Social networking applications may be part of everyday life, but there are many who emphasize the problems that come with their indiscriminate use. Flirting has largely migrated to these apps, but the anonymity it offers comes with serious risks.
Now humanity has invented a term for how someone "steals" a fake identity and shows up on apps as someone else. Our American friends call it Catfish. And it's certainly not a rare phenomenon, let's not forget that one of the most popular TV shows was dedicated to catfish.
In such cases at best both are hurt, while at worst the acquaintance ends in crime.
Between August and November 2016, four women swiped right on Khalil Wheeler-Weaver on a dating app. They talked, matched and decided to go on a date. 3 of them ended up dead, while the fourth barely survived.
Wheeler-Weaver used dating apps to lure his victims. His crimes were horrific and would likely have continued had it not been for the family of his third victim.
The 20-year-old worked as a security guard and always appeared well-dressed and well-groomed. But inside he harbored murderous tendencies. The charred remains of Robin West, his first victim, were found in an abandoned house. The causes of her death, undetermined. His second victim, Joanne Brown, disappeared in October. Her body was found in December, the victim of strangulation. Sarah Butler was his latest victim.
The young woman agreed to meet him after sending him a message: "You're not a serial killer, are you?" Before Sarah's murder, a fourth woman had met with Wheeler-Weaver, but managed to escape and speak to local police. Meanwhile, Sarah's friends and family were determined to find out who killed her. Police managed to find the messages between the two and created a fake profile to set up a date with Wheeler-Weaver. When the 20-year-old arrived at the predetermined place, the police were waiting for him and arrested him.
Ultimately, Wheeler-Weaver was charged with murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and arson. In court, he declared his innocence and that the police are unfairly trying to incriminate him. However, he was found guilty of 11 charges in December 2019 and sentenced to 160 years in prison in 2021.