[4chan Serial Killer Photos
Eliora Shopbell
Just about the time the killer was posting these words, the 13-year-old son of 30-year-old Amber Lynn Coplin was arriving home from school in Port Orchard, Washington. He saw his mother on the couch and figured she was sleeping, but then he became alarmed. He summoned his father, who does not reside there. The father hurried over and called 911 at 3:32 pm.
This year, Kalac was arrested for domestic violence in a case that apparently did not involve Coplin. He was sentenced to three months in jail in April and seems to have taken up with Coplin following his release.
When those horrific photos first went up on 4Chan, a few posters responded with jokes so ghoulish you had to assume they did not believe the images actually were of a woman who had just been murdered.
4chan is a large internet bulletin board that hosts topics on a wide array of subjects. While they sometimes have the reputation of being dangerous or malicious hackers, that is only a small subset of the site. A lot of the posts on the site are just simple prank jokes, memes, creepypasta or green text.
The thread was quickly deleted but internet sleuths were already on the case, going through these images in an attempt to catch a serial killer. One of the victims was identified as Shauna Maynard, a 17-year-old who was killed in 1998. The 4chan user posted photos both before and after her death. There is some debate as to whether this person is Shauna Maynard, but if it is NOT Shauna Maynard, it leads to even more questions. Who is the person in the photos? Is the photo of the living girl the same girl in the photo of the dead body? He claimed that these pictures were taken on a disposable camera, developed himself and then put online. The result is photos that are grainy and low-resolution and hard to pick apart.
What is clear, however, is that these photos do not look like crime scene photos. No one has been able to track down the source of them. They look like amateur photography and lack the markers, lighting and other markers a crime scene photo would show.
A month later, the killer returned to 4chan and this time, posted photos of a man he killed. This man was harder to identify because his face was obscured in the photos, but they had the same amateur quality to them as they did before. And worse, these photos seemed to depict the man dying. In one photo, his hands were being held up. In the next, his hands were down, face a bit more mangled and substantially more blood underneath him.
In the background of these pictures, you could see even more photos of dead people, printed out and very similar looking. Other images he posted included women loaded into cardboard boxes. Some looked recently dead, some looked long dead. Some included photos of them alive and dead.
A shocking online claim is bringing new attention to a cold case murder in Las Vegas.Someone posted graphic pictures and claimed to be the killer of Shauna Maynard, a runaway found shot to death back in 1998.It appears to be a hoax, Las Vegas Police officials tell Action News the claim is not valid but they wouldn't elaborate.The disturbing photos and outrageous claim were posted to 4chan, it's a user-generated content site much like Reddit. It was put up just over a month ago and it is disturbing.The anonymous poster set it up like a sick game, claiming to have killed several women then urging other users to guess names to go along with the disgusting images that appear to show dead bodies."Whoever could do something like that just shows that it's a sick sick mind, you know social media unfortunately can be so abused in manners like this," said Retired Metro Lieutenant, Randy Sutton.One of the first pictures shows a dark haired woman covered in blood but her face isn't visible. Next to it there's a high school photo that users quickly identified as Shauna Maynard."The cruelty of that is beyond belief, I mean if you think about how the woman's family has been suffering for all theses years."
Police reports stated that Devins and Clark were in an intimate relationship, although the two perceived the relationship differently. Devins' sister called Clark a close family friend, while others feared he was exploitative. The murder took place after Clark allegedly witnessed Devins kissing another man.
Devins' murder received considerable attention from the press and social media. Initial reports were marred by misinformation. Photos of Devins' corpse were taken by Clark and shared widely online, sparking both mockery and sympathy. Social media companies' responses were subject to criticism, leading to the introduction of legislation. Commentators have discussed the unique nature of the crime and its relation to the structure of social media.
Bianca Michelle Devins (aged 17 at death)[2][3] intended to study psychology at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica.[2] Her struggles with mental illness, specifically depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, were a concern for her loved ones. She "had been in and out of the hospital receiving mental health treatment for much of her teen years."[4] Having experienced feelings of isolation, she found refuge in online communities.[4] According to Syracuse newspaper The Post-Standard, Devins had dealt with online harassment by incels for at least two years.[5]
The childhood of Brandon Andrew Clark (born October 6, 1997; 21 at the time he murdered Devins)[6][7] was traumatic: he once witnessed his father holding his mother at knifepoint for several hours.[8][9] Upon meeting Clark, Devins' mother, Kimberly Devins, said he "seemed very nice" and was "polite".[2]
It is believed that Clark and Devins met on Instagram in April 2019, after he started following her on the social media platform.[2][10] Police described their friendship as a "personally intimate one," but friends and family claimed otherwise.[11][12][a] Devins told her mother that she had explained to Clark that she did not want to date him, though Devins' mother thought that he still "wanted more."[2] One of Devins' sisters called Clark a trusted family friend,[15] but a friend of Devins feared that Clark was exploiting Devins sexually while the two were high.[8] Reportedly, Clark would supply drugs to Devins to entice her to spend time with him.[8]
On July 13, 2019, Devins, Clark, and a mutual friend named Alex attended a performance by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Nicole Dollanganger, in New York City.[2] Following the show, Clark and Devins returned to Utica. The two engaged in an argument, likely regarding a kiss between Devins and Alex. Eventually, Clark began assaulting her, slicing her neck with a long knife that he had hidden by his seat. Devins died in the early morning hours of July 14.[b][2][13][17][18] Her body, nearly decapitated, was left in the car, as Clark built a bonfire and listened to the song "Test Drive" by Joji.[16][19]
After Devins' death, Clark called numerous family members. His call resembled a suicide note, prompting his family to call 9-1-1.[16] He posted photographs of Devins' body to a Discord server, accompanied by the caption: "sorry fuckers, you're going to have to find somebody else to orbit."[10][20][c] A video of the murder was also created.[16] By 7:00 AM, Discord users had notified the police, who received "numerous" calls, including one from Clark, and made contact with Devins' family.[2][10][13][d] In his call to the dispatcher, Clark said:
Upon the arrival of law enforcement, Clark stabbed himself in the neck. He lay across a green tarp concealing Devins' body, and posted more photos online.[10][17] A suicide note and message were found, the latter reading: "May you never forget me."[16][22] The next day, police confirmed that the victim was Devins, and charged Clark with second-degree murder.[17]
Having "had the knife and equipment to videotape the killing," authorities reported the possibility that he had planned the murder.[16] Police Sgt. Michael Curley believed Clark desired fame.[23] Oneida County assistant district attorney Sarah DeMellier stated that he gave various explanations for the killing to multiple people.[24] He had made online searches on how to find the carotid artery, how to incapacitate or kill someone, and general searches for choking and hanging.[16]
A vigil for Devins was held on July 15, 2019, and her funeral took place three days later on July 19.[10][25] Another vigil was held in July 2020.[26] On February 14, 2020, a fashion and art show displaying Devins' work was held.[27] Week-long counseling sessions were offered to Thomas R. Proctor High School students.[28] The Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium was lit up in honor of Devins.[29] Devins' grandfather thanked the Utica community for their support.[30]
The images of Devins' corpse became widely shared on social media such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.[31] They gained traction on the website 4chan, with hundreds of posts praising Clark for committing "another 4chan murder".[10][15] Users on Incels.co and 8chan were also celebratory.[29][23] #ripbianca briefly trended on Twitter.[10] Accounts promised to post images of Devins' murder in exchange for likes and follows, and illegitimate fundraising websites sprang up to capitalize on her name and death.[32]
Criminal justice professor James Densley said that the images could cause trauma in those who viewed them.[10] Her stepfather, who suffered the most harassment, reported having flashbacks,[4] and her sister said she saw the images in her mind before she fell asleep.[33] Devins' mother said, "So many people have been affected by the pictures, scarred for life and suffering from PTSD, unable to erase the image from their mind".[34] Nicole Dollanganger asked that people stop sharing the photos.[18]
Instagram and Facebook removed Clark's account and attempted to stop the photos' spread.[6][20] Facebook added images of the murder to a digital fingerprint database and blacklisted the hashtag #yesjuliet. The Discord server that Clark utilized was shut down.[6] Users who attempted to report the photos on Instagram found that they were not considered violations of community guidelines.[10] Instagram's response was met with criticism.[35]
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