[imagesource: YouTube / IGN Movie Trailers]

If you’re north of 35, there’s a good chance you’ve spent a chunk of time playing Tetris.

Bonus points if you did so on a Game Boy. I can still hear the sound it made as you nailed a Tetris, or four lines cleared simultaneously.

No, you’re old.

The game itself is harmless, save for the odd fight with a sibling over who gets to play next, but there’s a sinister story linked to its history that’s now under the spotlight.

The Tetris Murders, a three-part docuseries, takes a closer look at the life and death of Vladimir Pokhilko. Here’s The Daily Beast:

…the co-developer of Tetris, who on Sept. 22, 1998, was found by a friend in his Palo Alto, California, home, dead of a severe knife wound to the neck. His wife, Yelena Fedotova, and 12-year-old son, Peter Pokhilko, were also deceased, having been bludgeoned to death with a hammer and then repeatedly stabbed…

At least on the surface, it appeared to be a clear-cut murder-suicide, given that Vladimir was holding the knife used to cut his throat and he had left a suicide note—which, bizarrely, read, “I’ve been eaten alive—Vladimir. Just remember that I am exist—The Davil.”

Investigator Sandra Brown, Sergeant Curtis Chan, Sergeant Scott Wong, and detectives Mike Denson and Jean Bready soon started to realise that certain things didn’t quite stack up.

People close to the family said they were a generally happy clan and elements of the murder-suicide were strange, to say the least.

Roll tape:

The docuseries isn’t without its faults, such as corny recreations and overly dramatic musical cues, but the story at the centre of it all continues to fascinate true-crime buffs to this day.

The Tetris Murders is now available to stream on Discovery+.

[source:dbeast]