4 Murderers Who Were Supposedly Inspired By ‘American Psycho’

“Did you know I’m utterly insane?”

Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (2000).

Horror movies are fun to watch because they allow viewers to experience scary thrills from the safety of their own home. It’s all supposed to be pretend. But, some sickos enact the violence they see in movies on real life victims.

These four murderers have supposedly been influenced by the horror movie American Psycho (2000):

  1. Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo was rumored to keep a copy of Bret Easton Ellis’s book by his bed and referred to it as his “bible.”
Patrick Bateman has a secret life as a serial killer.

2. In 2004, South Florida middle schooler Michael Hernandez killed a classmate and told police that the character of American Psycho protagonist Patrick Bateman was a major inspiration for his crime.

3. In 2012, Canadian psychopath Luka Magnotta filmed himself murdering his male lover with an icepick while a song from the American Psycho soundtrack played in the background.

4. Finally, in 2014, a Hong Kong-based man named Rurik Jutting filmed himself murdering two Indonesian women in his apartment. Jutting confessed to being a huge fan of both the novel and the movie versions of American Psycho.

Of course, murderers aren’t exactly known for their truth-telling, and they could just be saying whatever they think people will believe. It’s best to take these confessions with a grain of salt.

Further reading:

Meet The Author

Chrissy is the co-founder of Creepy Catalog. She has over 10 years of experience writing about horror, a degree in philosophy and Reiki level II certification.

Chrissy Stockton