After the courtroom was closed and the case wrapped, Leclair said his client, who he maintains is paranoid schizophrenic, was disappointed with the verdict but, at the same time, relieved. The defendant put his future in the hands of a jury, Leclair said.
Magnotta will take the time to look at the merits and grounds for an appeal. Crown prosecutor Louis Bouthillier, meanwhile, argued the defendant planned the deliberate killing and should be found guilty of all five charges. The prosecutor said although the case was challenging, he never had a doubt the jury would find Magnotta guilty — especially considering the defendant did not testify during the trial.
Several defence psychiatrists testified Magnotta was schizophrenic and was in a state of psychosis when he killed Lin; others, testifying for the prosecution, have said Magnotta had a personality disorder and had the capacity to know the difference between right and wrong on that fateful night in Montreal. The jury had four options for a verdict on the murder charge: guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not criminally responsible because of mental disorder.
Full Menu Search Menu. Close Local your local region. Search Submit search Quick Search. Comments Close comments menu. Magnotta was also found guilty of harassing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and MPs, mailing obscene and indecent material, committing an indignity to a body and publishing obscene materials.
Sun reporter Alex West played a key role in the trial, testifying as to how he confronted Magnotta at a dingy hotel near Wembley Stadium in about sick internet videos of kittens being killed. That horrific act led Magnotta to be sought by animal rights groups. Six months after uploading the sick videos, male escort Magnotta killed Lin, 33, and filmed himself apparently eating the corpse with a knife and fork.
He dumped the headless torso and a dead dog in bin bags outside his Montreal flat, and fled his homeland. Various parts of Lin's body were then sent in packages to political offices in Ottawa. Magnotta said he considered sending Lin's torso, but could not figure out how. Asked why body parts were mailed to two Vancouver schools, Magnotta told Allard he'd discussed the western Canadian city with Lin.
He hardly slept after Lin's slaying but did remember eating a pizza at one point. The obsession with government and spying was present when his schizophrenia was initially diagnosed. Allard said Magnotta told her that anti-psychotic medications helped ease the paranoia but that he didn't take them all the time.
The fear of being spied on led to frequent address changes, multiple online profiles, the use of a wig and various changes of cellphone numbers. Allard said he changed his name to Magnotta in part out of that same fear but also because he wanted to get away from his family. He chose the surname either for a video game character or a popular winery in Ontario's Niagara region.
While Magnotta didn't think he was currently being spied on, "he's convinced it happened in his past," she said. In earlier testimony, Allard said Magnotta told her that an email he sent a British tabloid foretelling the murder of a human being was meant only as a threat to a journalist who'd ambushed him.
The Crown contends the communication to the London Sun suggests Magnotta was planning a slaying up to six months in advance of Lin's killing. But Allard said he told her he was only trying to intimidate reporter Alex West, who'd interviewed him at a London hotel a few days earlier about videos showing cats getting killed. It was Magnotta himself who had published the videos, which angered animal-rights activists who were trying to track him down.
Allard said Magnotta has always maintained he didn't plan to kill anyone and that he believes writing the email in December was "stupid" and showed a lack of judgment.
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