After eight days of deliberation, a Montreal jury has found Luka Magnotta guilty of first degree murder in the death and dismemberment of a Chinese student Jun Lin in 2012.
Lin- 33- a Chinese student at Montreal’s Concordia University met Magnotta through a Craiglist advert looking for bondage and kinky sex.
Magnotta, through his lawyer, said he was suffering from mental illness, although he admitted killing Lin, and sending body parts with menacing notes to politicians and schools.
In the ten week trial in which the jury saw numerous gruesome vidos, the defence had argued that he was not criminally responsible for his actions because of mental health issues.
The court also heard that in December 2011, a British journalist however had confronted Magnotta over gruesome videotaped cat murders, although Magnotta denied being the author.
Two days later however Magnotta emailed the journalist writing near the end, “ Next time you hear from me it will be in a movie I am producing, that will have some humans in it, not just pussys. 🙂 “
He also wrote, ““You see, killing is different then smoking .. with smoking you can actually quit,” making one of many references in the trial to the movie “Basic Instinct.”
The 12-member jury was to decide on the mental health defence or that of
- -first degree murder- the act was planned and deliberat
- -second degree murder –intent but not planned
- -manslaughter
International search for Magnotta
Magnotta fled to Europe shortly after the crime, and following a manhunt, was arrested in a Berlin internet café where a clerk had just read a story about Magnotta and saw him at a computer looking up online stories about the murder and himself.
In addition to the first degree murder conviction, the jury also found him guilty of the other charges of
- -criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament;
- -mailing obscene and indecent material
- -committing an indignity to a body
- – publishing obscene materials
The first degree murder conviction carries and automatic sentence of 25 years with no chance of parole. The court will be resuming later today on the remaining charges and whether they will be included in the automatic sentence, or added on.
Magnotta has the option to appeal the ruling.
with files from CBC
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