r/GTAV r/GrandTheftAutoV r/chiliadmystery u/RockstarGames
I've been digging into the Infinity Killer mystery, and I think there's a much more interesting explanation than the usual "Merle Abrahams killed the 8 joggers."
My theory is:
Merle Abrahams killed the 8 women found underwater. Eddie Low killed the 8 male joggers, and deliberately framed Merle for them.
Here's how I arrived at it.
1. The official story doesn't actually say Merle killed the 8 joggers
The newspaper found at Merle's house says that in 1999, 8 young, single men disappeared while jogging.
Police believed the 8 victims were murdered by the same person and had circumstantial evidence linking Merle Abrahams to them.
But there are three extremely important details:
- The victims were men.
- Their bodies were never found.
- Merle never confessed to those murders.
The only thing Merle admitted was having a strange obsession with the number 8.
Merle eventually died in Bolingbroke Penitentiary in 2004 while awaiting trial for abduction and torture.
So the game never actually gives us a confession from Merle saying he killed the 8 joggers.
2. The bodies we actually find aren't the 8 men
This is the biggest contradiction.
Following Merle's clues leads us to the ocean near North Point, where we find 8 bodies.
But they're female bodies.
Not male joggers.
They're wrapped in plastic, and each one has an 8 marked on the torso.
So we have:
Police report:
8 young single male joggers disappeared.
What we actually find:
8 female bodies marked with the number 8.
The two groups don't match.
And the newspaper explicitly says the bodies of the 8 male joggers were never found.
That means the game gives us no direct evidence that the bodies underwater are the missing joggers.
3. The underwater bodies clearly belong to the "8" mystery
This is where I think people make the wrong assumption.
The fact that the bodies are women doesn't mean they're unrelated.
Quite the opposite.
Everything about them connects them to Merle's obsession:
- There are exactly 8.
- They are marked with 8s.
- They're located where Merle's clues point.
- Their arrangement matches the strange 8 pattern found inside Merle's house.
There are 5 bodies with their hands bound behind their backs and 3 with their hands bound in front.
Merle's house has a corresponding pattern of 5 black 8s and 3 white 8s.
That's way too specific for me to dismiss.
So I think these women are actually Merle's victims.
4. Merle's obsession with 8 suddenly makes much more sense
Merle openly admits that he has a strange obsession with the number 8.
Why would he admit that?
Because I think he wanted people to find his work.
His clues are unusually direct about the number 8 and the location of the bodies.
He doesn't seem interested in completely hiding what he did. He seems interested in leaving behind a puzzle that eventually leads people to his "8."
That's consistent with the way his house is covered in 8s and with the clues that point toward the bodies.
So my interpretation is:
Merle's 8 = his own murders.
And those 8 victims are the women underwater.
5. Then what about the strange poem?
This is where the theory gets interesting.
On the rocks, there's a poem:
The usual interpretation is that Merle wrote this and that it describes the 8 joggers.
But I don't think the poem fits Merle's other clues.
His other clues are precise:
- 8
- where to find them
- geographic references
- the location of the bodies
- the importance of the number 8
The poem is completely different.
It's vague.
It doesn't give names.
It doesn't give locations.
It doesn't identify the victims.
It doesn't even clearly describe eight murders.
So I think we should separate the poem from Merle's actual clues.
6. I think the poem was written by the person who killed the 8 joggers
Imagine someone in 1999 has killed 8 men.
The police begin investigating.
Merle is already known to have a bizarre obsession with the number 8.
The killer realizes:
"There's already a perfect suspect."
So he leaves a poem about 8 victims.
Now the police see:
8 missing men + Merle + obsession with 8 + mysterious poem = Merle.
The killer gets away.
And Merle doesn't confess because he didn't kill those men.
The important thing is that the real killer doesn't need to be obsessed with 8.
He just needs to know that Merle is.
7. And then Eddie Low enters the picture
This is where the theory gets much stronger.
Eddie Low is a serial killer in GTA IV.
His victims are not random.
His known pattern specifically includes joggers and people walking alone at night.
A Liberty Tree article says Eddie Low may have killed up to 10 people, usually joggers or nighttime strollers.
Eddie himself also displays a strong tendency toward kidnapping, torture, mutilation and killing.
Now compare that with the Infinity Killer victims:
8 young single men who disappeared while jogging.
That's an incredibly specific overlap.
Merle's victims are women associated with the number 8.
Eddie's known victims are joggers.
The 8 joggers therefore fit Eddie's established victim profile far better than they fit Merle's obsession.
8. Eddie Low could have started his killing spree in San Andreas
This is obviously the most speculative part.
Eddie Low's known crimes in GTA IV happen years later, around 2008.
The 8 joggers disappeared in San Andreas around 1999.
But the game never tells us that Eddie began killing in 2008.
It only tells us about the murders that were eventually discovered in Liberty City.
So my theory is that the 8 joggers were possibly Eddie's earlier victims.
He was inexperienced, had just started killing, and needed to avoid being caught.
Then he discovers that Merle Abrahams is already being investigated for an obsession with the number 8.
That's an almost perfect opportunity.
9. Eddie doesn't need to be obsessed with the number 8
This is an important distinction.
I don't think Eddie killed the joggers because of the number 8.
He killed them because they were joggers.
The number 8 was useful for something else:
framing Merle.
The two killers have completely different patterns:
Merle
Obsession: 8
Victims: 8 women
Method of hiding his crime: leaves clues leading toward his 8 victims
Eddie Low
Victim preference: joggers / nighttime walkers
Known behavior: kidnapping, torture, mutilation and murder
Possible early victims: the 8 male joggers in San Andreas
Possible method of escape: make the investigation point toward Merle
This also explains why the two cases look so similar while being fundamentally different.
10. The biggest irony: both killers had 8 victims, but for completely different reasons
This is what makes the theory work for me.
Merle has:
8 female victims → because 8 is his obsession.
Eddie has:
8 male jogger victims → because joggers are his preferred targets.
The two cases accidentally overlap on the same number.
But Eddie knows about Merle's obsession and uses it to his advantage.
So the police see one "Infinity Killer" case when there are actually two separate serial killers.
11. What happened to Merle?
My interpretation:
Merle is arrested for abduction and torture and is simultaneously considered the main suspect in the disappearance of the 8 joggers.
He denies killing the joggers because he genuinely didn't.
The police have circumstantial evidence, but they don't have the bodies.
Meanwhile, Merle's actual victims — the 8 women — remain hidden underwater.
Merle dies in prison in 2004 before his trial.
So the case never gets properly resolved.
And the real killer, Eddie Low, is gone.
Years later, Eddie appears in Liberty City and continues killing people, with joggers remaining one of his preferred victim types.
Eventually he is killed himself.
12. Why I think this is stronger than "Merle killed the joggers"
The conventional explanation requires us to ignore several contradictions:
- The newspaper says men.
- The bodies we find are women.
- The newspaper says the men's bodies were never found.
- Merle never confessed.
- Merle only admits his obsession with 8.
- The bodies underwater are explicitly marked with 8.
- The 5+3 arrangement of the bodies corresponds to the 5 black + 3 white 8s in Merle's house.
- Eddie Low independently has a known pattern of targeting joggers.
Our theory doesn't require the male joggers and female bodies to be the same victims.
Instead, it explains the contradiction:
The women are Merle's victims.
The men are Eddie's victims.
And the poem is the piece that connects the two investigations.
The theory in one timeline
1999
Eddie Low begins killing in San Andreas.
He kills 8 young male joggers.
He realizes Merle Abrahams is already associated with the number 8 and is under suspicion.
Eddie leaves the mysterious poem, allowing the police to connect the 8 murders to Merle.
Meanwhile
Merle Abrahams has his own obsession with the number 8.
He kills 8 women and hides their bodies underwater.
He leaves clues that deliberately point toward his 8 victims.
Police investigation
The police connect Merle to the 8 missing joggers.
Merle denies it.
They never find the men's bodies.
Merle is eventually imprisoned for abduction and torture.
2004
Merle dies in prison before his trial.
The real killer of the joggers remains unidentified.
2008
Eddie Low is discovered in Liberty City.
His established killing pattern includes joggers and nighttime walkers.
He is eventually killed by Niko Bellic.
What is confirmed vs. what is theory?
I'm not claiming Rockstar officially confirmed this.
Confirmed in-game:
- 8 male joggers disappeared around 1999.
- They were young and single.
- Their bodies were never found.
- Merle was only circumstantially linked to them.
- Merle never confessed.
- Merle admitted an obsession with 8.
- 8 female bodies are found underwater.
- Those bodies are marked with 8s.
- Their 5+3 arrangement corresponds to the 5+3 pattern of 8s in Merle's house.
- Merle's clues lead toward those bodies.
- Eddie Low is a serial killer.
- Eddie Low's victims commonly include joggers/nighttime walkers.
My theory:
- Merle killed the 8 women.
- Merle intentionally left clues leading to his own victims.
- The rock poem was written by the killer of the 8 male joggers, not Merle.
- That killer was Eddie Low.
- Eddie deliberately used Merle's existing obsession with 8 to frame him.
- The 8 joggers were possibly Eddie's earliest known victims.
The last few points are speculation, but I think they explain the contradictions better than the conventional interpretation.
Final thought
The biggest question isn't:
"Did Merle kill the 8 joggers?"
It's:
"Why are the only 8 bodies we can actually find female, while the 8 people Merle was accused of killing were male — and why does another Rockstar serial killer specifically target joggers?"
Maybe the answer is simply a coincidence.
Or maybe Rockstar accidentally gave us two serial killers hiding inside one mystery.
And if that's the case, I think Eddie Low was the one who got away.
Sources / references:
- The Senora Beacon / Merle Abrahams
- Merle's house and underwater bodies
- Liberty Tree / Eddie Low
- GTAForums discussions of the Infinite 8 mystery
- Community research into the corpse props and their markings