More Bring Me The Horizon Drama: Impersonator Attempts Murder

After a full fledged on-stage brawl at Bring Me the Horizon's show in Salt Lake City this week, A man impersonating singer Oli Sykes allegedly lured a girl from America to Britain and then tried to kill her.

There's an old saying in the entertainment business - "There's no such thing as bad publicity." In the case of the latest events associated with the band Bring Me the Horizon, we'd have to disagree with the outdated adage.

According to UK newspaper 'Daily Mail', David Russell has been jailed for life after attempting to murder a 19-year old Maricar Benedicto. Russell met the American teen on Facebook last year, claiming that he was BMTH vocalist Oli Sykes.

After ongoing communication via the internet, Benedicto flew from California to the UK to see him. Shortly after she arrived, Russell took her to a forest and convinced her to wear a blindfold claiming he had a gift for her. "Gift" must carry a different meaning overseas -- Russell then slit her throat, stabbed her in the back four times, headbutted and hit her in the face with a log.

Benedicto miraculously survived the attack by running away and telling him that she had given his name to immigration upon arrival in the country. Russell ran home and allegedly overdosed on an unspecified substance, while the brutally wounded Benedicto staggered to a nearby residence for help.

During the trial it was discovered that Russell searched "how to kill someone with bare hands", "how to cut skin with a knife" and "the best knife to kill" a day prior to Maricar's arrival. David Russell was deemed "exceptionally dangerous" by the judge and sentenced to life in jail with no chance of parole for the first 17 years of his sentence.

NME reports that Sykes himself issued the following statement regarding the case:

"Woke up to the news in LA, and didn't really believe it at first. It's very unsettling. I'm aware that people have used my identity for pranks and whatever, which has always been something that's been uncomfortable for me, but for something like this to happen is terrifying. My heart goes out to Maricar and hope she recovers soon. would also urge anyone using social networking sites about a really great foundation called the Carly Ryan foundation. Carly suffered a fate worse even worse than this case but the story isn't worlds apart. The foundation was set up to raise awareness and educate people on the risks of meeting people online. Stay safe and be careful."