User:SkyTheWanderer
Content
The video opens with Jun Lin, naked and tied to a bed frame, being repeatedly stabbed by Magnotta in the stomach. Magnotta then displays the body to the viewer, highlighting the wounds and the severed head with its throat slit. He proceeds to dismember the body, forcing a puppy to chew on the flesh, and performs sexual acts on the corpse, including masturbation and sodomy with a bottle. The video is set to the 1987 song "True Faith" and is believed to be inspired by the film "American Psycho", as Magnotta used the alias "Canadian Psycho". It may also reference the first murder-sex scene in "Basic Instinct", as Magnotta used the alias "Kirk Tramell" and the video's style is similar to the ice pick murder scene. Magnotta also used the name "Catherine Tramell" for his computer login.
Perpetrator
Luka Rocco Magnotta, also known as Eric Clinton Kirk Newman at birth, was born on July 24, 1982, in Scarborough, Ontario. He was the eldest of Anna Yourkin and Donald Newman's three children. Magnotta's upbringing was fraught with challenges, as his mother was notoriously obsessive about cleanliness and would frequently subject both her children and pets to harsh conditions. His father was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1994, and this eventually led to his parents' divorce. Following this, Magnotta moved in with his grandmother, Phyllis. He attended I. E. Weldon Secondary School in Lindsay, but was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and was granted a disability allowance, which he supplemented with prostitution. In 2003, he began to work as a stripper and appeared in a handful of gay pornographic videos over a period of five years. Magnotta legally changed his name to Luka Rocco Magnotta on August 12, 2006. However, he faced financial difficulties and declared bankruptcy in March 2007, with debts totaling $17,000, which were eventually fully discharged in December of that same year.
In 2007, Magnotta participated in OUTtv's reality series COVERguy but was unsuccessful. After undergoing several cosmetic surgeries, he auditioned for Plastic Makes Perfect, a television show on the Slice network in February 2008. Magnotta had created multiple profiles on various social media and discussion forums using different names and identities, falsely promoting himself as a successful model and prominent porn star, and used these pages to spread false information about himself and attack people he disliked. In 2007, he denied rumors of being in a relationship with Karla Homolka, a convicted murderer. Although Montreal police claimed during the murder investigation in 2012 that the two had dated, they later retracted the statement due to lack of evidence. Magnotta repeatedly denied these claims and other hoaxes he had planted as part of a cyberstalking campaign against him.
Luka Rocco Magnotta was convicted of impersonation and fraud in 2005 for which he was found guilty of one count of impersonation and three counts of fraud against Sears Canada, The Brick, and 2001 Audio Video. During the fraud, he convinced a mentally disabled woman to apply for credit cards and used them to purchase goods worth over $10,000. Magnotta pleaded guilty to these charges and received a nine-month conditional sentence with 12 months of probation, with the court noting his significant psychiatric issues and inconsistent medication use. In 2010, Magnotta uploaded a video on YouTube titled "1 boy 2 kittens," in which he was seen suffocating two kittens in a plastic bag using a vacuum cleaner. In the same year, he posted additional videos of himself drowning a cat in a bathtub and feeding a cat to a python. These videos were condemned by animal rights activists, who identified him as the perpetrator and offered a $5,000 reward for his capture. Online communities reported him to the authorities and warned that he might pose a threat to humans. The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals filed a complaint with the Toronto police in February 2011, leading to an investigation that involved law enforcement agencies in Canada, Britain, and the United States. The 2019 true crime series Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer documented the investigation into Magnotta's actions.
Background
According to Reuters, Luka Magnotta spent six months planning the killing of Jun Lin, which was confirmed in an alleged email from Magnotta to a journalist. In a blog post titled "Necrophiliac Serial Killer Luka Magnotta" on March 3, Magnotta expressed his fetish for having sex with a mummified corpse of a young man. Magnotta also uploaded several videos to YouTube from April to May, including one where he held a screwdriver in front of a Casablanca poster while a 1987 New Order song played, alluding to the murder. Additionally, Magnotta created multiple fake accounts on various blog posts in an attempt to find out who the killer was, accompanied by an image. After posting an ad on Craigslist on May 24, 2012, Magnotta met with Jun Lin at the Decarie Boulevard in the late evening, under the pretense of filming a "personal film," which Lin volunteered for. Later that evening, Lin was murdered and decapitated in the room of Magnotta's apartment. Although some sources claim the video was first uploaded to another site called theYNC, it was uploaded to Bestgore that night. A few days later, an attorney from Montana alerted police about the video, but it was initially dismissed as fake. However, police were later alerted to Jun Lin's disappearance and received complaints from residents of Magnotta's apartment building about a foul smell. Eventually, the police found a suitcase containing several of Lin's body parts and were alerted to the video by citizens.
Investigation, Timeline, and Manhunt
On May 24, 2012, Jun Lin was last seen and his friends received a text message from his phone at 9 pm. When he failed to show up for his shift the next day, his boss became suspicious, and three of his friends entered his apartment on May 27, prompting a report to the police on May 29 about his disappearance. The last known footage of Lin was captured on May 24, 2012, on a surveillance camera showing him entering the Montreal apartment building where Luka Magnotta lived. Magnotta, who had met Lin the night before at a metro station after Lin responded to Magnotta's Craigslist ad for kinky sex and bondage, was later seen on the same surveillance footage exiting the building wearing Lin's shirt. Magnotta disposed of the evidence and booked a round-trip plane ticket to Paris, scheduled to leave the following evening, with Lin's torso in his suitcase. The murder of Jun Lin by Luka Magnotta took place in Montreal, Canada. The video on Bestgore was reported to authorities by an attorney from Montana on May 26, 2012, but his report was dismissed by officials from Toronto Police, his local Sheriff, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Bestgore viewers also tried to report the video. The police later confirmed the video as authentic and identified the victim as an Asian male, who was the same person whose body parts were sent to Ottawa.
On May 25, 2012, Mike Nadeau, a janitor, found a locked suitcase in the garbage containing Lin's limbless and headless corpse. A few days later, the torso was also found inside the same suitcase. After confirming that the body parts belonged to Jun Lin, the police found some of the items used in the murder piled in black plastic bags in the trash. Further, the police discovered additional body parts, a dead black puppy seen in the video, a Casablanca poster, a wine bottle, and other miscellaneous items wrapped in several garbage bags. Bloodstains were found on the bed, refrigerator, floor, and bathroom sink, indicating that Magnotta had attempted to hide the body and materials in various places. Police searched Magnotta's apartment on Décarie Boulevard at 11:33 pm EDT (03:33 UTC) and found blood on different items, including the mattress, refrigerator, table, and bathtub. The apartment had been mostly emptied before Magnotta left, and "If you don't like the reflection. Don't look in the mirror. I don't care [sic]" was written in red ink inside a closet. On May 30, 2012, the police confirmed that the body parts belonged to Jun Lin, and Magnotta was identified as the suspect who had fled the scene.
During May 2012, several packages containing body parts were sent to political party headquarters in Ottawa, Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada received a blood-stained package with a left foot on May 29, 2012, while the Liberal Party received a package with a left hand a few hours later. The police later confirmed that two more packages containing a right hand and right foot were distributed to two separate schools. The fourth package, sent to the Conservative Party headquarters, contained a left foot and a note indicating that all six body parts had been sent and that the perpetrator would kill again. On July 1, the head was discovered in a small area of Angrignon Park, a few blocks away from Magnotta's apartment.
Manhunt
After killing Lin, Magnotta used his real name to book a round-trip ticket from Montreal to Paris, but he then booked another round-trip ticket to Paris on May 25, before the red notice was issued. He stayed in a hotel in Bagnolet, where police later found pornographic magazines and an air-sickness bag. Despite using a false passport with the name "Kirk Trammel," Magnotta had contacts in Paris from a previous visit in 2010. Police followed a large-framed man who had been in contact with Magnotta, and another man he stayed with for two nights didn't realize who he was until after he had left. Magnotta then took a Eurolines bus to Berlin, Germany, after which he was apprehended by Berlin Police on June 4, 2012, at an internet café in the Neukölln district. Initially, Magnotta gave fake names, but he later confessed his true identity, which was confirmed through fingerprint evidence. The next day, he appeared in a Berlin court and did not oppose his extradition due to sufficient evidence against him. He was kept in custody until extradition and agreed to a simplified process. On June 18, 2012, he was handed over to Canadian authorities in Berlin and flown to Mirabel International Airport on a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150 Polaris due to safety concerns and potential legal difficulties. Magnotta was then placed in solitary confinement at the Rivière-des-Prairies detention centre.
Background
According to Reuters, Luka Magnotta spent six months planning the killing of Jun Lin, which was confirmed in an alleged email from Magnotta to a journalist. In a blog post titled "Necrophiliac Serial Killer Luka Magnotta" on March 3, Magnotta expressed his fetish for having sex with a mummified corpse of a young man. Magnotta also uploaded several videos to YouTube from April to May, including one where he held a screwdriver in front of a Casablanca poster while a 1987 New Order song played, alluding to the murder. Additionally, Magnotta created multiple fake accounts on various blog posts in an attempt to find out who the killer was, accompanied by an image. After posting an ad on Craigslist on May 24, 2012, Magnotta met with Jun Lin at the Decarie Boulevard in the late evening, under the pretense of filming a "personal film," which Lin volunteered for. Later that evening, Lin was murdered and decapitated in the room of Magnotta's apartment. Although some sources claim the video was first uploaded to another site called theYNC, it was uploaded to Bestgore that night. A few days later, an attorney from Montana alerted police about the video, but it was initially dismissed as fake. However, police were later alerted to Jun Lin's disappearance and received complaints from residents of Magnotta's apartment building about a foul smell. Eventually, the police found a suitcase containing several of Lin's body parts and were alerted to the video by citizens.
Investigation, Timeline, and Manhunt
On May 24, 2012, Jun Lin was last seen and his friends received a text message from his phone at 9 pm. When he failed to show up for his shift the next day, his boss became suspicious, and three of his friends entered his apartment on May 27, prompting a report to the police on May 29 about his disappearance. The last known footage of Lin was captured on May 24, 2012, on a surveillance camera showing him entering the Montreal apartment building where Luka Magnotta lived. Magnotta, who had met Lin the night before at a metro station after Lin responded to Magnotta's Craigslist ad for kinky sex and bondage, was later seen on the same surveillance footage exiting the building wearing Lin's shirt. Magnotta disposed of the evidence and booked a round-trip plane ticket to Paris, scheduled to leave the following evening, with Lin's torso in his suitcase. The murder of Jun Lin by Luka Magnotta took place in Montreal, Canada. The video on Bestgore was reported to authorities by an attorney from Montana on May 26, 2012, but his report was dismissed by officials from Toronto Police, his local Sheriff, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Bestgore viewers also tried to report the video. The police later confirmed the video as authentic and identified the victim as an Asian male, who was the same person whose body parts were sent to Ottawa.
On May 25, 2012, Mike Nadeau, a janitor, found a locked suitcase in the garbage containing Lin's limbless and headless corpse. A few days later, the torso was also found inside the same suitcase. After confirming that the body parts belonged to Jun Lin, the police found some of the items used in the murder piled in black plastic bags in the trash. Further, the police discovered additional body parts, a dead black puppy seen in the video, a Casablanca poster, a wine bottle, and other miscellaneous items wrapped in several garbage bags. Bloodstains were found on the bed, refrigerator, floor, and bathroom sink, indicating that Magnotta had attempted to hide the body and materials in various places. Police searched Magnotta's apartment on Décarie Boulevard at 11:33 pm EDT (03:33 UTC) and found blood on different items, including the mattress, refrigerator, table, and bathtub. The apartment had been mostly emptied before Magnotta left, and "If you don't like the reflection. Don't look in the mirror. I don't care [sic]" was written in red ink inside a closet. On May 30, 2012, the police confirmed that the body parts belonged to Jun Lin, and Magnotta was identified as the suspect who had fled the scene.
During May 2012, several packages containing body parts were sent to political party headquarters in Ottawa, Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada received a blood-stained package with a left foot on May 29, 2012, while the Liberal Party received a package with a left hand a few hours later. The police later confirmed that two more packages containing a right hand and right foot were distributed to two separate schools. The fourth package, sent to the Conservative Party headquarters, contained a left foot and a note indicating that all six body parts had been sent and that the perpetrator would kill again. On July 1, the head was discovered in a small area of Angrignon Park, a few blocks away from Magnotta's apartment.
Manhunt
After killing Lin, Magnotta used his real name to book a round-trip ticket from Montreal to Paris, but he then booked another round-trip ticket to Paris on May 25, before the red notice was issued. He stayed in a hotel in Bagnolet, where police later found pornographic magazines and an air-sickness bag. Despite using a false passport with the name "Kirk Trammel," Magnotta had contacts in Paris from a previous visit in 2010. Police followed a large-framed man who had been in contact with Magnotta, and another man he stayed with for two nights didn't realize who he was until after he had left. Magnotta then took a Eurolines bus to Berlin, Germany, after which he was apprehended by Berlin Police on June 4, 2012, at an internet café in the Neukölln district. Initially, Magnotta gave fake names, but he later confessed his true identity, which was confirmed through fingerprint evidence. The next day, he appeared in a Berlin court and did not oppose his extradition due to sufficient evidence against him. He was kept in custody until extradition and agreed to a simplified process. On June 18, 2012, he was handed over to Canadian authorities in Berlin and flown to Mirabel International Airport on a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150 Polaris due to safety concerns and potential legal difficulties. Magnotta was then placed in solitary confinement at the Rivière-des-Prairies detention centre.
Trial
Magnotta, through his lawyer, pleaded not guilty to all charges in court via video link on June 19, 2012. Two days later, he appeared in person at a high-security Montreal courtroom to request a trial by jury. Despite the defense team's request to bar the media and public from the preliminary hearing which began on March 11, 2013, it was declined, and expert witnesses testified. These witnesses included a forensic pathologist, a forensic toxicologist, a forensic odontologist, a bloodstain analyst, data recovery specialists, and an Internet investigations officer. Diran Lin, Jun Lin's father, attended the hearing after traveling from China. However, on March 13, one of Magnotta's lawyers resigned due to a possible conflict of interest. Both Magnotta and Diran Lin physically collapsed at separate times during the proceedings. The prosecution presented video evidence, and on April 12, 2013, Magnotta was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, offering indignities to a human body, distributing obscene materials, using the postal service to distribute obscene materials, and criminal harassment. Despite pleading not guilty to the charges, Magnotta admitted to the underlying acts and claimed diminished responsibility due to mental disorders. He elected to be tried by judge and jury, with Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer presiding over the 10-week trial.
The Crown Attorney's opening statement was made on September 29, 2014, with jurors instructed to determine whether Magnotta committed the offenses with the required state of mind. Ballistics expert Gilbert Desjardins analyzed six tools recovered outside Magnotta's apartment and concluded that none could be definitively linked to the killing. During the trial, the Crown prosecutor argued that the murder was organized and premeditated, and that Magnotta was purposeful and ultimately responsible for his actions, while the defense attorney argued that Magnotta was in a psychotic state and could not be held responsible.
