Luka Magnotta

Luka Magnotta

Born: July 24, 1982 (age 35) in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

Other Names: Eric Clinton Kirk Newman, Vladimir Romanov, Mattia Del Santo, "Jimmy”, "Justin”, "Angel”, Kirk Trammel

Occupation: Model, Sex worker

Early Childhood and The Parents: Luka Magnotta’s childhood was one so little people ever get to experience. Luka Magnotta’s mother became pregnant with Magnotta when she was in Grade 9, and dropped out before finishing the school year. Magnotta told doctors his mother abused and isolated him, and that she forced him to wear diapers when he was six years old. His parents eventually divorced when Magnotta was 13, around the time his father’s mental health began deteriorating. Magnotta’s father acknowledged that he had a drinking problem, which he said started after his ex-wife resumed contact with her family. He also said that his wife had issues with alcohol: “vodka.” He described an intense and isolated family life. Magnotta and his brother were homeschooled by the mother. The father also testified that Magnotta’s mother had psychological issues, calling her a “germaphobe.” Ultimately, their marriage ended in divorce after about 15 years, when Magnotta was a teen. “I didn’t love her anymore,” he told the court. “I didn’t like the way she treated the kids. She made me miserable.” Magnotta told doctors that when he finally started to attend school at 11 years old, he felt ostracized, and that other kids made fun of him. Saying he was unable to concentrate, he never graduated high school, dropping out before the end of Grade 11. Magnotta was described as a “loner” well throughout his whole childhood. He legally changed his name to Luka Rocco Magnotta in 2005 due to “bad memories,” wanting to “reinvent” himself, and because he “did not like [himself],”
Early Trouble with the Law: Luke Magnotta did not have much of a criminal record until 2005, he was convicted of one count of impersonation and three counts of fraud (against Sears Canada, The Brick, and 2001 Audio Video) after impersonating a woman to apply for a credit card and purchasing over $10,000 worth of goods. He pleaded guilty and received a nine-month conditional sentence with 12 months of probation. Magnotta also was previously sought by animal rights groups for allegedly uploading videos of himself killing kittens. No charges were sought out though.
Luka Magnotta’s Crimes:

1.    1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick

2.    Cat killed in a bath

3.    Cat fed to a python

4.    2 kittens and a vacuum sealed bag

These are the four videos clips posted by Luka Magnotta to various shock/gore websites. Three of the videos are involve animal cruelty and killing of animals, which were the start of his killing. The last video he posted to a Canadian operated shock/gore website on May 25^th 2012 was titled 1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick. In this video, Luka Magnotta is featured killing a Chinese international student, Lin Jun.

After the video was posted, reports from viewers and an attorney from Montana were ignored by the police in Toronto and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Eventually the police took it seriously and confirmed that the video was authentic

Luka Magnotta portrayed himself as a psychotic menace, fueled by sexual deviance and blood lust. When his kitten-killing video made a stir, he warned a British newspaper that “next time the victims won’t be small animals” because “once you taste blood, it’s impossible to stop.” He called himself a “lunatic” on the Internet and wrote a blog that he titled “Necrophilia Serial Killer Luka Magnotta,” well before the alleged killing and necrophilia. He clearly wanted the world to see him as ever so dark and twisted. Lin Jun’s killer used an ice pick, just like the killer in Basic Instinct. He hacked off body parts and put them in the mail, because that’s what happened in seven. He videotaped the murder, but didn’t hide it for personal use, a la Bernardo and Homolka. Instead he immediately uploaded it to the Internet. The murder was set to the soundtrack of American Psycho. Luka Magnotta had motives, and as it seems, it was for attention. In the past Luka Magnotta was reported for having posted on a White Supremacy page denouncing the Chinese people, which could have been what lead Luka Magnotta to killing his victim, Lin Jun.

The actual murder of Lin Jun happened throughout the night of May 24^th 2012, how long it actually went on for is unknown except for the 11 minute video we have of Luka desecrated the body of deceased Jin Lun. We do know the extent of what happened to Lin Jun through examining his body and amount of blood. The autopsy report revealed a lot, even showing that there was sleeping medication and allergy medication in his system from a toxicology report. There were three categories of injuries to Lin, Dr. Daze said – the ante-mortem severing of his neck; the likely perimortem, which means at or around the time of death, blunt-force blows to his forehead, eye socket and facial bones; and 69 post-mortem wounds that included penetrating or stabbing injuries which were deeper than they were long, edged weapon injuries near Lin’s navel, and several blunt force injuries near or in his anus. Once the head was recovered a month later, it was also determined by the amount of blackened blood found in the neck area that he was decapitated while still alive.

Reading form the autopsy report, the body of Jin Lun suffered 55 stabs in total, 37 to the upper body and 18 to the abdomen, some being so deep that they punctured the victim’s lungs intestines, which all happened after Lin Jun was already dead and most likely caused by a screwdriver that was found in Luka Magnotta’s trash that he left behind. There were another 73 superficial cuts to Lin’s back, arms and legs; a part of his buttocks was cut out; and the tips of Lin’s fingers were damaged in a way that might indicate Magnotta had tried to remove the victim’s fingerprints. Analysis concluded those injuries were also inflicted after death – likely with a knife, the pathologist said. The pathologist also noted blunt force traumas to the skull, likely delivered with the hammer investigators recovered from Magnotta’s items. There were also so many fractures on the skull that they all could not be counted. The dismemberment of limbs all occurred after the victim was already dead. Tools that the police later found along with the screwdriver were, scissors, knives and a small electric saw.

Canadian authorities obtained a “more extensive” version of the video and said that cannibalism may have been performed. Not only did he allege perform cannibalism, Magnotta also performed sexual acts with the deceased Jin Lun, first by using his severed arm to fondle himself over top of his pants and then eventually when his pants are down, then later Luka commits necrophilia on Lin’s lifeless shell. Later he uses a wine bottle to sodomize the body of Lin Jun again while using his arm to fondle himself.

Victim “Lin Jun”: Lin Jun, also known as Justin Lin was an international student from Wuhan and an undergraduate in engineering and computer science faculty at Concordia University. Lin had been studying in Montreal since July 2011, in May 2012, Lin moved into a new apartment with a roommate on the first of the month and was last seen May 24^th 2012. His boss became suspicious as he never showed up to work the following day and his friends also became worried and started to search form him on May 27^th 2012, but did not report him as missing to the police until May 29^th by his friends.                                                                                                   Last time Jin Lun was seen. In this video, it shows the last time Jin Lun was seen by anyone, and disturbingly shows what is later to be identified as Jin Lun’s body being deposed of while Luka Magnotta is wearing Lin’s clothes.

How Luka Magnotta Was Caught: On May 29^th 2012, a package containing the left foot of Jin Lun was delivered to the national headquarters of the Conservative party of Canada. Another package containing the left hand was intercepted in a Canada Post processing facility, which was address to the Liberal Party. The torso of Jin Lun was discovered in a suitcase that was left in a garbage pile in the alley behind the apartment building in the Snowdon area in Montreal. Police searched the scene where the body was found, and found and recovered human remains, bloody clothes, papers identifying the suspect, as well as sharp and blunt objects from the back alley. Footage from the building surveillance cameras inside the building showed a suspect bringing numerous garbage bags outside, and the images matched the suspect who was captured on video at the post office in Cote-des-Neiges. The police then searched the apartment which was being rented out by Luka Magnotta for the previous few months, where they found it mostly empty except for blood on the mattress, refrigerator, table and bathtub.  "If you don't like the reflection. Don't look in the mirror. I don't care" was written in red ink on the inside of a closet.” On May 30, 2012, it was confirmed that the body parts belonged to the same individual, later identified as Lin Jun. The suspect in the case was quickly identified as Magnotta, who had by then fled. A note was found with the package sent to the Conservative Party, saying six body parts had been distributed and the perpetrator would kill again. The other three packages also contained notes, but their contents were undisclosed by police, who cited their concerns about possible copycat crimes. On June 5, 2012, a package containing a right foot was delivered to St. George's School and another package containing a right hand to False Creek Elementary School in Vancouver. Both schools opened as normal the following morning. It was confirmed that both packages were sent from Montreal. On June 13, the four limbs and the torso were matched to Lin using DNA samples from his family. On July 1, his head was recovered at the edge of a small lake in Montreal's Angrignon Park after police received an anonymous tip.

At this point an arrest warrant for Magnotta was issued by the police in Montreal, which was later upgraded to a Canada wide warrant accusing him of five crimes.

1.    First-degree murder;

2.    Committing an indignity to a dead body;

3.    Publishing obscene material;

4.    Mailing obscene, indecent, immoral or scurrilous material; and

5.    Criminally harassing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and several (unnamed) members of Parliament.

Magnotta had purchased a flight to Paris on May 25^th using a passport with his own name on it. Magnotta was traced by his cell phone signal to a hotel he was staying at in Bagnolet. By time police arrived, Luka Magnotta was already gone and they found pornographic magazines and air sickness bags in his room. At this point Luka was travelling under a false name which he had on a passport as Kirk Trammel.

On June 4^th 2012 Magnotta was apprehended by the Berlin Police at an internet café while he was reading stories about himself. Upon being apprehended, Luka Magnotta attempted giving the police fake names before finally admitting who he was, his identity was later confirmed through fingerprint evidence.

Forensics: In the preliminary hearing there were several expert witnesses who testified, including a forensic pathologist, a forensic toxicologist, a forensic odonatologist, a bloodstain analyst, data recovery specialists and an Internet investigations officer. During the actual trial, which lasted 10 weeks starting from September 29^th 2014, Luka Magnotta pleaded not guilty, admitting to the acts of which he was accused but claiming diminished reasonability due to mental disorders.

Six tools (a pair of scissors, two knives, a screwdriver, an oscillating saw and a hammer) were recovered outside Magnotta's apartment and analysed by ballistics expert Gilbert Desjardins. He said none could be definitively linked to the killing, and no skeletal marks suggested the screwdriver or scissors were used, but some were consistent with saw and knife or X-Acto blade injuries.

After a 12-week trial which included 10 weeks of hearing testimony, the jury of eight women and four men received final instructions from the trial judge on December 15, 2014 and was sequestered before beginning its deliberations the next day. On their eighth day of deliberation, they returned a verdict of guilty on all charges. Magnotta will serve a mandatory life sentence and will be eligible for parole in 25 years. He was also sentenced to 19 years for other charges, to be served concurrently.

Mental Health: During the trial, Luka Magnotta was examined by 6 expert witnesses of doctors.

Trial Expert Testimony
Expert	Diagnosis	Crown/Defence
Dr. Roy	Borderline personality disorder with histrionic traits	Independent
Dr. Paris	Borderline personality disorder	Crown
Dr. Chamberland	Antisocial personality disorder, Histrionic personality disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder	Crown
Dr. Allard	Paranoid schizophrenia	Defence
Dr. Watts	Schizophrenia, Histrionic personality disorder, Borderline personality traits, Paraphilia	Defence
Dr. Barth	Paranoid schizophrenia	Defence

Luka Magnotta had also been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia as a teenager. It was revealed during trial by the defence expert Dr. Joel Watts that Magnotta showed signs of episodic schizophrenia (undifferentiated type), histrionic personality disorder, borderline personality traits and paraphilia not otherwise specified. The prosecution revealed that Magnotta had been using illegal drugs during his teenage years which led to symptoms that mimicked schizophrenia and that Magnotta has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder by Crown expert Dr. Joel Paris.

Where they are now and Jail Sentence: Luka Magnotta is currently serving a mandatory life sentence and will be eligible for parole in 22 years to this date. He was also sentenced to 19 years for other charges, to be served concurrently. He is serving his imprisonment in Archambault Institution in Quebec.

Sources

http://www.macleans.ca/society/technology/why-magnottas-motive-is-almost-as-disturbing-as-what-he-did/

https://forum.deathaddict.com/ams/1-lunatic-1-ice-pick-luka-rocco-magnotta.26/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_Magnotta

http://o.canada.com/news/national/blatchford-luka-magnotta-trial-hears-of-terrible-injuries-inflicted-on-lin-jun

https://globalnews.ca/news/1606434/berlin-man-who-took-magnotta-in-to-home-continues-testimony/

Class 11

Class 11 - April 5th               Conflict and Exam Review

Conflict : A disagreement that is expressed in the form of an emotional or physical struggle

Two basic types of conflicts

1. Negative / Destructive - Parties involved to resort to accusations, threats and personal attack
2. Positive / Constructive - When parties listen to each others points of view and work together to bring about a mutually benefited solution   

Four basic proposition

1. Conflict is a magnified difference of opinion
2. Takes two to tango
3. Each party in the conflict has a choice to end it
4. An invisible third party lies at the heart of many disputes ( what caused it ).

3 different Dangerous Behaviors

1. Victimizer - Intimidation, overwhelming with abuse, anger and accusations, sees victims as weak.
2. Bomber - Short fuse, loose control even during small threats, throws tantrums
3. Mini-Bomber - Take post-shots from behind cover (insulting while running away, etc), sarcasm, innuendos, not so subtle digs, painful teasing  

5 ways to handle conflict

1. Avoiding
2. Accommodating
3. Competing
4. Compromising
5. Collaborating 

After the lesson we went outside to practice what to say when arresting people, and how we were to stand i position to them, and how to stand with two victims with another officer.

We also did another scenario where this time we were opposite from the last time we gave bad news, so this time i was the one receiving the bad news, which was fun because we were told to be more intense about it, so after finding out my stolen car was found torched at the bottom of a river, i started yelling and telling him he sucked at his job and was getting into his personal space to make him uncomfortable. it was a fun exercise to do.

We also talked about a few important things that we need to know for the exam, like our interview stance, what exactly to say when arresting, use of force model, how to detect a liar, listening skills, different propositions for a multitude of different aspects. this was our last class before the exam. This was an awesome class and I quite enjoyed the classes this semester, and i learned a lot.

Class 10

March 29th - Class 10          Leadership

Today we learned all about leadership and how important it is, and how we all posses some of the needed skills to be a leader.

Five Propositions

1. There are very few natural born leaders
2. A leader must be trusted
3. A leader must always remember the bigger picture
4. Leadership can be a lonely place
5. Leadership and management are NOT the same thing

After talking about these five propositions, we watched a 25 minute video about leadership. There were a few key principles that we thought were important from the movie. 

 - Speak possibility

 - Dont take your own needs so seriously (Rule #6)

 - Leaders awake the power in other people, they serve the people.

 - Leaders act to make others grow

 - See and make new pathways.

 - Rethinking different ways to do what we do daily.

After the movie the class split into two groups, my group was to list all attributes we thought a leader should have such as...

• Trustworthy
• Confident
• Humble
• Self-less
• Bold
• Dedicated
• Patient
• Loving
• Emphatic
• Compassionate
• Wise 
• Knowledgeable
• Good communication skills

There are many more attributes a leader should aspire to have, but this is just a short list. While we made our list, the other class made a list of people who they thought were leaders in their own way. We all got together and discussed any other attributes the other half of the class thought we missed, and then we talked about a few different leaders to examine which leadership attributes they had and which ones they lacked.

Class 9

March 22nd - Class 9

Tonight we did a lot of group work with scenarios. We were split into groups and sent on our ways, each with a problem that we had to discuss what we would do in that situation to help calm the person down only using verbal communication. Our scenario was about a prisoner going on a hungry strike to protest reasons unknown to us at the time. After 20 minutes we came back together and discussed as a group our solution and any improvements to it.

After that the class was split into two groups and we learned about how to deliver bad news. I was apart of the group that had to deliver the bad news. We were told that we had to tell one of the people in the other room that both of their parents died in a car crash that night, but beyond that we weren't told how to deal with their reactions to the news. This was an interesting experience and it was cool to take apart of it. I thought it was a very good learning experience for us as a class to have.

After that we did another scenario like the first one in our original groups where our topic was once pulling a lady over and she didnt want to talk to us as a police officer because she was worried her baby daughter being scared of us  

Class 8

March 8th - Class cancelled - worked on an essay at home

March 15th - Pulling over a car

This class was awesome. At first we were in the class room and were talking about pulling cars over and the dangers of it as well as how we think the best way to go about it is. After a bit we went out into the parking lot and had two cars ( Brians and another students) positioned as if one was pulling the other over. As we stood there and talked about, Brian had students get in the 'police car' and move it to how they think the best way to park the car behind the other car would be.
We then talked about the different pros and cons of each position ( was moved into 3 different positions). Finally Brian got in and move it to how he preferred it then we talked about it. He also showed us that sometimes its good to switch it up and when you exit your car, to walk back behind your car and come up to the passenger side window of the pulled over car to throw the people in the car off.
After we discussed this, Brian picked a few people to practice pulling him over and he presented them with different situations, such as,
   - Completely cooperate
   - Yelling and swearing while finally jamming his ID out the barely cracked car window
   - Running away immediately
   - Having 4 big guys jump out of the back of the truck and surround the 'offcier'

Things that we should try to take notice of
  - Tinted windows
  - Person watching you the whole time in the side mirror
  - License plate history
  - People in the car
  - Weapons when the bend over to grab insurance

Also important to stand in a position not to allow the person in the car to open the door and hit you.

Class 7

February 22nd - Class cancelled for reading week

March 1st - Class 7 : Use of Force Model



Brian made it very clear that this idea of the use of force was very important because it helps us as police officers understand what we are allowed to do and why it allows us to act.
We learned that there are always situational factors that must be thought about before entering an unknown situation. This helps us be aware and prepared for what possible problems could be encountered. You must think ahead about things like,
   - weapons
   - number of family members
   - drugs or alcohol
   - history
   - gender
   - animals
   - number of police with you
   - weather
   - environment
 
We talked about each section in depth and under the resistant sections, we discussed that there will be factors that can alter how you perceive resistance such as,  
   - size/gender
   - ability level ( marital arts, hand to hand, etc)
   - time and distance
   - previous experience

It was a very informational class. It helped me start to understand when I would be allowed to use different tactics and weapons to control the situation. Brian shared some great stories to help understand this as well as videos of inappropriate use of force, but also situations that once you know the whole of it, the force they used was appropriate. It was a very cool class.

Class 5-6

February 8th - Class 5 - I missed this class due to family issues

February 15th - Class 6 - Presentations

Was an interesting class. Groups of 3-4 gave presentations on different topics. Was nice to see not every presentation was just powerpoint.
My group presented on how to tactically communicate with someone wielding a weapon, so we had one of our group mates run in the run as we introduced ourselves with a nerfgun. He proceeded to yell and point the nerf gun at people in the class while a group member and I pulled out our nerf guns and proceeded to tell him to lower his weapon and drop it on the ground. We ended it with him shooting at us and we retaliated and shoot back killing him so show what would be considered the most extreme action to result from this.

Our groups presented on topics such as,
   - How to communicate with dispatch
   - How to communicate with a perpetrator
   - How to communicate with press/media
   - How to assist/deal with an intoxicated person

It was overall a fun class and informative. I enjoyed learning from the other class mates