How an Anonymous Internet Killer's Crimes Led to an International Manhunt

Luka Magnotta was obsessed with himself, and he was determined to become famous in any way that he could.

Magnotta was born to teenage parents in 1982 Toronto as Eric Clinton Kirk Newman. As he grew older, his vanity grew, too. Magnotta changed his name, created at least 20 websites, 70 Facebook profiles, and numerous videos of himself on Youtube in hopes of becoming a model or reality TV star.

On December 21, 2010, he took his quest for fame to the next level. The Canadian posted an anonymous video online titled "1 guy-2 kittens" that showed two kittens suffocating to death. This video caught the attention of Facebook users and prompted a group to form in search of the killer.

Netflix recently released a new true-crime documentary covering the manhunt, Don't F*ck With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x41SMm-9-i4

The three-episode series follows the internet sleuths determined to find Luka Magnotta and the escalation of crimes that led to his worldwide manhunt.

Over several months, the group analyzed the video footage and narrowed their search down to Magnotta. After reporting their findings to the Montreal police, they were told, "it's just cats." Eventually, journalists from the British publication The Sun joined the hunt. They found and questioned Magnotta in London, where he denied everything. Later, the publication received an anonymous letter saying he would move on to bigger targets.

On May 24, 2012, an online video titled "1 lunatic, 1 icepick" was posted. It showed a male tied to a bed frame being murdered with a screwdriver altered to appear as an icepick. The man's name was Lin Jun, and the one attacking him was Luka Magnotta. After posting the video, Magnotta dismembered the victim's body and sent several parts to institutions across Canada. Magnotta then mailed the hands and feet of Lin Jun to the headquarters of Canada's Conservative and Liberal parties. He then fled to Paris, France.

Once the authorities connected Magnotta to the murder using security cam footage, they notified the Paris police. The detectives were unable to locate Magnotta until June 4th in Berlin, where they apprehended him in an internet cafe while he was looking at his own mugshot. Detectives then flew Magnotta back to Canada.

In December of 2014, Luka Magnotta was found guilty of eight counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in Quebec's Port-Cartier prison. Magnotta's quest for fame may have been accomplished, but his vanity was what got him caught.