Canada Convicts Guy Who Killed, Dismembered Lover

Luka Magnotta inspired global manhunt after mailing body parts
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 23, 2014 1:57 PM CST
Canada Convicts Guy Who Killed, Dismembered Lover
Diran Lin, father of Jun Lin, walks at the Montreal Courthouse on the eighth day of jury deliberations in the murder trial for Luka Magnotta Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. A jury found Magnotta guilty on Tuesday of killing and dismembering Jun Lin, his Chinese lover and mailing the body parts to schools and...   (Graham Hughes)

A jury found a Canadian man guilty today of killing and dismembering his Chinese lover and mailing the body parts to schools and political parties. Luka Magnotta was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 slaying of Jun Lin after eight days of jury deliberations. He was also convicted on four related charges. Magnotta, 32, had pleaded not guilty. While he admitted to the slaying, he sought to be found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. His lawyer argued he is schizophrenic and couldn't tell right from wrong. The prosecution countered the crime was both planned and deliberate and that Magnotta's behavior and actions were not those of an insane person. "I had come to see your trial system to see justice done and I leave satisfied that you have not let my son down," Lin's father, Diran Lin wrote in an impact statement read after the verdict; he traveled from China to watch the trial. "I had come to see remorse, to hear some form of apology, and I leave without anything."

"I thought we had good evidence of premeditation," said the prosecutor. "There was never a doubt the jury would find Magnotta guilty of first-degree murder. (But) it's always a great feeling for a (government) prosecutor to hear the word 'guilty' come out of the mouth of a juror at the end of a trial." A key piece of evidence for the prosecution was an email Magnotta sent to a British reporter of his macabre plan six months before the murder. Reporter Alex West confronted Magnotta in London in December 2011 about cat killing videos he made that had created a stir online. "Next time you hear from me it will be in a movie I am producing, that will have some humans in it..." Magnotta responded. "Once you kill, and taste blood, its impossible to stop. The urge is just too strong not to continue." (More Luka Rocco Magnotta stories.)

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