More Magnotta details
More Magnotta stories: the suspect was living in London not long ago where he sent a lurid letter to the UK Sun – which describes him as a “baby-faced weirdo” – admitting to killing cats and stating he would kill a person soon. They also mention he has no criminal record, which conflicts with news from Toronto that he’d been up for sexual aggression and fraud. Lots more gruesome details with random WORDS in CAPS on the Sun site.
The Sun tries to manufacture a little extra frisson by claiming Magnotta could be in the UK. It’s not impossible, but most sources are saying he’s being sought in France.
The Journal also notes that it was just a fluke that garbage men didn’t pick up the suitcase in Snowdon that later proved to have a torso in it, which led police to link the grisly Ottawa postal finds with the suspect’s apartment in Snowdon.
Ephraim 19:15 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
The entry in Encyclopedia Dramatica is getting worse and worse as time goes on. Don’t read it if you have a weak stomach, because some of the details not being relayed about the video are in there and it’s pretty disgusting.
Bill Binns 20:23 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
Lets hope he gets caught and extradited back to Canada so he can serve a few years and then be back out on the street when doctors pronounce him “cured”. Maybe he will move back into the same building.
ant6n 21:14 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
@Bill
Hey, better than your American system of not extraditing, not having a trial; but rather a drone strike that may or may not kill the correct person.
elleanon 04:55 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
@Bill – cured? I assume that you’re referring to the mental disorder defence? This guy probably can’t get away with that. They would have to show that due to his mental state, he was unable to appreciate the nature of his actions or unable t determine that the action was wrong. The fact that he a) loaded this on a gore site and made references to killing again and being unable to satiate the taste for blood suggests he understands the nature of his actions, b) boarded a plane to Europe and is evading capture and taunted authorities (“I’ll kill again”, blahblah)suggests that he understands that it is wrong. Then again, no one knows what’s going on in his mind, so I’m speculating, but I doubt he’ll get off. He’ll be put away as a dangerous offender.
From the criminal code: “16. (1) No person is criminally responsible for an act committed or an omission made while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing that it was wrong.”
Bill Binns 06:49 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
@Elleanon – Mostly I was thinking of the doctocr that killed his children that is either out or getting out soon. Also, Karla Homolka who pretty much represents the Canadian justice system to me. Didn’t the bus decapitator get out a while ago too?
elleanon 07:33 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Yes, Bill, both the MD and Vince Li (Greyhound guy) successfully used that defence in front of the courts. Homolka did not – she pleaded guilty and was convicted of manslaughter. The plea for a reduced sentence had to do primarily with the fact that she was willing to give up information against Bernardo, not because she claimed to be a battered wife. Can’t speak about the MD (don’t know the case well enough), but Vince Li has a confirmed case of severe schizophrenia and had delusions that incited him to act the way that he did including travelling across the country and killing the victim (he believed that Tim was a force of evil and intended to kill him) and all his behaviour during that time is consistent with that delusion. And no, he didn’t get out. He’s allowed some supervised leave, that’s it. If you google Chris Summerville and Vince Li you’ll find an interesting interview with Li that may help shed light on his mental state and why he was found not criminally responsible, within the framework of the legislation I posted previously. You’ll also see that he himself asserts that she should be kept locked up, now that he is medicated and understands what he did.
I can go into a lengthy essay about WHY this defence is allowed, but it’s not the place. I would simply refer to you read up on it. And I will add this: it’s a very sad myth that the mental disorder defence is a “get out of jail free card”. In fact, the grounds of one’s release are very subjective, depending on a psychiatrist’s professional opinion and one can stay institutionalized longer than they would have had they gotten prison time. You’re not given 20 years and you’re out — you can stay there your whole life. A family friend was killed in the 70s by a man with schizophrenia. He never got out. He died institutionalized a few years ago. They felt that despite treatment he was still too dangerous to release.
But like I said, the facts of this case are far different than Li. He fled the country and is taunting police, which doesn’t suggest that he’s unaware that what he did was wrong.
Bill Binns 09:00 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Well, I guess it works on some level. Montreal has fewer murders all year than some American cities have during a bad weekend. Kind of creepy that you could be standing at a bus stop next to a convicted serial killer though.
elleanon 09:32 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
I agree. Luckily, in most cases of serial killings like Pickton, Olson and Bernardo we generally take care of putting them away for near forever. Hopefully the evidence from this case was well processed and he’ll go away forever, too.
Kevin 09:42 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Heck, some American cities have more murders than Canada does all year…
Bill Binns 10:35 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
@Kevin – I felt far safer walking the streets of Managua and San Salvador at night than I did in New Orleans. Detroit, Miami, Memphis, Houston, Washington DC, they are all like something out of a post apocalyptic movie.