‘Potential serial killer’ arrested in Pennsylvania after sending his neighbor a handwritten note threatening to ‘eat her brain’

A Pennsylvania woman’s monthslong torment has ended after her neighbor, 19-year-old Dylan Bish was arrested in March, accused of leaving several handwritten notes on her doorstep and then texts, threatening to “dismember her body,” and eat her brain, among other violent fantasies.

The Koppel Borough Police Department said in a statement that a homicide could have been prevented and a potential serial killer may have been caught before he could strike, “given the numerous Homicidal details” Bish provided police in his initial interrogation.

Bish is currently charged with stalking, making terroristic threats, and harassment, and is currently held on $1 million at the Beaver County Jail while he undergoes a mental health evaluation.

The threats begin

Bish’s first note showed up in November last year with just a phone number and her name, according to the Koppel PD on social media. The victim, who has not so far been identified in the press, took the note to the police, and Koppel law enforcement said they tried to text the number from a department phone, but no one responded. They were otherwise unable to track the note to Bish.

Then, in February this year, another note showed up on the woman’s doorstep, this time with graphic threats, including dismemberment and descriptions of sexual fantasies after she died.

“I’ve been watching you from my POV [in] front of your apartment [your] room is filled with CDs,” the note said, accurately describing where the victim lived.

With actual threats included in the note, law enforcement launched a forensic investigation, and in March, Bish texted the same Koppel Borough police department phone number that had texted him months earlier, thinking he was texting his neighbor instead, according to Pennsylvania news WPXI.

In that text, Bish escalated his threats, reportedly telling who he thought was his neighbor he had already killed 20 women and she was next and that he fantasized about bashing her skull.

In a subsequent text, Bish reportedly sent the same number a video of a person tied up and skinned.

The woman was made aware of the texts, and detectives investigated their origin, finally tracking the number to Bish.

Bish confessed he sent the texts and wrote the notes

Once in custody, Bish admitted he wrote the notes and texts, telling police he was obsessed with the woman and he had no plans to stop until she was dead.

Bish denied he’d hurt anyone else and that he was just looking for a friend. However, he told police he studied forensic science at West Virginia’s Salem University, “to know how the police and FBI operate so that he will never get caught.”

Speaking with Pittsburgh news KDKA, the victim, who declined to be named, provided additional details of what was in the notes, including statements like “UR mine 4 ever.” 

She said she met Bish in person before the notes started, and he asked for her number but she said no. WPXI says Bish had been questioned over the notes once before, but no charges were filed at that time.

Referring to Bish’s threats, she said, “I had a lot of anxiety about it, very paranoid,” the victim who did not want to be named said. “It’s an odd feeling to not feel safe in your own home.” 

She also remained empathetic despite what she’d been through. Describing Bish, she said, “I think he just had the wrong idea. He went about it the wrong way. I feel bad, I’m not mad, feel like he’s had a lot of pain in his life and it would be wrong of me to be mad at somebody for struggling.”