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.

1498 Comments

  • 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

    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.

  • jeffhardy141

    Posted Aug 23, 2009 8:16 pm PT

    Ok so lets say this

    If the game were NOT violent and turns out to be a fun little game (Idk Club Penguin) and the kid was so addicted to it that his parents took the game away from him. So if he killed his parents for it he would definetly be punished for life with no mercy

    But seeing its a violent game it seems that it would be able to kind of escape the penalty by blamming the game

  • hotshot331

    Posted Aug 20, 2009 11:11 am PT

    You dont kill people because of games! If you kill someone "because of a game", you already are crazy. Normal persons dont kill other humans because they play violent games. A while back, a girl actually rescued her family from a car accident because she had learnt from GTA SA that when cars flip over they can start to burn. If videogames affect a normal person, its in a good way.

  • PalkiaX50

    Posted Aug 18, 2009 2:49 pm PT

    All I can say is "OMFG" and "STFU about blaming games for every ****ing thing like this!" > I mean come the **** on It's clearly the guy's fault (and btw I don't even play Halo) Any sensible gamer no matter HOW MUCH time they spend playing games knows not to do crazy **** like this

  • Toadkart

    Posted Aug 18, 2009 12:35 pm PT

    Now he can get Tea-Bagged in real life.

  • Eternal_Insane

    Posted Aug 18, 2009 10:51 am PT

    Its not the video game's fault at all, where would we be in life if we were never exposed to violence? One day were out walking, and some mugger tries to mug someone never exposed to violence, I mean he would just try to hug the mugger, and end up getting stabbed due to the muggers paranoia. Yep, not the games fault, its the player's fault, some people just don't have the normal mental capacity to play games, and those people shouldn't play games, only a select few commit game crimes, not everyone, so therefore, they should be punished and banned from playing games, not everyone should have to suffer because of some nutcases video game adventure took a leap forward into the real world. They belong in a looney bin. Theres an extremely fine line between fantasy and real life, most know not to cross and mix boundaries, some do it because of mental issues, again not everyone should suffer for a mentally challenged adolescent's mistake.

  • Vin_LAURiA

    Posted Aug 18, 2009 2:31 am PT

    It does seem he was addicted and killed for the game, but this was a really extreme case. I still don't think it's necessary to limit violence in video games since most people know better and those who don't probably shouldn't be touching anything electronic anyway.

  • jojoforpres

    Posted Aug 18, 2009 1:16 am PT

    His dad survived a head shot? I suspect network manipulation! Now where did I put my banhammer? Seriously though, the prosecution for this case must have been brain dead to let it wind up like this. This "judge" is probably just another bible thumper, who blames the media for everything.

  • BizarroPliskin

    Posted Aug 17, 2009 10:13 pm PT

    Kill spree! Gained the lead!

  • Muniara

    Posted Aug 17, 2009 9:50 pm PT

    i see that if there are any Twilight group suicides, there's zero media coverage but videogames? those come straight from satan's sphincter, according people like-minded to this judge.

  • Nafe

    Posted Aug 17, 2009 9:25 pm PT

    This is why taking a brake is very important...

  • JManGT312 posted Aug 17, 2009 3:46 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    JManGT312

    Posted Aug 17, 2009 3:46 pm PT (hide)

    You can say it's his responsiblity all you want, fact of the matter is is that games did cause a mental problem here.... The crime was fueled by his lack of play time... And he fled the murder scene WITH THE GAME... It's quite obvious this individual's mental state valued the game over his parents. So to sit there and say he is fully responsible is just naive... yes he pulled the trigger, but the mind which told him to pull the trigger was corrupted by his addiction to the game... Hence why he would murder them over less play time and fled the scene with the game.

  • topcop501

    Posted Aug 17, 2009 3:17 pm PT

    I agree with BPrimeTimeL games don't play people, people play games so no matter how you look at it its the person's fault not a game....

  • BPrimeTimeL

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 12:56 am PT

    Wow...just blame stupid people's mistake on videogames, f that judge. How is it the videogames' fault when people who are too dumb and/or psychologically unstable commit crimes? I'm sick of seeing videogames take the blame for people's mistakes. And "spared him the death penalty because of his age"? Give me a break, just get rid of that psycho and save the taxpayers' money.

    And how did his dad survive a head shot......would've been an amazing Halo character.

  • Orlin

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 11:45 am PT

    There's a specific personality disorder that fits in with this boy's case, where he blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. If he had been born 100 years earlier and killed his parents like this after reading Crime and Punishment, people would have blamed Dostoevsky. If he had been born 30 years earlier, people would have blamed D&D. It isn't the manufacturer/publisher's fault, the kid just has some major psychological issues.

  • imgettingapsp

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 4:29 pm PT

    Damn... I wonder what 2032 is going to be like?

  • MoonlightJust

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 12:39 pm PT

    That doesn't fit together well at all. Like Julian said, Halo 3 was released in September of 2007, and the murder took place two months later. That being said, they stated in the article that he planned the murder for several weeks, meaning that it was maybe a month and a week or two into his playing that he started planning the murders. That being said, a month's worth of addiction? Isn't that much in the scheme of things. This young man obviously had some clear mental problems before this point, but the gaming community, as usual, made a good scapegoat. This kid DESERVED what he got, and he deserves more, but he also needs some serious psychatrical help. And I don't mean dancing with Bubba.

  • eal-zubieri

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 10:52 am PT

    he just killed his parents because of some other reasen and blamed the game for it, my little brother plays mature games like DMC 4 but he never be effected like that and he is six years old .

  • AfricanTreePig

    Posted Jul 27, 2009 9:47 am PT

    did he teabag before fleeing the scene?

  • kracranium

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 10:00 pm PT

    HIS MOTHER DIDNT RESPAWN?????

  • krisiser

    Posted Jul 24, 2009 3:32 am PT

    omg people these days i would not kill my mum for anything this guy is mad i love halo 3 but i would never ever ever shoot my mum for it.

  • julianlakay

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 8:30 pm PT

    Consider the date of the killing, OCTOBER 2007. When was Halo released.. September 2007. Hmm hess than 2 months! Now re-read the article. Who is more insane the killer or the lawyers, judge etc...

  • robertomora

    Posted Jul 16, 2009 5:14 am PT

    "I feel confident that if there were no such thing as violent video games, I wouldn't know Daniel Petric," That comformist mentality, uncapable/unwilling of looking a little far beyond from insane boy's catalyst leads nowhere but to a rational dead-end.
    In other words, is no different to a God-did-it answer type.

  • netgameboy

    Posted Jul 16, 2009 2:32 am PT

    My problem is the judge. This is horrid crime which punishment was rightly imposed. But for the judge to say, quote, "I feel confident that if there were no such thing as violent video games, I wouldn't know Daniel Petric," This clearly means he did no background research on Halo 3 and just judged all games as the same. I don't need to tell most of you Halo 3 has no blood, no seperated limbs, etc. By the judge's reckoning we're all crazy violent people because we saw Star Wars.

  • asnl24

    Posted Jul 16, 2009 12:04 am PT

    So he planned the murder for weeks, made it look like a murder suicide and gaming is to blame? If he seriously believed his parents would respawn, why did he try to cover up his crime? Obviously trying to find anything: insanity/addiction to get a lenient sentence.

  • bcp117

    Posted Jul 14, 2009 12:10 pm PT

    he had obvious mental problems.

  • samanael

    Posted Jul 11, 2009 2:59 pm PT

    I think there have to be something more on his descision this game is violent but dont means that you take a descision like that, come on the problems in your head begins in home and school his parents arent guilty for not check it out on him maibe his was crazy already and only need one scuse.

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