'Don't F*** With Cats' killer Luka Magnotta will not get early coronavirus-linked release from prison
Convicted killer and the subject of Netflix documentary 'Don't F*** With Cats', Luka Magnotta, will not get an early coronavirus-related release from a maximum-security prison in Quebec, according to reports. The update comes shortly after it emerged that Magnotta could become the latest high-profile prisoner to get an early release from prison due to coronavirus containment measures.
A representative from the Correctional Service of Canada told TMZ: "Mr. Magnotta is not eligible, under law, for any form of parole [until June 4, 2034]." The representative added that the facility Magnotta has been kept in has had 15 positive Covid-19 cases emerge among the inmates so far. At least 11 have recovered. An additional 15 employees have also tested positive for the deadly virus, but no deaths have been reported so far in the prison.
Magnotta, a serial cat-killer, was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2014 in connection with the 2012 death of Chinese student Jun Lin. The aspiring model, at the time, killed and dismembered Lin and mailed his body parts to political leaders in Canada and schools in an attempt to become a renowned killer.
According to the Correctional Service of Canada, coronavirus-linked early release is only being considered for low-level offenders who do not pose a risk to the general public. Magnotta, who was sentenced to 25 years without parole, however, does not meet the criteria.
Magnotta's mother, Anna Yourkin, earlier this week, told the outlet that she wanted her son released early from prison because she was afraid he would contract coronavirus behind bars and die there. She told TMZ that she was in constant fear for her son's safety and believes that Magnotta deserves a second chance.
Yourkin said that Magnotta has been successfully rehabilitated after serving a quarter of his sentence, adding that he is ready to return to society.
Magnotta, in 2010, uploaded multiple videos on the Internet of him brutally killing cats. His obsession with killing grew as he eventually posted a video in 2012 of him killing a man with an icepick. Magnotta filmed himself killing Lin with an icepick, and decapitating the dead body as he played with it in the bathtub. The country was left rattled after elementary schools and federal political party offices found hands and feet of the victim in blood-soaked packages shipped to them.
As police began a hunt for him he fled the country. Canadian authorities alerted their French counterparts, and an international manhunt was launched. Magnotta had achieved exactly what he wanted: notoriety. He had become a famous killer with international governments hunting for him. Magnotta was finally nabbed in Berlin, Germany, at an internet cafe where he was looking at his own mugshot on the Interpol website. With airliners unwilling to fly the infamous killer back, the Canadian government had to use its military aircraft to extradite him. After a lengthy trial, he escaped a life sentence and was sentenced to 25 years. Magnotta was named Canadian Newsmaker of the Year in 2012 by The Canadian Press.