Luka Magnotta, a former porn actor, was convicted yesterday by a jury of first-degree murder in the 2012 slaying of Jun Lin, 33, after eight days of deliberations. The conviction carried a mandatory life sentence, with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
"He wanted to be judged by a jury of his peers," Magnotta's lawyer Luc Leclair said on his client's behalf. "He accepts the verdict. For quite some time he has been preparing for the verdict with his father, some friends and his therapist. He has been focusing on rebuilding his life."
Magnotta, 32, had pleaded not guilty. While he admitted to the slaying, he sought to be found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity but did not testify during the trial. His lawyer argued he is schizophrenic and couldn't tell right from wrong at the time of the slaying.
The prosecution countered the crime was both planned and deliberate.
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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. Magnotta replied with an email that cats were just the beginning.
"Next time you hear from me it will be in a movie I am producing, that will have some humans in it ..." Magnotta wrote near the end of the email sent Dec. 10, 2011. Later in that message, he added: "Once you kill, and taste blood, its impossible to stop. The urge is just too strong not to continue."