Canadian porn actor Luke Magnotta has been jailed for 25 years after being found guilty of murdering and dismembering his partner in 2012.
Although Magnotta’s defence team pushed for a plea based on diminished responsibility stemming from mental illness, the jury still found Magnotta to be culpable for his actions in what was a gruesome crime.
After murdering his lover Jun Lin, Magnotta then sent Lin’s dismembered body parts via mail to a number of political party headquarters and schools across Canada. Authorities also believe that a video posted online showing a man being murdered with an ice pick shows Lin’s murder being carried out.
Magnotta had made attempts to evade police in the aftermath of the murder, having flown to Paris from Montreal before finally being apprehended in a Berlin internet café.
Magnotta’s sentence comes with no chance of parole and another 19 years added on for various related crimes including harassment, mailing obscene material and committing an indignity to a body. Lawyer’s acting on Magnotta’s behalf have yet to confirm whether they plan to appeal.
The case itself quickly gained international notoriety as various Canadian institutions received their grisly parcels and Canadian authorities were joined by Interpol and other inter-agency services.
The case against Magnotta appeared to be very strong, with jurors being shown harrowing video evidence of the murder, other footage found on the defendant’s laptop and CCTV footage of Magnotta cleaning and running errands while wearing his victim’s clothes over the course of the 10-week trial.
