Latest news with #Magnotta


The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- The Irish Sun
I probe the minds of evil killers… infamous cat slayer signed his letters with sick moniker & lives in cloud cuckoo land
HE'S the psychopathic killer who filmed himself feeding a live kitten to a python and suffocating another in a plastic bag in a chilling bid for internet notoriety. But the sickening videos were a prelude to monstrous Advertisement 13 Luka Magnotta, a model and porn actor, was dubbed the 'Canadian Psycho' Credit: AFP 13 Jun Lin was violently murdered by Luka Magnotta in 2012 Credit: Rex Features 13 Magnotta used a python and other cruel methods to kill kittens in videos he posted online Credit: Collect Yet the Canadian, now 42, who was jailed for 25 years in 2014 for murdering Chinese university student Jun Lin, 33, remains remorseless according to true crime expert Teemu Saarenpää. After exchanging letters with Magnotta, real name Eric Newman, he believes the 'extremely ego-centric' killer 'lives in la la land' and remains in denial that he committed any wrongdoing. Advertisement Teemu, 41, who runs 'He's in denial, doesn't take responsibility for what he did and portrays himself as someone misunderstood by an evil society that set him up. 'He was unreflective of his deeds and is clearly a wannabe celebrity who wanted to be famous and a glamorous god. 'Because he wasn't able to obtain that fame through any real talent, he decided to become infamous instead.' Magnotta, who was the subject of hit 2019 Netflix docuseries Advertisement Other notable inmates he's probed include Speaking to The Sun for our Meeting a Monster series, Teemu admits he was particularly surprised by Magnotta's absolute refusal to acknowledge his callous crimes. In one letter Magnotta, known as 'Canadian Pyscho', refuted claims he was an animal killer - despite being captured on film - and brushed it off as jealous rivals who were 'very good with Photoshop'. Pathetic last days of Rose West revealed as serial killer monster can barely walk, has no friends & has new fake identity 13 Police say Magnotta had up to 80 aliases online Credit: Collect 13 Magnotta had aspirations of being a model Advertisement 13 A dead dog along with other incriminating things were found near to Magnotta's flat Credit: Splash News 13 The Canadian stabbed his lover Jun Lin to death with a screwdriver after tying him to a bed Credit: AP:Associated Press Among the incriminating clips was '1 Boy 2 Kittens', which showed him putting the animals into a plastic bag before using a vacuum to suffocate them. Yet Magnotta told Teemu: 'I never in my life harmed any animals – I actually adore them… I was falsely accused of willingly participating in some bizarre animal videos. I'm completely bewildered.' Chillingly, he also signed off his letter: 'Luka, aka cuddle cat'. Advertisement Magnotta snubbed doctors, who diagnosed him as schizophrenic, claiming they were 'self-serving' and created 'misleading reports'. One medical professional, he alleged, was 'obsessed with making a name for himself' - when in fact, according to Teemu, it was Magnotta who possessed a 'desperate obsession with getting a personality cult on the internet'. Magnotta, who says he has a 132 IQ score, also denied having created multiple online aliases - despite police reporting as many as 80 existed - claiming it to be the work of deranged fans. I never in my life harmed any animals – I actually adore them… I was falsely accused of willingly participating in some bizarre animal videos. I'm completely bewildered Luka Magnotta in a letter to Teemu Saarenpää 'If these idiots copied photos of me and impersonated me online, that's on them, that's their problem… I'm told people posing as me is an epidemic online,' he told Teemu, who's from Finland. 'I find it so pathetic and have always ignored it. I never, I repeat NEVER had any fake accounts, nor did I ever pose as anyone other than myself.' Advertisement When Magnotta was snared for murdering Jun Lin, cops discovered an 11-minute snuff film titled '1 Lunatic 1 Icepick', which showed him repeatedly stabbing his victim with a screwdriver and dismembering him. Sickeningly they revealed the killer used one of Lin's body parts to perform a sex act, then carved up his body with a knife and fork and fed bits of it to a dog. Teemu considered Luka deluded, describing him as 'in his own munchkin world' - unlike his other killer pen pal Richard Ramirez, who 'was aware he was evil and didn't give a s***'. 'The most evil person I've written to' 13 Monster Richard Ramirez murdered at least 14 people in the 80s 13 Ramirez was known as 'The Night Stalker' killer Credit: Netflix Advertisement 13 Ramirez proudly flashed a pentagram he had drawn on his hand in court Credit: Getty - Contributor The monster, dubbed 'the Teemu wrote to Ramirez, who plagued California during the Eighties, in a bid to understand how someone 'so tangibly evil' thought. 'He was definitely the most evil person I've written to,' Teemu says. 'Ramirez embraced being as depraved, as horrible, as deplorable as a human being could be. 'He was a Satanist. He embraced everything evil and spoke about worshipping the Devil, who he believed to be a real entity. Advertisement 'He didn't give a s*** about anything, killing was for fun for him, and even after he received the death penalty, he said, 'Big deal, death always came with the territory, I'll see you in Disneyland'.' But in Ramirez's letter, Teemu claimed he came across 'more like a chilled Californian surfer' or ' He says: 'There are some killers who are very verbose and self-reflective, but Ramirez was the exact opposite. "He liked AC/DC, Eighties muscle cars, chicks, beer, that sort of thing.' I wouldn't want to be anywhere near him. If he was in a 10km radius, I'd get on a bus in the opposite direction Teemu Saarenpää Teemu suspects Ramirez was either not very intelligent or masquerading with a 'mundane mask of sanity' to pretend he was normal. Advertisement Teemu found one element of Ramirez's letter particularly chilling - the question: 'So any nieces or nephews in your life?' 'It was such a weird and specific thing to say that I looked it up online and Ramirez has a habit of asking penpals that question before trying to get them to send pictures of them,' Teemu explains. He fears this was a ploy to solicit snaps of underage children - and suspects it shows Ramirez - who died of natural causes in 2013 - was a paedophile. The death row inmate was known to have previously molested two kids in a lift and forced a three-year-old boy, who he tied up, to watch his mother being raped. Shock discovery Teemu's fascination with dark subject matter began after meeting a sweet old lady who he became friends with during his childhood - only to discover she was a murderer. Advertisement 'Sometime later I heard from my parents that she killed her husband and buried him in the garden of her home,' he says. 'You absolutely wouldn't believe it if you met her. It made me realise there is no 'killer gene' or anything categorically different in the brains of killers to the rest of the public, which I found really intriguing.' The revelation set him on a path to try to get inside the minds of famous killers, initially through reading books and watching documentaries, before deciding to write to them. 'I find the dark side of human life, full of stories so different from my lived reality, so fascinating,' Teemu says. 'I'm a normal, middle class dude, a bit like Milhouse from The Simpsons, so finding out about these people is like looking into the inverse mirror. Advertisement 'It makes me think how my life could have been if I was born in a warzone, watched people die, gone through a traumatic childhood or lived in an abusive family.' 'Violent psychopath' 13 Charles Bronson wasn't as intimidating in letters, as Teemu predicted 13 Bronson sent Teemu a painted postcard Credit: Supplied Teemu also exchanged letters with He wrote to the crook because he found his 'totally relentless one-man war against the authorities' fascinating. Advertisement 'If you told him, 'You can turn right to gold and chocolate and left to hell', he would turn to hell and refuse to obey, even if the decision did not help him,' Teemu says. It featured the Latin phrase 'Candor dat viribus alas', which translates to 'Candour gives wings to strength', and the sketch of a book titled 'Freedom is Wonderful by Charles Bronson'. Additionally he sent a short letter quizzing Teemu about his life, and was 'charismatic, verbose and always making jokes'. 'You can see how he would have a certain magnetism and women would want to be with him,' he says of the lag, who has married twice while behind bars and had several girlfriends. Advertisement You can see how he would have a certain magnetism and women would want to be with him Teemu on Charles Bronson But beneath the surface, Teemu noted a darker side. Bronson made a distasteful joke in response to him disclosing he had worked with refugees from Afghanistan, Bronson wrote: 'You mention that you work with folks from the Middle East. That's funny because you reminded me of a story where I took someone hostage – that person was Middle Eastern.' Teemu adds: 'He didn't elaborate but... he said it like someone would say, 'I went to Italy the other day,' but being Bronson he's like, 'Oh yeah, I took an Iranian guy hostage'.' He adds he would never meet the "violent psychopath" in person, admitting: 'I wouldn't want to be anywhere near him. If he was in a 10km radius, I'd get on a bus in the opposite direction.' Read more about Teemu's interviews with serial killers and murderers at Advertisement 13 Teemu's fascination with dark subject matter began after meeting a sweet old lady who he became friends with during his childhood - only to discover she was a murderer Credit: Supplied Who are the UK's worst serial killers? THE UK's most prolific serial killer was actually a doctor. Here's a rundown of the worst offenders in the UK. After his death Jonathan Balls was accused of poisoning at least 22 people between 1824 and 1845. Amelia Sach and Annie Walters became known as the Finchley Baby Farmers after killing at least 20 babies between 1900 and 1902. The pair became the first women to be hanged at Holloway Prison on February 3, 1903. William Burke and William Hare killed 16 people and sold their bodies.


Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I probe the minds of evil killers… infamous cat slayer signed his letters with sick moniker & lives in cloud cuckoo land
True crime expert Teemu Saarenpää admits Magnotta was not the most evil person he became pen pals with BEHIND BARS I probe the minds of evil killers… infamous cat slayer signed his letters with sick moniker & lives in cloud cuckoo land HE'S the psychopathic killer who filmed himself feeding a live kitten to a python and suffocating another in a plastic bag in a chilling bid for internet notoriety. But the sickening videos were a prelude to monstrous Luka Magnotta's final act - stabbing a lover to death, chopping up his body and posting out the severed body parts to schools and politicians. Advertisement 13 Luka Magnotta, a model and porn actor, was dubbed the 'Canadian Psycho' Credit: AFP 13 Jun Lin was violently murdered by Luka Magnotta in 2012 Credit: Rex Features 13 Magnotta used a python and other cruel methods to kill kittens in videos he posted online Credit: Collect Yet the Canadian, now 42, who was jailed for 25 years in 2014 for murdering Chinese university student Jun Lin, 33, remains remorseless according to true crime expert Teemu Saarenpää. After exchanging letters with Magnotta, real name Eric Newman, he believes the 'extremely ego-centric' killer 'lives in la la land' and remains in denial that he committed any wrongdoing. Advertisement Teemu, 41, who runs blog Forenseek, tells The Sun: 'He lives in a totally upside-down, candy land world where he believes he's accused of something he didn't do. 'He's in denial, doesn't take responsibility for what he did and portrays himself as someone misunderstood by an evil society that set him up. 'He was unreflective of his deeds and is clearly a wannabe celebrity who wanted to be famous and a glamorous god. 'Because he wasn't able to obtain that fame through any real talent, he decided to become infamous instead.' Magnotta, who was the subject of hit 2019 Netflix docuseries Don't F*** With Cats, is one of many monsters Teemu has been able to see inside the mind of by writing letters to them in prison. Advertisement Other notable inmates he's probed include Charles Bronson, who made a distasteful quip about hostage-taking, and 'Night Stalker' serial killer Richard Ramirez, who was the 'most evil person' he's spoken to. Speaking to The Sun for our Meeting a Monster series, Teemu admits he was particularly surprised by Magnotta's absolute refusal to acknowledge his callous crimes. In one letter Magnotta, known as 'Canadian Pyscho', refuted claims he was an animal killer - despite being captured on film - and brushed it off as jealous rivals who were 'very good with Photoshop'. Pathetic last days of Rose West revealed as serial killer monster can barely walk, has no friends & has new fake identity 13 Police say Magnotta had up to 80 aliases online Credit: Collect 13 Magnotta had aspirations of being a model Advertisement 13 A dead dog along with other incriminating things were found near to Magnotta's flat Credit: Splash News 13 The Canadian stabbed his lover Jun Lin to death with a screwdriver after tying him to a bed Credit: AP:Associated Press Among the incriminating clips was '1 Boy 2 Kittens', which showed him putting the animals into a plastic bag before using a vacuum to suffocate them. Yet Magnotta told Teemu: 'I never in my life harmed any animals – I actually adore them… I was falsely accused of willingly participating in some bizarre animal videos. I'm completely bewildered.' Chillingly, he also signed off his letter: 'Luka, aka cuddle cat'. Advertisement Magnotta snubbed doctors, who diagnosed him as schizophrenic, claiming they were 'self-serving' and created 'misleading reports'. One medical professional, he alleged, was 'obsessed with making a name for himself' - when in fact, according to Teemu, it was Magnotta who possessed a 'desperate obsession with getting a personality cult on the internet'. Magnotta, who says he has a 132 IQ score, also denied having created multiple online aliases - despite police reporting as many as 80 existed - claiming it to be the work of deranged fans. I never in my life harmed any animals – I actually adore them… I was falsely accused of willingly participating in some bizarre animal videos. I'm completely bewildered Luka Magnotta in a letter to Teemu Saarenpää 'If these idiots copied photos of me and impersonated me online, that's on them, that's their problem… I'm told people posing as me is an epidemic online,' he told Teemu, who's from Finland. 'I find it so pathetic and have always ignored it. I never, I repeat NEVER had any fake accounts, nor did I ever pose as anyone other than myself.' Advertisement When Magnotta was snared for murdering Jun Lin, cops discovered an 11-minute snuff film titled '1 Lunatic 1 Icepick', which showed him repeatedly stabbing his victim with a screwdriver and dismembering him. Sickeningly they revealed the killer used one of Lin's body parts to perform a sex act, then carved up his body with a knife and fork and fed bits of it to a dog. Teemu considered Luka deluded, describing him as 'in his own munchkin world' - unlike his other killer pen pal Richard Ramirez, who 'was aware he was evil and didn't give a s***'. 'The most evil person I've written to' 13 Monster Richard Ramirez murdered at least 14 people in the 80s 13 Ramirez was known as 'The Night Stalker' killer Credit: Netflix Advertisement 13 Ramirez proudly flashed a pentagram he had drawn on his hand in court Credit: Getty - Contributor The monster, dubbed 'the Night Stalker', murdered at least 14 people and raped multiple women at knife-point, often in front of their partners and children. Teemu wrote to Ramirez, who plagued California during the Eighties, in a bid to understand how someone 'so tangibly evil' thought. 'He was definitely the most evil person I've written to,' Teemu says. 'Ramirez embraced being as depraved, as horrible, as deplorable as a human being could be. 'He was a Satanist. He embraced everything evil and spoke about worshipping the Devil, who he believed to be a real entity. Advertisement 'He didn't give a s*** about anything, killing was for fun for him, and even after he received the death penalty, he said, 'Big deal, death always came with the territory, I'll see you in Disneyland'.' But in Ramirez's letter, Teemu claimed he came across 'more like a chilled Californian surfer' or 'Keanu Reeves in the Bill & Ted movies' than a depraved murderer. He says: 'There are some killers who are very verbose and self-reflective, but Ramirez was the exact opposite. "He liked AC/DC, Eighties muscle cars, chicks, beer, that sort of thing.' I wouldn't want to be anywhere near him. If he was in a 10km radius, I'd get on a bus in the opposite direction Teemu Saarenpää Teemu suspects Ramirez was either not very intelligent or masquerading with a 'mundane mask of sanity' to pretend he was normal. Advertisement Teemu found one element of Ramirez's letter particularly chilling - the question: 'So any nieces or nephews in your life?' 'It was such a weird and specific thing to say that I looked it up online and Ramirez has a habit of asking penpals that question before trying to get them to send pictures of them,' Teemu explains. He fears this was a ploy to solicit snaps of underage children - and suspects it shows Ramirez - who died of natural causes in 2013 - was a paedophile. The death row inmate was known to have previously molested two kids in a lift and forced a three-year-old boy, who he tied up, to watch his mother being raped. Shock discovery Teemu's fascination with dark subject matter began after meeting a sweet old lady who he became friends with during his childhood - only to discover she was a murderer. Advertisement 'Sometime later I heard from my parents that she killed her husband and buried him in the garden of her home,' he says. 'You absolutely wouldn't believe it if you met her. It made me realise there is no 'killer gene' or anything categorically different in the brains of killers to the rest of the public, which I found really intriguing.' The revelation set him on a path to try to get inside the minds of famous killers, initially through reading books and watching documentaries, before deciding to write to them. 'I find the dark side of human life, full of stories so different from my lived reality, so fascinating,' Teemu says. 'I'm a normal, middle class dude, a bit like Milhouse from The Simpsons, so finding out about these people is like looking into the inverse mirror. Advertisement 'It makes me think how my life could have been if I was born in a warzone, watched people die, gone through a traumatic childhood or lived in an abusive family.' 'Violent psychopath' 13 Charles Bronson wasn't as intimidating in letters, as Teemu predicted 13 Bronson sent Teemu a painted postcard Credit: Supplied Teemu also exchanged letters with Charles Bronson, who he says came across like a 'jolly British bloke' and acted like 'someone you'd meet in a pub after an Arsenal match'. He wrote to the crook because he found his 'totally relentless one-man war against the authorities' fascinating. Advertisement 'If you told him, 'You can turn right to gold and chocolate and left to hell', he would turn to hell and refuse to obey, even if the decision did not help him,' Teemu says. Bronson sent Teemu a piece of artwork depicting himself topless on a beach musing about no longer being in prison. It featured the Latin phrase 'Candor dat viribus alas', which translates to 'Candour gives wings to strength', and the sketch of a book titled 'Freedom is Wonderful by Charles Bronson'. Additionally he sent a short letter quizzing Teemu about his life, and was 'charismatic, verbose and always making jokes'. 'You can see how he would have a certain magnetism and women would want to be with him,' he says of the lag, who has married twice while behind bars and had several girlfriends. Advertisement You can see how he would have a certain magnetism and women would want to be with him Teemu on Charles Bronson But beneath the surface, Teemu noted a darker side. Bronson made a distasteful joke in response to him disclosing he had worked with refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Bronson wrote: 'You mention that you work with folks from the Middle East. That's funny because you reminded me of a story where I took someone hostage – that person was Middle Eastern.' Teemu adds: 'He didn't elaborate but... he said it like someone would say, 'I went to Italy the other day,' but being Bronson he's like, 'Oh yeah, I took an Iranian guy hostage'.' He adds he would never meet the "violent psychopath" in person, admitting: 'I wouldn't want to be anywhere near him. If he was in a 10km radius, I'd get on a bus in the opposite direction.' Read more about Teemu's interviews with serial killers and murderers at Advertisement 13 Teemu's fascination with dark subject matter began after meeting a sweet old lady who he became friends with during his childhood - only to discover she was a murderer Credit: Supplied


Daily Mirror
28-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Warped killer butchered helpless student and put body parts in post
Hundreds of citizen detectives were determined to learn the identity of depraved Luka Magnotta months before he committed a brutal murder, even warning authorities he was set to kill Like several well known killers before him, twisted Luka Magnotta started out by abusing animals before he progressed to human slaughter. The murderer's sick online video of pet torture called '1 boy 2 kitten' would eventually prove to be his downfall after a group of animal loving citizen detectives tracked him down. Now 42, Magnotta is behind bars in Canada for killing Chinese international student Jun Lin, 33, who he had met on a dating site. Back in May 2012, he filmed the sick murder of his victim and posted it online, calling it '1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick'. Posted on a gore site, the horrific video showed Magnotta in dark clothing towering over blindfolded Lin as he stabbed him a hundred times. The depraved murderer later dismembered his victim's body before mailing it to various political parties in Toronto, sparking a huge police search. His video contained clues - a poster for the movie Casablanca was above the bed, while New Order's track True Faith was playing in the background. And hundreds of cat-loving detectives were already on Magnotta's trail, coming close to catching him for his sick torture of animals. A year and a half before he murdered Lin, a Facebook group had been mobilised after Magnotta posted footage of a figure in a dark green hoodie suffocating two tabby kittens using a vacuum and plastic bag. They spent thousands of hours analysing photographs for clues and metadata which they handed to law enforcement, convinced that just like serial killers like Ian Brady, the as yet unidentified Magnotta would go onto kill humans. The internet sleuths identified a wolf blanket on the sick footage as one that retailed on eBay and could be shipped internationally from the US. From plug sockets to the size of the twin beds in the clip, everything was analysed to try and find the video's location. The breakthrough came when one of the sleuths received a message: "The name of the kitten vacummer you are looking for is Luka Magnotta." Searching online found the man named seemingly living the life of a jet-setting top model, with wild rumours suggesting he had dated both Michael Jackson and Madonna. Narcissistic Magnotta had created a false online profile for himself - in reality he was born in Toronto and became a stripper and porn star. Convicted of defrauding a vulnerable 21-year-old woman, he later filed for bankruptcy and in his quest for fame entered reality TV shows and created countless websites and news articles about himself. When he failed to become a star he progressed to kitten torture, which did capture the public's attention for all the wrong reasons. Now armed with a name, the determined internet sleuths tracked Magnotta to a location in Toronto where police found he had already moved out. The twisted torturer next made a video called 'Python Christmas ', which showed a live kitten being fed to a snake, before another showing a kitten being drowned in a bathtub. The sick clips were filmed in Islington, North London and Magnotta went onto meet a reporter from The Sun newspaper who had been alerted by the citizen detectives. Chillingly, the killer later sent an email to the reporter which warned: "Next time you hear from me it will be in a movie I am producing that will have some humans in it, not just pussies... Once you kill and taste blood it's impossible to stop." Magnotta's warning sadly came true five months later. After body parts were distributed, the killer's studio apartment in Montreal was found complete with a blood soaked mattress and he became one of Interpol's most wanted. And it was a Berlin internet cafe worker, Kadir Anlayisli, who snared him in the end - the eagle-eyed news lover recognised the killer looking up articles about himself. Magnotta had achieved his dream of being famous and in 2014, he was jailed for 25 years in Montreal for first degree murder. He will become eligible for day parole in June 2034. His story was told on Netflix docu-series, Don't F**k with Cats'.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Where Is Luka Magnotta Now? Inside the Killer's Life After Brutally Murdering a Stranger and Mailing His Body Parts
Luka Magnotta murdered a Canadian student, Jun Lin, in May 2012 The Canadian killer was previously known online for making videos in which he killed kittens in gruesome manners He fled to Europe after the murder but was later extradited and sentenced to life in prison, where he has continued to make headlinesLuka Magnotta was one of the most wanted men in the world in 2012, and his infamy only grew when Netflix released the 2019 docuseries Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. The show followed cyber-sleuths' attempts at finding Magnotta after he posted videos of himself killing kittens online. Magnotta ultimately escalated his violence from animal cruelty to murder when he killed and dismembered a Canadian student, Jun Lin, in May 2012. Magnotta posted a video of the gruesome slaying and mailed Lin's body parts to Canadian government officials before fleeing the country for Europe, per The Guardian. An international manhunt ensued for Magnotta, who was also accused of defiling Lin's corpse. Here's what to know about where Luka Magnotta is now. Magnotta was born Eric Clinton Newman on July 24, 1982, in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to Anna Yourkin and Donald Newman, per the National Post. The Montreal Gazette reported that, according to a psychiatrist's notes, Yourkin and Newman were teen parents who didn't send Magnotta to school until sixth grade. Per the outlet, Magnotta's parents divorced in 1994 after Newman was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Magnotta alleged that his mother would frequently lock her children outside and kill their pets. When he was a teenager, Magnotta was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after he claimed to have begun hearing voices. He ultimately dropped out of school and entered a group home for psychiatric care in 1999. The criminal was convicted of fraud in 2004 after racking up nearly $17,000 on a woman's credit card, The Guardian reported. Per the National Post, he was also charged with sexually assaulting the woman, but the charge was dismissed. In 2006, Magnotta officially changed his name to Luka Rocco Magnotta in an effort to start a new life, CBC News reported. He was then hospitalized several times in various Ontario hospitals, per Global News, for various mental and physical health problems. At the time, Magnotta attempted a career in modeling, adult films and reality TV. In 2007, Magnotta filed for bankruptcy, the Vancouver Sun reported. Jun Lin, also known as Justin Lin, was an international student from Wuhan, China, who moved to Canada to pursue a degree in computer science, per the Toronto Star. Lin was previously married to a woman and divorced, per CBC News. When he moved to Canada, CTV News reported, he began dating fellow permanent resident Lin Feng from late 2010 to May 2012. They lived together while they dated, with Feng later testifying in court that he aided Lin financially at times. Feng added that Lin's parents were allegedly pressuring him to marry a woman and didn't know that Lin was gay and in a romantic relationship with him. Feng also noted that after they broke up, they remained friends and texted regularly. Lin was last seen alive on the evening of May 24, 2012, when he was seen on a security camera with Magnotta entering his Montreal apartment building, Global News reported. Magnotta began posting disturbing videos online in 2010, including several in which he drowned and suffocated kittens. Internet sleuths tracked Magnotta down and labeled him as "The Vacuum Kitten Killer" and reported him to police, according to CNN. He initially denied that he was the perpetrator, but later confessed to the crimes in a 2011 email to The Sun, in which he also hinted that his next victim wouldn't be an animal. In May 2012, Magnotta murdered and dismembered Lin in his own apartment. He then mailed one of Lin's severed feet to Canada's Conservative Party and a severed hand to Canada's Liberal Party. Lin's torso was found in a suitcase in a Montreal apartment building where Magnotta lived at the time. Magnotta fled Canada after the murder, wearing a wig and boarding a flight to Paris, Global News reported. Police initially struggled to find Lin's head, according to CTV News, but later discovered it in a park. On May 29, the superintendent of Magnotta's apartment in Montreal called police after he found a human torso in a suitcase. Police on the scene found garbage bags filled with a dead puppy, blood-stained clothing, a circular saw, knives and human limbs, as well as Magnotta's ID, per Global News. Investigators initially thought Magnotta may have been the victim, as the torso hadn't yet been identified, but later that night, they saw a video online of him stabbing and dismembering Lin, feeding parts of his corpse to a dog and committing acts of necrophilia, titled "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick." They also noticed that in surveillance footage from after the slaying, Magnotta was wearing the same shirt Lin was in when he was last seen alive. Days later, a forensic biologist found that Lin's blood and DNA were found all over Magnotta's apartment. While Canadian investigators pieced together clues, Magnotta partied for several days in Berlin with a man named Frank Rubert, whom he met online. According to Global News, on June 4, Magnotta went to an Internet cafe in Berlin, where he read news stories about himself. While he was there, Rubert recognized his face on the front page of a newspaper — and so did the employee working at the front desk of the cafe, who called the police. Magnotta was detained just outside the establishment that afternoon, initially denying his identity to police before admitting, "You got me." He was extradited back to Canada two weeks later and arrested. In December 2014, a jury convicted Magnotta of first-degree murder, committing an indignity to a human body, publishing obscene material and mailing obscene and indecent material. He was also convicted of criminally harassing then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament, according to Global News. Magnotta was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 25 years for the first-degree murder charge, plus an additional 19 years for the other charges. After the jury announced the verdict, the prosecutor read a statement from Lin's father on behalf of his family. "In one night, we lost a lifetime of hope, our futures, parts of our past," the statement read. "We do not want to tell our story because it is too sad to repeat. We cannot talk much about Lin Jun without talking about his murder. The murder has robbed us not only of Lin Jun but our ability to think and talk about him without feeling pain and shame." Magnotta began his prison sentence at a maximum security prison in Port-Cartier, Quebec, according to CTV News. Seven months later, in July 2015, Magnotta reportedly placed a personal ad for a "Prince Charming" romantic partner on a website that attempts to link convicts. The ad was removed weeks later after the site creator said she received a letter in which he said he "found what he was looking for," per CTV News. Magnotta reportedly planned to marry another inmate from New Brunswick, Canada, two years later, though Vice reported that they wouldn't legally be able to consummate their relationship. In 2018, Magnotta's mother co-authored My Son, the Killer with author Brian Whitney. In the book, Magnotta spoke out publicly for the first time since his conviction, telling Whitney (via the Toronto Sun) that he regretted his defense strategy. "It's very annoying. I never wanted anything to do with the NCR [not criminally responsible] defense," Magnotta said. "I have no mental illness whatsoever. I had to go with it, even though I didn't want to, but my lawyers pressured me into it." In 2022, Magnotta was transferred to the medium-security facility La Macaza Institution, per CBC. According to CTV, Magnotta is currently imprisoned there and will be eligible for day parole on June 4, 2034, and for full parole on June 4, 2037. Read the original article on People

Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JA Inspire brings together 2,900 students with 100-plus area businesses
Apr. 1—PLAINS TWP. — Peyton Spall and Chayse Roche, both sophomores at Carbondale Area High School, on Tuesday said the "JA Inspire Career Exploration Experience" exceeded their expectations, offering invaluable information that will help decide their career paths. Junior Achievement NEPA president Susan Magnotta said JA Inspire is a "one-of-a-kind career exploration experience" that brought together more than 2,900 students from 40 regional schools with 100-plus area businesses and entrepreneurs to help introduce students to a world of future work options right here in NEPA. "This has been more than I expected," Spall said. "There is so much information here that will help students decide what they want to study in college, or what trade they might want to get training for." Spall said she is planning on going to college to seek a degree in business management Roche said he is undecided on what career path he may take, but he said he gathered a lot of information at the JA Inspire event. "This really helps a lot," Roche said. "It's very well organized and there are so many employers here to talk to." All those comments were like music to Magnotta's ears. She said the event, in its third year, has grown by leaps and bounds. "It's really amazing to see all these students interacting with the employers," Magnotta said. "It's great to have an interactive event that opens the eyes of the students to so many opportunities to help them make informed decisions on their futures." Junior Achievement of NEPA called JA Inspire "a one-of-a-kind career exploration event" that engages high school students in hands-on, interactive exhibits with local companies and business professionals, exposing them to career opportunities, creating connections, and inspiring them toward a pathway for future success. "JA Inspire provides students with the opportunity to learn about careers in a variety of industries and sectors," Magnotta said. "We also want to thank our presenting sponsor, Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services & Discover NEPA." A sampling of interactive activities at JA Inspire 2025 included virtual reality tools and demos, welding activities, construction equipment and tools, electric excavator, 3D printer, personality test, ultrasound technology, dental hygiene demo, augmented reality health science glass demo, robotics demo, HVAC tool demo, electrical line worker tools, drone technology, night vision goggles, basaltic gear, HAZMAT identifiers, sensory activities and more. JA Inspire was held at Mohegan Sun Pennsylvania Convention Center. Students who participated in the JA Inspire event: —Connected with hundreds of professionals from NEPA's most prominent employers. —Explored career pathways and learn about the skills needed for in-demand jobs. —Recognized career clusters that match their skills and interests. —Identified job and internship opportunities. —Spoke to colleges and universities about majors that fit their career needs. —Received help with resume building and interview skills. A sampling of results from the 2024 event showed that: —97% of students said that JA Inspire helped them to determine their future career path. —60% of students said that the event helped them to eliminate a career they were considering. —86% of students said they found a new career that they want to learn more about. Industry clusters represented —Architecture, engineering, construction, technology and trades. —Hospitality, media and marketing. —Banking and finance. —Business, insurance, sales and service. —Health services. —Education and training. —Energy, utilities and environment. —Government and public safety. —Manufacturing and transportation. —Entrepreneurship. —Nonprofit. Schools in attendance —Benton Area High School. —Carbondale Area High School. —CareerLink. —Crestwood High School. —Dallas High School. —Dunmore High School. —Greater Nanticoke Area High School. —Hanover Area High School. —Hazleton Area High School. —Holy Cross High School. —Holy Redeemer High School. —Keystone Job Corps. —Lackawanna Trail High School. —Lake-Lehman High School. —MMI Prep. —North Pocono High School. —Northwest Area High School. —Old Forge High School. —PA CareerLink. —Pittston Area High School. —Riverside High School. —Scranton High School. —Scranton STEMM Academy. —Valley View High School. —Wallenpaupack Area High School. —Wilkes-Barre Area High School. —Wilkes-Barre Homeschool Group. —West Scranton High School. —West Side CTC. —Wyoming Area High School. —Wyoming Valley West High School. —Wyoming Valley Homeschool Group. Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.