRe

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 8:32 am PT

    Games don't make people commit murder, people make themselves commit murder. It may be easier to blame the games, by that's just bypassing the true issue. The murders that seem to be connected to violent games are usually committed by someone with a few mental "issues", so blaming the game isn't helping to fix those issues at all.

  • duker2 posted Aug 30, 2009 6:30 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    duker2

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 6:30 am PT (hide)

    This is just to prove that pepole need to lay off the M games and go back to T and under.

  • Snipes_2

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 12:21 pm PT

    Wow, This is stupid.

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