Killer High: Exploring the Phenomenon of Acid-Fuelled Murder

As Jordan strutted around the apartment brandishing the weapon, leering in people’s faces and growling “What’s your worth? Are you with me?”, it seemed obvious that he was acting. The 24-year-old, who studied drama at the local performing arts academy in Springfield, Oregon, would later tell police that he remembered thinking he was The Punisher, Marvel Comics’ psychologically-tortured antihero.

“We’re all just a bunch of crazy nerdy kids, you know? Playing video games, Larping, playing Dungeons & Dragons—just having good times.” That’s how Dakota, who was 21 at that point, explains it to VICE News over the phone. “And Jordan was quite the nerdy kid. No one, not a single person, thought he was ever capable of this.”

Dakota was also high on acid at the time, along with Garrett, his older brother, who he’d invited along to the party. The other four were tripsitters.

“We had a pretty good environment that night,” he says. “Everything was fine; everyone was laughing. But the acid hit us really quick. This was probably some of the strongest acid I have ever had, and it hit hard.”

According to police interviews conducted several hours later, Jordan noticed he was getting particularly high and decided to put the toy guns away. The last thing he would remember in the morning was taking a shot of spiced rum and a dab of marijuana.

Dakota, meanwhile, was also feeling it.

“I remember having to sit on the couch; I was just so out of it,” he says. “I was sitting there staring at the pretty colours of this video game, like oh my god, this is so beautiful. And then I remember someone yelled ‘Oh my God, he’s got a gun’—and that’s what kind of got my attention.”

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