Luka Rocco Magnotta
Luka Magnotta, known internationally as the ‘Canadian psycho’, fainted at his hearing today as he listened to the evidence against him.
Accused of killing, dismembering and eating his former lover, Magnotta mailed pieces of the body to Canada’s two main political party headquarters in Ottawa and a number of schools, ditching the rest of the corpse in Montreal parks.
Here’s what you need to know about Canada’s most loathed killer.
1. He Grew Up in Ontario, Raised by His Grandparents
Luka Magnotta, then known as Eric Newman, in his grade 10 yearbook photo
Born in Scarborough, Ontario on July 24, 1982, Magnotta was raised by his grandparents in Lindsay, Ontario. His parents are Don Newman and Anna Yourkin and he has a younger brother and sister and two younger half-siblings. His mother and sister currently live in Peterborough, Ontario.
According to his aunt: “He is a nut job – he was a time bomb waiting to explode.”
2. He Changed his Name and Had Numerous Plastic Surgeries
At the age of 24, Magnotta legally changed his name from Eric Clinton Kirk Newman to Luka Rocco Magnotta.
At age 25, he auditioned for a reality show called Plastic Makes Perfect that aired in Canada on the Slice channel. The show documented young Canadians who were having plastic surgery procedures. In his audition clip he describes his hair transplant surgeries.
He also had work done on his nose and eyes.
3. He Starred in Low-Rent Gay Porn
In 2003, Magnotta began to appear in low-budget gay porn videos and occasionally worked as a stripper and male escort.
He appeared as a pin-up model in a 2005 issue of Toronto’s fab magazine under the name “Jimmy”, and in 2007 he was an unsuccessful competitor in OUTtv’s reality series COVERguy.
4. He Tortured Kittens And Posted the Videos Online
In late 2010 the Animal Beta Project, a group of activists who pursue animal abusers, started investigating Magnotta after a video was posted of someone killing kittens by putting them in a sealed bag and sucking the air out with a vacuum.
A Facebook group called “Find the Kitten Vacuumer… For Great Justice” was formed that attracted 4,000 members, and a plot was later hatched to have Ron Jeremy invite Magnotta to Los Angeles in the guise of performing in a porn video.
Had it gone through, he would have been confronted by dozens of animal rights activists.
5. He Was Very Active on the Internet
Magnotta was extremely active online and had an prolific history creating videos and dating ads. He also created and maintained a personal website titled “Luka Magnotta Male Model” featuring photos of himself shirtless.
According to police, Magnotta also set up at least 70 Facebook pages under different names.
He also blogged, and described himself in one of his convoluted rants:
I live a convivial, sociable and vigorous life and for anyone to judge me by the virulent fiction they read online, would be naive, ignorant and incongruous. I do not necessarily feel the need to redeem my reputation since the people that know me best will be more than happy to vouch for my honesty in conduct and I can provide many satisfied and loyal references if necessary.
6. He Started Rumours That He was Dating Canada’s Other Most Loathed Serial Killer
Karla Homolka
As part of his online life, Magnotta is thought to have concocted rumours about himself, including that he was dating Canada’s most notorious female serial killer, Karla Homolka.
Homolka was convicted of manslaughter in the 1991 and 1992 rape and murder of two teenage girls, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, as well as the rape and murder of her little sister Tammy.
7. He Was Dating Jun (Justin) Lin Before He Murdered Him
Jun Lin
It’s not known how Magnotta met Jun (Justin) Lin, a student at Concordia University in Montreal, but the two men are thought to have dated. The 33-year-old Lin moved to Canada from China in July 2011, and was last seen by his friends on May 24, 2012.
Lin’s father came to Canada to attend Magnotta’s preliminary hearing, but had to leave the courtroom when the goriest evidence was presented.
8. Police Think He Had Sex With the Body
Luka Magnotta is taken by police from a Canadian military plane after his arrest
On May 25, 2012 an 11 minute video titled 1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick was uploaded to a gore website depicting a naked male tied to a bed frame being repeatedly stabbed with an ice pick and a kitchen knife. The body was then dismembered, followed by acts of necrophilia.
On May 26, an attorney from Montana reported the video to Toronto Police, his local Sheriff and the FBI, but the report was dismissed.
According to police, authorities were able to obtain a more extensive version of the video that confirmed cannibalism had taken place.
On May 29, a package containing a left foot and marked with a red heart was delivered to the headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada. A note was included, stating that a total of six body parts had been distributed and the perpetrator would kill again. Another package containing a left hand was intercepted at a Canada Post processing facility, addressed to the Liberal Party.
A janitor later discovered a decomposing torso inside a suitcase behind an apartment building in Montreal.
On June 13, the four limbs and the torso were matched to Jun Lin using DNA samples from his family. On July 1, his head was recovered at the edge of a small lake in Montreal after police received an anonymous tip.
9. He Fled to Europe Shortly After the Murder, Where He Was Captured
On May 26 Magnotta flew out of Montreal to Paris, France. He was not named a suspect in the killing until May 30, and he was then added to Interpol’s wanted list.
While in France Magnotta was spotted in a bar in Paris, where he left with an unnamed man.
He was eventually captured on June 4 in Berlin after he was spotted in an Internet cafe reading news reports about himself by an astute employee who recognized him from the news.
10. He Has Fans, Including A Lookalike From the U.S.
Despite the horrific crimes he’s been charged with, Magnotta appears to have a number of “fans”, including Kyle, a man from Raleigh, North Carolina who calls himself a “supporter”. He drove 1,400 km to attend Magnotta’s preliminary hearing in Montreal.
In addition, several “Luka Magnotta Fanclubs” have popped up on Facebook.