Christina Grimmie’s Killer Was ‘Infatuated’ With ‘The Voice’ Star, Police Say

Kevin Loibl, 27, described as a hermit and a loner who thought victim was his “soulmate”

Christina Grimmie
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More details emerged Wednesday about the man who killed “The Voice” star Christina Grimmie and then fatally shot himself, as police declared the investigation officially closed.

Kevin Loibl, 27, was “infatuated” with Grimmie and thought she was his soulmate, his one and only friend told police, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

While he had never met the 22-year-old reality contestant, Loibl constantly watched videos on YouTube and stalked her social media accounts, telling his friend that Grimmie changed him and made him see the world differently.

If there was a God, he said, he saw it in her, Cory Dennington told police, revealing that Loibl lost weight, got Lasik, whitened his teeth and got hair implants in order to impress his idol.

Originally from New Jersey, Loibl lived with his father and brother in St. Petersburg, Florida. His father, Paul Loibl, told officers his son “live[d] like a hermit,” usually leaving his room only to go to the Best Buy, where he had worked for eight years.

His family told police that they never heard him talk about Grimmie or watch “The Voice,” records show. They never saw him with a gun or heard him threatening to hurt himself or anyone else and claim he never suffered from any mental illness.

However, Dennington said he warned their boss at Best Buy that Loibl’s “unrealistic infatuation” with Grimmie was ripping their friendship apart and warned that his obsession with her was “not normal or healthy.”

Grimmie was a Season 6 contestant on NBC’s reality singing competitions. She was shot multiple times by Loibl when he opened fire at The Plaza Live in Orlando as she signed autographs for fans after a concert.

Her brother immediately tackled the gunman, who then shot and killed himself during the struggle, police said. The singer was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead several hours later.

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