This case takes the notion of life imitating art to a newly macabre extreme. In 2010, Blake Leibel released his graphic novel, Syndrome. Described as The Truman Show meets Se7en, the story follows a rogue neuropathologist as he attempts to find a cure for evil, using a condemned serial killer as his guinea pig. 

Initially met with a lukewarm response, the novel garnered international attention in 2015 after Leibel seemed to use its most violent scenes as "the most brutal murder in LA's history".