Obsessed with this YouTube couple, he drove across Texas to kill one of them, police say
New Mexico resident Christopher Eric Giles was obsessed with Meg Turney and hated her boyfriend, Gavin Free.
He had become acquainted with the couple, as had hundreds of thousands of their followers, through their YouTube videos.
As he "developed a fondness" for Turney, he also decided, "I want Gavin Free to die alone, with no children," according to the Albuquerque Journal, citing court documents.
So on the night of Jan. 25, Giles started the 11-hour drive from Albuquerque to Austin. He brought a gun with him.
Austin police described Giles as "single, lonely and disturbed," according to the court documents. His phone was full of notes centering on Turney, whose YouTube videos run the gamut from relationship advice to online gaming to her popular "Ask Meg" segment.
By 3:40 a.m. on Jan. 26, Giles had arrived at the couple's Hyde Park house, just over a mile north of the University of Texas campus, and had woken them up with the sound of a gunshot and breaking glass, according to KXAN.
The couple hid in a closet and updated the 911 dispatcher as Giles, 23, rooted through their home looking for the pair.
He left when he couldn't find them, but Austin police were waiting for him outside, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Officers told Giles to stop and show his hands, but Giles shot at the officers. Austin police officer Matthew Jackson fired back and fatally injured Giles.
Turney, 30, and Free, 29, thanked their fans for their support throughout the investigation Monday on Twitter. Free and another YouTuber run the channel The Slow Mo Guys, which has more than 10 million followers.
Matthew Martinez: 817-390-7667; @MCTinez817
This story was originally published February 13, 2018 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Obsessed with this YouTube couple, he drove across Texas to kill one of them, police say."