David Heiss

David Heiss, born June 19, 1987, is a German killer known for his brutal 2008 murder of Matthew Pyke in Nottingham, UK.

Heiss developed an obsessive ‘online’ infatuation with Pyke’s girlfriend, Joanna Witton, who he knew by spending time on the now defunct gaming website, ‘War Central’ (set up and run by the couple and a friend).

Driven by his obsession, Heiss, who was 21 at the time, traveled from his home in Lindberg, Germany, waited outside the couples home overnight and when Witton left for work in the morning, he forced his way in. Then he proceeded to brutally murder Pyke, stabbing him 86 times, in a frenzied unprovoked attack.

Crimes Committed by David Heiss

The build up to murder

Heiss developed an infatuation with Matthew Pyke’s girlfriend, Joanna Witton, who he knew virtually by spending time on the now defunct gaming website, ‘War Central’. After initial lighthearted online chats, Heiss started bombarding Witton with messages and emails declaring his love for her. An action that while frustrating, was exclusively online, so fairly easily ignored by Pyke and Witton at the time.

However in June 2008, the couple arrived home from a holiday to find an uninvited Heiss, waiting outside their flat. They reluctantly put him up for three days. Pyke had grown increasingly frustrated with the outlandish Heiss by now and was happy to see him leave. But just a month later in August 2008, Heiss, again uninvited, showed up, resulting in an exacerbated Witton rejecting his advances and blocking him from access to the site.

Soon after, an angry Heiss sent a fellow War Central site member, known online as ‘Nebula’, a list of people ‘who needed to be erased’, which was headed by Matthew Pyke. Furthermore, whilst referring to Witton and Pyke, he told Nebula: ‘Seriously, the whole thing will end in at least one of us three dying’. ^[1] Ominous words that didn’t take long to become a nightmarish reality…

The murder of Matthew Pyke in September 2008

In September 2008, Heiss flew from Germany to Birmingham, UK and took a train to Nottingham. Armed with a knife and wearing thick gardening gloves, he spent the night outside their flat, waiting for Witton to leave for work. Then on the morning of September 18, 2008, he forced his way into the flat and in a frenzied attack, stabbed Matthew Pyke 86 times. He flew back to Germany shortly after, having spent only 16 hours in total in the UK.

In his last moments, Matthew Pyke managed to write DAV, the first three letters of Heiss’s first name, in his own blood on the side of his computer in a dying attempt to alert police to his attacker’s identity.

Witton returned home from work to find her boyfriend dead.

Capture & Investigation of David Heiss

An EAW (European arrest warrant) for David Heiss was issued on 25 September 2008. He was arrested at his home in Limburg, Germany on 27 October 2008. He was then extradited to the UK on 25 November 2008 and charged with murder. ^[2]

Heiss denied the murder charge and said he was acting in self defense. However the evidence was overwhelming.

Heiss had previously sent a fellow website member (going by the alias ‘Nebula’) damning messages that exposed his pre-meditation.

Pete Clegg, a former detective for Nottinghamshire Police, who worked on the case said “When he murdered Matthew, Heiss got blood all over his shoes. So he took a pair of his victim’s shoes. When we studied CCTV we could see he was hobbling because the shoes were a size too small for him.” ^[3]

His travel intilary, the messages of intent, CCTV footage, his name in blood, Heiss did not cover his tracks too well and would consequently face trial for the murder.

Trial & Conviction of David Heiss

David Heiss’ trial for the murder of Matthew Pyke began 27 April 2009, at Nottingham Crown Court. Heiss denied murder, claiming he stabbed Matthew Pyke, in self defense.

While giving evidence Heiss told the court he had fought Matthew Pyke for the knife:

• “He charged at me. I was trying to push his arms away so they wouldn’t make contact with me. I stumbled back and fell on the table.“
• “He lost the knife when it fell to the floor. He tried to crawl towards it but I tried to prevent it by sitting on him. After a few seconds I got hold of it.“
• “He started kicking me in the back and he was looking at me angrily.“
• “I was lucky that I was still alive. I was almost sure that if I had lost the knife it would have been my end.”
• “I don’t know if it was adrenalin but I managed to get my arm away and then I stabbed him.” ^[4]

However the jury did not buy the story Heiss was selling, taking just two-and-a-half hours to convict him of murder.

Conviction

Heiss was found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court, and on 5 May 2009 he was sentenced to Life in prison, with a minimum of 18 years to be served.

Passing a life sentence, Judge Mr Justice Keith told Heiss: “I have no doubt that at some stage you decided that Matthew had to die, and that your killing of him involved a substantial degree of both planning and premeditation, which is a significant aggravating factor. The fact that your motive for murder was so bizarre doesn’t make your killing of Matthew any the less serious. The tragedy is that you are unable to cope with rejection.”. ^[5]

REFERENCES / CITATIONS:

1. Daily Mail: German web game fanatic who flew to UK to stab love rival to death is jailed for life – 11 May 2009
2. Parliament UK: Home Affairs – Written evidence submitted by the Home Office
3. Nottinghamshire Police: Former detective looks back on 40 years as investigator – 03/01/2024
4. BBC: Stab victim ‘wrote in own blood – 5 May 2009
5. Guardian: Student’s obsessive killer jailed for life – 11 May 2009 

Britain’s Most Evil Killers – S3.E5 – David Heiss

David Heiss: A look at the 21-year-old killer who brutally took the life of British student Matthew Pyke, after developing an obsessive infatuation with his girlfriend.
TV Series / Documentary | 2017

IMDb

SKY MIX

YOUTUBE