Man plays “Truth or Dare” with friends, the shocking truth he tells them lands him in prison for life

A young man got a little too serious when playing the game “Truth or Dare” with his friend. He took “truth” and was then asked what his darkest secret was. The man told the terrible truth, and the confession he made to his friends landed him a prison sentence.

Surely the friends couldn’t wait for that game to end and tell authorities the confession of their friend, who said he killed his grandmother by lighting her house on fire. But the “reason” he said he did it is even more shocking.

The 21-year-old Tiernan confessed during a game of Truth or Dare that he killed his stepgrandmother—whose death in a fire was initially ruled accidental, according to reports. Tiernan set Mary’s home on fire, trapping the 94-year-old, who was found under a table in the conservatory of her smoke-filled bungalow. She succumbed to her injuries four days later, and her death was initially treated by fire investigators as an accident caused by a cigarette.

But police reopened the case after Tiernan made incriminating comments about his stepfather’s mother during a counseling session, saying he ignited a curtain at her home and that others knew about his crime. He made a similar confession several weeks after the fire during a game of Truth or Dare in which he told two friends about his “darkest secret.” “I have a secret I haven’t told anyone — I may have killed someone,” he told his friends, adding that he set the fire because he didn’t want his stepgrandmother to suffer from dementia anymore.

Authorities found internet searches on the young man’s devices made after the fire that included “I’m a murderer,” “I’m a monster and I’m going to hell” and “I want to cause evil.” During the trial, the jury was also shown detailed drawings he made, outlining the floor plan of the victim’s bungalow. Tiernan was sentenced to life in prison for the crime he committed.