Random Real-Life Crimes And Murders Inspired By The Joker (16 items)

(#14) This Joker Tries To Steal Batman Posters

Spencer Taylor was arrested in 2008 after he tried to swipe Batman memorabilia from a mall in Three Rivers, Michigan, after a screening of The Dark Knight. At the time of his arrest, Taylor was decked out in a purple suit, white face paint, and a big red Joker smile. According to the staff at the theater, Taylor attempted to rip some Dark Knight posters down from the wall while exiting the theater and completely failed at this fruitless endeavor.

Police made him pose for mug shots in and out of his face paint.
(#2) Jerad Miller Was Obsessed With The Joker

In 2014, two psychopaths went on a shooting spree in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ended up taking out two police officers and an innocent bystander before taking their own lives when they faced with capture. One of the culprits, Jerad Miller, dressed as the Joker while on the spree. Prior to the attack, Miller posted a YouTube video in which he laid out his manifesto.

"I want to be a war mongerer [sic], not just some everyday terrorist. I want to blow up whole nations," Miller ranted in his video. After downing the two officers, Miller and his wife/accomplice draped the bodies in a yellow flag with the words "Don't Tread on Me" and a swastika.
(#8) Joker Fan Robs Store For YouTube Views

When will teens learn that life isn't all about YouTube views? It's about those native Facebook likes, y'all! An 18-year-old in Eastlake, Ohio, was arrested in November 2016 when he sprayed his hair lime green and painted his face up Suicide Squad-style for a YouTube prank. What was the prank?

This Ohio Joker ran into a Walgreens and rushed the pharmacy counter and demanded "all the pills." Classic YouTube prank. Police arrested the suspect, Donald A. Finnie Jr., and charged him with two counts of inducing panic.
(#3) Two Teens Were Charged With Conspiracy To Commit Acts Of Terror

Right after The Dark Knight was released in 2008, two teenagers from Pembroke, Virginia, were arrested after they admitted to creating "a series of playing cards that were defaced with threatening writing and left at stores in Christiansburg and Pearisburg."

The teens admitted that they were inspired to do this after seeing the Christopher Nolan film, and even though this seems like a fairly innocuous "crime," the jokers were hit with a serious charge: conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.
(#5) Teenager Attacks Another Teen And Leaves Him With A Glasgow Smile

In the summer of 2016, an Edmonton-area teen named Braydon Heather was attacked by an unnamed 15-year old who used a machete to give Heather a Joker smile. Aside from the Dark Knight-related injuries, Heather's jaw was broken, his thumb was removed, and he suffered a massive amount of upper body and cranial injuries.

His attacker was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public.
(#4) 15-Year-Old Girl Goes Full Joker And Cuts A Smile Into Her Face

In 2016, a 14-year old in England cut her own mouth open to give herself a Jokeresque smile and proceeded to lure a friend to a secluded part of their school in Hampshire, where she then stabbed the friend in the chest. After being arrested, the girl said she didn't care if "[people] blamed it on The Joker or Columbine, they didn't inspire me, they motivated me." Earlier in the day, she sent a message to another friend saying, "If the plan does fail I will say the voices in my head made me do it."

Prosecutors argued that the girl was obsessed with serial killers and The Dark Knight, and the defendant pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and possession of a bladed article on school premises.