On May 30, 2025, an unexpected call came to 999, the British emergency number. On the other end of the line, a confused man says he killed someone “by accident.” He is Robert Richens, 35, living in Oxford. What he confesses following this statement, on the other hand, leaves the police perplexed. After admitting to having taken the life of his ex-partner, he expresses his biggest regret: missing the release of GTA 6.
According to the British media MetroRichens claims he killed 40-year-old Rachael Vaughan. When he calls for help, he says with disarming sincerity: “You’re not going to believe me. I think I killed someone accidentally.” Before adding a few seconds later: “I didn’t want to kill that person. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
A surreal arrest marked by an obsession with GTA 6
Recently released body-worn camera footage reveals a surprising exchange between Richens and the officer charged with arresting him. In tears, he breaks down emotionally, not while talking about the victim, but while thinking about the upcoming video game. “I’m going to miss GTA and all that.”
When the policeman asks him ifhe speaks well about GTA 6Richens confirms, even adding: “I’m going to take life.” The agent clumsily tries to reassure him by saying that he “still has time” before the game’s release, initially scheduled for May 26, 2026. But for Richens, the main thing is elsewhere: “I could have fled.”
A crime deemed “inhumane” by the authorities
On 12 December 2025, Robert Richens pleaded guilty to murder at Oxford Crown Court. He was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 16 years and one month. Chief Inspector Stuart May, in charge of the case, reacted to this matter firmly.
“Today’s sentence means that Richens will now have to answer for his merciless actions.” “She had been taken from the very place she should have felt safest: her own home.” “Inhumans.”
GTA 6, an obsession revealing the place of video games among certain inmates
The case of Robert Richens, as tragic as it is unusual, shows the extent to which video game culture can impact certain individuals. Wait for a game like GTA 6 becomes, for some, an emotional milestone as strong as a major personal event. Richens’ expression of regret may seem out of place, even shocking, in the context of a murder, but it says a lot about the impact AAA franchises have on certain minds.
Scheduled for November 2026, GTA 6 is one of the most anticipated games of the decade. It will be available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and developed by Rockstar Games with their RAGE engine.