Luka Magnotta has been found guilty of first degree murder and all other counts against him involving the murder and dismemberment of Jun Lin on the eighth day of jury deliberations in Montreal.
The jury of eight women and four men returned with a verdict of guilty of premeditated murder and all other charges at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday morning under the supervision of Justice Guy Cournoyer, as juror number nine, clad in a suit and tie, rose to read the verdict of guilty on all counts.
It was the harshest of all possible verdicts and comes with an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years, which he was formally sentenced to in the afternoon.
The jury also found Magnotta guilty of all other charges. In the afternoon Magnotta was formally sentenced to several concurrent sentences, including two years for criminally harrassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other MPs, two years for guilty of mailing obscene and indecent material, five years for committing an indignity to a body and two years for publishing obscene materials.
Magnotta, clad in a ski jacket, was standing next to his lawyer and looking down at the floor when he heard the verdict. He showed little reaction. The victim's father Diran Lin, who attended the trial, also showed little emotion upon the announcement of the verdict.
When the trial began on September 29 Magnotta admitted to killing Jun Lin in May 2012, cutting up his body, and mailing pieces of it across Canada, but pleaded not guilty by way of mental disorder. Sixty-six witnesses were heard from over the 40 day trial.
When asked by CTV Montreal about how he felt upon hearing the verdict, the prosecutor said that it was a good moment.
“I felt great but I was expecting that. To tell you the truth that’s the verdict I was expecting it. It’s always great for a Crown Prosecutor to hear the word guilty coming out of the mouth of a jury, so we’re obviously very happy, the police officers and I,” said Crown Prosecutor Louis Bouthillier.
The Crown argued that Magnotta had planned, even boasted that he was going to murder someone, then did so in a meticulous fashion and fled the country in an attempt to escape justice.
Magnotta might have erred in not taking the stand to defend his claim of being of unsound mind when he committed the grisly deed, according to Bouthillier.
“Nobody could attest to the accused’s state of mind during the offence except himself. He was put in the position of having to establish that he was not criminally responsible and was not able to do that without taking the stand.”
Bouthillier said that he would not be surprised if the case went to appeal, as "almost all such cases do."
The defence presented witnesses that explained Magnotta suffered from schizophrenia, and so was mentally unable to distinguish between right and wrong.
One of Magnotta's defence lawyers spoke to media about Magnotta following the verdict and sentencing.
"For quite some time he has been preparing for the verdict with the help of a few friends, his father and the psychiatrist. And in passing, he has been under the care of a psychiatrist at the Pinel Institute since the beginning, so obviously somebody believes that he has psychiatric problems. He has been focusing on rebuilding his life. He asks that his privacy be respected. He does not wish to receive any more unsolicited letters from the public or the media – he will not answer," said defence attorney Luc Leclair.
The jurors heard from 66 witnesses over the 40-day trial, and were presented with hundreds of page of medical documents, expert reports and evidence.
Among that evidence was the video Magnotta made of killing and dismembering Jun Lin.
In his final instructions to the jury, Justice Guy Cournoyer said that Magnotta could be found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter, or be found not criminally responsible of killing Jun Lin.
For the other charges Magnotta could be found guilty or not guilty.
The judge said that if Magnotta was not criminally responsible, he had to be not criminally responsible for every charge.
One expert legal observer said that the verdict did not come as a surprise.
"It’s pretty rare that the actual murder would be captured on tape so you get to see the demeanor of the person, the methodical way he’s acting, you can see whether the person seems aware of his surroundings and in contact with reality," said legal analyst and Former Crown Prosecutor Andrew Barbacki.
Student Jessica Salvemini told CTV Montreal that she spent seven weeks attending the trial and found the hardest part being the victim impact statement,
“It was very sad and very touching, apart from that it was a lot of the more gruesome details of this case that were harder to listen to. We got through it, the jury got through it, everybody got through it. It wasn’t pleasant but it had to be revealed for the case.”
Is personality disorder a disease?
With Magnotta admitting to the physical acts, the trial was based on whether or not Magnotta was sane.
During the trial several psychiatrists testified about Magnotta's mental health, with many saying Magnotta had schizophrenia and elements of a borderline personality disorder.
The final Crown witness, Dr. Gilles Chamberland, testified that Magnotta was more than likely faking schizophrenia, a disease he was familiar with because his father has the mental disorder.
Chamberland said Magnotta tends to exhibit elements of borderline, histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders and those conditions were a more reasonable explanation for his behaviour.
The second day of deliberations was punctuated by a question from the jury: did Canadian law classify a personality disorder as a disease of the mind?
After 90 minutes of research and arguments between the Crown and the defence lawyers, the judge told the jury that personality disorder was indeed a disease of the mind under Canadian law.
Section 16 of the Canadian Criminal Code defines being not criminally responsible as follows:
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.
It goes on to add that a "mental disorder" means a disease of the mind.
Later judgements ruled that wrong means not just knowledge of the law, but includes moral judgements as well.
Actions the jurors did not see
The jury is only allowed to decide its verdict based on what is presented in court, and there were many things they remained unaware of -- items that could only be reported once the jury was sequestered.
The most eye-catching moment occurred whenever the jury was ordered to leave the room.
Throughout the trial, whenever he could be seen by members of the jury, Magnotta often kept his head down and rarely showed emotions.
But every time the jury left, Magnotta would always perk up, sit up straight and show an intense interest in what was going on.
The change in behaviour was so dramatic the Crown tried to have psychiatrist Gilles Chamberland mention Magnotta's behaviour in front of the court, but that legal strategy failed.
In other oddball events, the jury came close to watching the movie Basic Instinct, featuring actress Sharon Stone, in the court room.
The prosecution wanted to highlight the many similarities between the fictional movie and the crime committed by Magnotta, but in the end, the judge found it too prejudicial, and denied the Crown's request.
The judge also rejected the presentation of an audition video for a TV show called Plastic Makes Perfect featuring Magnotta in 2008.
The prosecution wanted to show that the man who claimed he was paranoid about being filmed, was in fact, very much at ease in front of the cameras.
Luka Magnotta and Jun Lin: A timeline
