Don't F**k With Cats (2019)
- Feb 22, 2024
- 14 min read
The case of Luka Magnotta's literal psychosis is one I was introduced to when I was unfortunately way too young (12) and going thru a morbidly curious phase. And yes- I saw all the videos just after he was arrested around 2012. And if you're not ready for gore and violence, you're not ready for this case. So please leave if that is what you're not ready for. If you're ready for a discussion about violence towards animals AND humans, you're in the right place. I will not be linking ANY of the original footage of the crimes. You can watch a censored version of some of these vile acts in Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019).
The insanity in this case really trickles down from a few concepts:
1 - ANYBODY can be ANYBODY(S) online.
~The experience of instant anonymity that the internet provides for several million humans is exactly what leads people to commit acts they wouldn't otherwise seek out to do and share information that they wouldn't otherwise put forth. The Perpetrator in this case used that anonymous shield in order to facilitate fear-mongering among certain online groups and leave "bread-crumbs" for online amateur sleuths to seek out.
2 - Violence gets Views.
~Magnotta knew how to achieve fame. He was OBSESSED with notoriety and becoming legendary. Sadly, he did, and for exactly the reason he wanted to. So he kept committing crimes and posting recordings of these crimes for the world to view, and he relished every second. This fucker got away for almost two years with murdering animals and a person. And every click- every watch - and every response to his violence is what he wanted. He worked the world's predisposition towards morbid curiosity in order to get his rocks off.
3 - Don't Fuck with Cats.
~I think Magnotta knew that his choices in killing the cats (and the dog and person he ended up murdering too[and god knows what other crimes]) was a form of destroying innocence. He knew these specific images and videos would get the most backlash in the groups he posted them in. You wouldn't post a carjacking video in an animal abuse forum and expect the same response from the individuals in that group, than if you posted it in an Anti-Theft group. This is very different from hunting game for food or even fishing in a lake. He perpetrated physical harm to living creatures and laughed while doing it, then took those images and posted them in an Animal-Rights forum.. The lack of respect for the innocence of these creatures (and the man he killed), is al extremely indicative of the sociopathic tendencies of this individual.
Episode 1: Cat and Mouse
The first video that was released on YouTube back in the day (2010), is very simply, disgusting. It is a short video of a man, whose identity is concealed for the most part, vacuum-sealing two kittens to death in a plastic bag while John Lennon's "So This is Christmas" blares in the background. Literally, I'm not making any of that up.
So the internet exploded, and rightfully so. People try to track the origin of the video, and no dice. Hopefully, it's a one-off right? Wrong. Oh god were they wrong.
Then a second video is posted, of the same man playing with the aforementioned dead kittens' bodies and images of said kittens in a freezer. Oh, and an image of himself with his face blurred, holding the kittens when they were alive. He wants to really put salt in that wound, here. As if to say, you want me, but you can't fucking catch me. You can't identify me. Not only that, but he was obviously following along with the investigation online because he was posting these images (with throwaway accounts) in forums that were trying to track him down, and specifically made to track him down.
And yes, it gets even more wild.
Several Animal Rights Activists and those involved in the original sleuthing on Facebook weigh in on the first two videos and the images, but really the meat of this episode comes when the psychoanalysis begins.
The unknown perpetrator is showing signs of the developmental steps of escalating into a serial killer. Torturing animals is one of the early steps. As are signs of withdrawal and a need for control as well as a need to be seen, while simultaneously getting away with things they know are appalling to the general public.
The same individual then admits to posting a video of a cat being burned alive in a cage with another throwaway account. Claiming he did that, and being proud of it.
The online groups get this same throwaway account to admit to the original vacuum video, but the thing was, the actual Perp led all of these amateur detectives down a rabbit hole toward another individual in South Africa - who ended up dying by suicide. Yeah. The amateur detectives online-bullied this random guy until he killed himself, and it turns out he wasn't the guy. Or even connected to the videos of the cats at all.
So my first though is how incredibly sad- this man must not have known at all why he was being attacked, and the online sleuths should NOT have taken matters into their own hands. My second thought is- come on? All of the evidence was pointing to North America and this rando was in South Africa? Do better. And then my third thought is that I'm sure Magnotta relished in this. He was a sick enough human that he probably thought this gentleman's suicide was hilarious.
Luka finally outs himself to the group. He sends his real name into some direct messages for attention and the group is initially confused and hesitant, due to the death of the aforementioned individual from South Africa, but then they decide to start looking into this Luka guy anyways. What if this new person really is the person doing all this crazy shit?!
The sleuths do an amazing job at researching this Luka Magnotta dude and really find out that he's like a Z-List celebrity, full-offense intended.
And then the PhotoShopping is discovered. Luka was photoshopping his own face onto other people's bodies. Deadass. And then they realize the hundreds of fan accounts were also created by Luka himself. And videos of him, posted of himself. He was clearly insane like way long before he started killing animals (and people).
So this brings me to the weird history of Luka Magnotta claiming fake fame. Years ago he was calling into radio stations saying he was being romantically linked to Karla Homolka (The Ken and Barbie Killers). This would be one thing if Karla Homolka wasn't probably someone Luka idolized. Of course nobody would want to be romantically linked to her, so why would you create a rumor that you were? Unless you wanted to be? See where I'm going with this? Luka was connecting himself to Madonna, Karla Homolka, and claimed that he was being doxxed and threatened. By whomst? Absolutely nobody that he could prove.
So the armchair sleuths start snooping as they do, and looked through the photos online of Luka, until they hit on some GPS coordinates saved in one of the image's Exif Data.
Canada. This bitch is in Canada. We got him.
So the Sleuths continue to sleuth and they find him. They fucking find him. This shit is magnificent. They pinpoint his location using google maps and find the apartment he is supposedly staying in.
Gotcha Kitten Killer.
Or so they thought.
He's not there. He's supposedly in Russia now.
Square one.
A new video drops. He duct-tapes a cat to a broom and holds it under water and drowns it in a tub.
Then another, just a few hours later, on the same day.
A recording now of another cat being fed to a large python. Alive.
He is posting these videos under strange names and faces, and eventually, the sleuths figure out that he has portrayed himself as multiple victims of the Moor Murderers.
So now he's officially being picked up by larger media corporations after both of these videos dropped. Smells like FAME to Luka, I'm sure.
Luka outs himself again as being located at the Fusilier Inn in London, and for sure he was there. Someone tracks him down and he complains again that people are threatening him, threatening his life, and he gets away again. The London Sleuths try contacting the police, but nothing comes of this first attempt to catch Luka.
Another video. This time of multiple workplaces of the Sleuths who are tracking him.
The perp is now stalking the individuals who are stalking him.
Cat and Mouse for sure.
Suddenly these recent videos make the computer sleuths realize that they might be getting too close, and the fear of being hurt by this very dangerous individual starts to kick in.
Another video.
And this is the video heard round the world
Episode 2: Killing for Clicks
If you know anything about this case, you know about this video and have probably seen it. I don't recommend looking it up. But let's just say it turned my stomach when I saw it at twelve years old. And it still turns my stomach now.
It's exactly what you think it is and it's awful to watch. A human dies, and the dead body is raped, and dismembered on video. Possible cannibalism. And then later we learn he killed the dog that was in the video as well.
So the sleuths are back at it, because this is beyond the pale, and for a very long time, no dice, but they're fairly certain Luka is behind it all. But they can't report it to the police because they don't know where the crime occurred. And there's no body yet.
Then a janitor finds the body. Or parts of it.
In the Suitcase was Jun Lin's torso, without his head, legs, or arms.
Then they find arms and legs, but no feet, hands, or head. They find the dead dog. Bloody sheets. A bloody saw, a bloody knife, and then finally a bloody screwdriver altered to look like an ice pick.
The Internet Amateur Detectives learn about the body being found, and they all decide to bring the information they've found (including the video) to the Montreal Police, and they are once again ignored. Not shocked really.
But the police are now, finally, involved somehow, and they find Magnotta's License in the bag with the bloody trash, and mistakenly think that he was the victim they've found.
They do a welfare check and find that the apartment is clean, and then they realize that it has been CLEANED. Like cleaned cleaned.
The CCTV in Magnotta's building shows him entering with Jun Lin, and then dumping the suitcase and trash bags in the alley behind the building. Jun Lin is never seen walking out.
THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, Magnotta mails the body parts to the governmental agencies in Canada. Magical. Sometimes they're really dumb for an evil genius.
The screws have been loose for a long time but baby they're gone now.
Some of the Internet Sleuths step away at this point (understandably), and the police's work really begins.
They catch Magnotta again on CCTV dropping the packages at a delivery site.
They realize that he is the perp and not the victim, but they still need to identify the victim and establish more evidence in order to execute and arrest and persecute.
Now let's talk about Anna Yourkin. Hmm. This is Magnotta's Mother. I don't see her as being necessarily evil, but she certainly didn't help the police find her son at all, but to be fair I don't think the police were very forthcoming with much information about Magnotta's crimes. I don't know how much she knew, but I can't help but think she knew some things.
And then the police finally see the video.
They are devastated and shocked.
They find the CCTV footage of Jun Lin and Luka entering Luka's building together.
The police look through missing person's reports and discover information on Jun Lin's disappearance.
Jun Lin's family and friends are emotionally obliterated, I'm sure.
They connect Jun Lin's DNA from his apartment with the torso and blood, and confirm that it is in fact his body parts they found in the trash and at the governemnt agencies.
His friends identified him as the victim in the infamous video, and I hope to god his family has never seen it.
The news broke that the body has been identified as Jun Lin, and the internet sleuths are back at it again. It's time to end this. They want JUSTICE. For the cats, the dog, and for Jun Lin.
The cops are still looking for Magnotta, and the sleuths are doing their best. They connect a Craigslist advertisement to Luka through similar writing styles and they pin one on him regarding a dog, and then another on him regarding looking for a male sexual experience - specifically - looking to make a film.
Yeah.
The police obtain a warrant to re-visit Apartment 208, and they find the huge blood stains all over. Luminol lit the place up. The bed area. The bathroom. The doors. Everything.
Oh and then we find out all of these little obsessive tendencies Luka had. The American Psycho connection. The connection between the movies and the poster and the murder video - it's all too much. This guys is seriously off the wall insane.
And on the wall in the closet, Luka wrote;
If you don't like the reflection. Don't look in the mirror. I don't care.
Well.
So the docuseries goes back to Luka's mom and when she learns about everything, but she's suddenly shocked. I feel like you know when your kid is a fucked up serial killer but I guess I could be wrong, I don't know how close they were. She claims her angel of a son is innocent. Sure, Jan.
And then there's the Casablanca clue.
"We'll always have Paris."
Episode 3: Closing the Net
So this fucked up Narcissist Serial Killer is just rolling around Europe, running from the law at this point because the police are not using the information that the Sleuths are giving to them (or really acknowledging them at all).
The Arrest warrant is issued in Canada, but the perp is, yet again, running.
So Luka's mother shit-talks the Internet Sleuths a bit, probably because she's mad they caught her son, and then we get back to the actual case.
Luka got to the Montreal Airport, and took a flight to Paris, of course, because he's fucking dramatic.
So he gets to Paris, and evades police again. Surprise surprise.
But I will say I love that Luka was probably too prideful to admit how close the police were to him, and same with the Internet Sleuths. They had his ass pegged pretty severely at the beginning, middle, and end of this bullshit and he only got away for so long because the police don't take a damn thing seriously.
The Internet Sleuths begin to cooperate with the International Police, and they began to keep an eye on the "breadcrumbs" that Magnotta was talking about on the Internet. He even posted a blog about how he would evade the police internationally.
So they keep trying to track him down, and eventually, the French International media began to catch on and inform the public. This leads to an absolute shitload of useless leads, but I guess useless leads get you closer to the real ones. Supposedly there are true sightings all over Paris, but he still is scarce.
And then back to Luka's mother, she's unhappy about the media (who isn't), and then she claims her son's innocence again. She believes there's someone else behind the murders.
Then she mentions Basic Instinct. Keep that in mind.
She mentions how he was bullied as a child, and that his self-worth disappeared over the years and caused him to withdraw, so he fixated on films instead of relationships.
He was a failed actor, and then became an escort who allowed his Johns to be aggressive with him, and he got into fetish work. Or so it is proposed based on what Luka told his mother.
Luka, a known liar and narcissist, told his mother that some John "owned" him, and that he was only doing his bidding.
Luka's mother asks him about the video and Luka, a known liar and Narcissist, tells her that his supposed Dom was forcing him to do it. There are two pairs of hands at the end of the snake video, but I find it very hard to believe that Luka was not the one who planned these things.
So now we cut to a celebrity Attorney (Romeo Salta) whom Luka approached, trying to establish the existence of "Manny," the supposed actual factual Dom, several years before the murder of Jun Lin. Luka had a short correspondence with Romeo, sending him images and essentially establishing an alibi with him. He knew from the very beginning how far he was going to go to "go down in history." And he started planning years in advance for the alibi of also being a victim, simply so he could get away with murder, literally.
Luka was then getting into contact with more Johns on the internet in Paris, supposedly looking for new victims. This now a dire situation, because he could absolutely, and is highly likely to kill again.
He spends the night with a man he met online, but nothing happens, and Luka is cool as a cucumber, only days after the violent murder of Jun Lin. This second dude is lucky as hell.
So the International police keep on keeping on, and couldn't find him in Paris at all. No Luka. But he did leave his Mickey Mouse shirt in the hotel room as another bread crumb. Jerk.
And then they finally catch the bitch.
A CCTV footage is released of Luke chilling at an Internet Cafe in Berlin, and the owner was reading the newspaper about Luka, and then he just walked right in - the owner called the police, and BOOM BABY. The video is so glorious.
So he gets extradited to Canada, and he gets put on trial, and this is where the real nitty gritty comes into play. Because now it has to be proven that he's the perp of Jun Lin's murder and mutilation, as well as accounts of animal abuse, all without him being found "insane."
And then his mother comes to bat for him again and I roll my eyes again.
And then Luka sits through his interview in silence until he asks for a sweater and a cigarette.
He really just says nothing and it's really annoying but honestly very smart.
They show him a picture of Jun Lin, and he seems to get angry or upset about this picture.
The investigator persists, but Luka really doesn't give them much of anything besides body language. He clearly becomes super uncomfortable, then he takes his sweater off, and pretends to have a medical emergency. He asks for help over and over again. Eye roll.
Then Magnotta undergoes a psych eval to determine insanity, but that only leads Magnotta to continue to bring up this Manny character again.
Luka and his mother meet up, and she persists that he is innocent, and claims a new story occurred the night of the murder.
This story essentially avoids the murder, and then claims that "Manny" was there, watching and commanding Luka to do what he tells him to.
Y'know because you just go ahead and stab someone and then cut them up and eat a piece of them and decapitate them all on film because your abusive boyfriend tells you to. That makes perfect sense.
He is tried for First-Degree Murder in Montreal and pleads NOT GUILTY. LOLOL. A Joke for sure.
The defense is attempting to victimize Luka (and claiming this Manny dude is real) to get away with it. And the Internet Sleuths see right through that shit.
One of his aliases was a reference to Basic Instinct, and they realize that Luka recreated the murder-sex-scene in Basic Instinct in the infamous gore-video he posted, and then we realize he is just embodying the shit out of this character from the film.
Oh and then he quotes the film and smokes a cigarette just like the character and crosses his legs and slicks his hair back like her and then oh one last thing.
In the movie, the character's ex-boyfriend is named "Manny." Deadass.
There are also no phone records of any calls to or from Magnotta's phone on the night of the murder. Duh. Because he's the one who did it.
Manny never really existed.
And in December 2014 he was sentenced to life in prison.
And then at the end there is a gorgeous tribute to Jun Lin; a beautiful funeral where his family and friends pay tribute to Jun Lin.
The internet sleuths meet in person on camera, and discuss how the can of worms regarding Luka literally exploded when that first video was dropped. And then they began to question themselves; did they give him more attention than he deserved...?; I mean yes but that is the caveat when it comes to True Crime documentaries and exploration. There is a certain level of notoriety that someone will develop as a serial killer or violent offender, mostly because people have morbid curiosity, and some have parasocial connections to these perpetrators.
In the end, Luka's mother has a book about this situation, which I'm sure she's eating well off of, and Luka is VERY comfortable in prison.
For a digest version of this psycho-shit, please watch the video below.
Until Next Time
-B
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