The world is huge. But the internet is making the long distance a lot closer together.
It all started in 2010 when someone uploaded a video titled '1 boy 2 kittens', where a person was shown torturing, to then killed two kittens using a vacuum cleaner by suffocating them.
The video was among a series of videos from the person showing animal cruelty involving felines.
Deanna Thompson was the first who discovered it.
Using the the pseudonym 'Baudi Moovan', she saw the video of the killing of the two kittens by someone who uses a hoodie. That person put the two kittens into a plastic bag, and vacuumed the air out of the bag to eventually killed them.
Another person who was angered by this, was 'John Green', an alias for a Los Angeles resident.
Cat lovers and animal rights activists groups on the internet created a Facebook Group called "Find the Kitten Vacuumer...For great justice” in order to bring this "Vacuum Kitten Killer" to justice, in a manhunt that eventually took two whole years.
Internet investigators are no slouch. Together, they can make something happen.
In the past for example, communities have gathered to try solving the puzzling Cicada 3301, and later, the mysterious 11B-X-1371 and 11B 3 1369 videos.
And this time, online investigators started their investigation, with many of them are online cat lovers and animal activists putting their heads together.
During their investigations, they found that the uploader of the video, who goes by the name 'uonlylive500', started taunting the amateur investigators.
John Green analyzed the room used in the '1 boy 2 kittens' video, and found clues from the bed sheet, as well as the audio in the background, which were later known to be Russian. But the clues were too scarce and too common to suggest anything of importance.
Then suddenly, someone in the group shared an unseen photo of the kitten killer with the dead kittens. It was at that time that Green realized that the killer is already aware of their investigation.
Green then investigated the video in each frame, and found a Marlboro cigarette pack and a glimpse of the yellow vacuum cleaner, both of which are only sold in North America.
The group received their first public attention, when they attracted gang members of tattooed bikers-animal lovers 'Rescue Ink'. The group quickly received a massive amount of followings and new members following this.
One member out of the more than 10,000 in the Facebook Group, said that the culprit might be a psychopath seeking for attention. What started as animal cruelty, could lead to more gruesome killing, alarming others to be more careful.
And during this speculation that one member called 'Jamsey Cramsalot Inhisass' uploaded a video of a kitten being burned. The profile picture of this person, is a man pictured from the side using a Santa Claus hat.
When the person uploaded the video, Deanna Thompson asked the person whether he was the kitten killer, and he said that he was, and no one can catch him, taunting Thompson and everyone in the group.
John Green continued investigating, and saw that friends of Jamsey Cramsalot Inhisass on Facebook were from a region in South Africa.
Thompson and Green however, don't consider Jamsey Cramsalot Inhisass as the person who he said he was. While the two were certain that the kitten killer isn't Jamsey Cramsalot Inhisass, the rest of the people in the Facebook Group continued accusing Jamsey Cramsalot Inhisass.
All that ended when Jamsey Cramsalot Inhisass committed suicide.
It was later found that Jamsey Cramsalot Inhisass whose real name Edward Jordan, killed himself out of depression after being harassed by hate comments by people in the Facebook Group.
Hearing the news, the group went silent.
Then all of a sudden, one user named 'Beverly Kent' gave a heads up to others in the group, saying that the person they are looking for, is 'Luka Rocco Magnotta'.
At first, with a bit of hesitation, Green searched that name on Google, and to his surprise, he found that there were a little less than a million search results for that query.
Investigating that person, Green found that the person was a model who travelled the world, and had hundreds of fans group.
And when comparing Magnotta's face with the footage on the '1 boy 2 kittens', they do have similarities.
However, Green stopped himself from sharing his findings to the Facebook Group, knowing that the members have falsely accused a person before.
Because of this, Green and Thompson created another Facebook Group called the 'Luka Intel', but set in to private, and only invited those who can be trusted.
When that small team investigated, they found that Magnotta was in Canada, and has appeared in a Canadian reality show. Then they found things that are more surprising.
This include fake Facebook Pages pages which accounted to hundreds, and Photoshopped travel photos.
Green and Thompson also found an online article written by Joe Warmington in 2007, where Warmington wrote that he received a call from Magnotta, angry because he was reported dating Karla Homolka, a Canadian serial killer.
It was later realized that Magnotta was only making things up.
Based on the many clues, Green and Thompson began to think that Magnotta hungers for attention.
The two then realized that Magnotta was a convicted fraudster, and a failed model who turned to making adult movies and gay escorting.
And when they ran the many Magnotta photos they found online through an EXIF data viewer to reveal where the photos were taken, they found one that showed Magnotta was in indeed in Canada, in Toronto. And when they found a photo of him in an apartment near a Petro-Canada gas station, the two used Google Maps and Google Street View to pinpoint the location, and then called the police to pay Magnotta a visit.
The Toronto Police Department downplayed Green and Thompson, simply because they were amateurs. However, the police informed them that Magnotta has left Canada for Russia.
Again, things on the two Facebook Groups turned quiet, as they were running out of leads. Half of the members were exiting, and Green and Thompson were also exhausted, desperately thinking of anymore way to catch this person.
Then again, suddenly a person in the group posted a video titled 'bathtime lol', which shows a kitten being drowned to death in a bathtub. On that same day, another video was posted with the title 'Python Christmas, showing a cat being devoured by a snake.
The videos were posted by someone using the username 'Leslie Anne Downie', a name borrowed from a ten-year-old victim of the Moors Murderers.
This again sparked anger, which again fueled the amateur investigators to again continue their investigation.
But things are different this time, as the small team that was led by Green and Thompson, received huge support as major news agencies started to pick up their efforts and helped spread the investigations to catch this "sicko."
Later, journalist Alex West received an anonymous call, saying that Magnotta was in the UK, staying at Fusilier Inn in Wembley, north of London.
West started investigating, and it was the first time that Magnotta was found. Magnotta denied any accusations, and said that his lawyer told him not to speak about it. Magnotta also refused to let West speak to his lawyer or reveal who he was.
West was suspicious.
"I looked into his eyes and felt he was hiding something. He was visibly squirming," West said.
West also saw Magnotta to be a contrast to what he portrayed on the internet.
From his online pictures, Magnotta appeared to be wealthy. But in reality, there he was staying in a £40-a-night hotel room.
His language was also dark, with a Transatlantic accent that seemed out of place.
Days later, West received an email from someone unknown, praising the public for attempting to gather clues and evidences. That anonymous person then said that he won't stop sharing videos depicting cruelty, but the next one would involve a human.
"Next time you hear from me it will be in a movie I am producing that will have some humans in it not just pussys," the email reads.
No more cats.
"Was I going to be next – his first human victim? I swallowed hard and knocked," West said.
Then one day, someone anonymous posted to the Facebook Group, telling Deanna to be careful.
This surprised everyone in the group.
No one in the group know each others' names. Even John Green only knew Deanna Thompson as Baudi Moovan.
This panicked everyone.
The link that accompanied that caption, is a footage of a casino in Las Vegas where Thompson works as a data analyst.
Thompson felt threatened.
Later, Green received a video, which was the nightmare everyone in his small team expected not to happen.
And that is the murder of a human being, recorded on camera as a snuff film.
Better known as '1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick', the video was uploaded on May 24, 2012.
The 11-minute video that was first seen on Bestgore.com, depicted a naked man tied to a bed frame.
Then a person entered the scene and straddled the man, to then repeatedly stabbed him in the chest and abdomen with something that resembles an ice pick. After killing the man, the murderer mutilated him using a knife, and then followed by acts of necrophilia and cannibalism. A black dog was also present in the video.
The person fed the flesh to a dog, before killing it too.
Upon inspecting the uploader's profile, Green found that the person Liked a video for Catch Me If You Can, a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio about a conman and an FBI agent.
And after viewing the footage numerous times, with confidence, Green is certain that the culprit is Magnotta.
With further evidence, Green found that Magnotta was either in Toronto, or in Montreal. But what is certain, Mangotta is in Canada.
But it was unfortunate for Green and others because all the evidence they found were based on the internet.
Still, they tried to convince the authorities, and contacted the police in Canada, and waited patiently.
It was later revealed, who was the person killed in the snuff video.
In Montreal on May 25, 2012, a janitor who was cleaning found the locked luggage bag, leaking fluid, swarmed with flies and other insects, and smelled like something was decomposing.
When the police arrived, the officers opened the bag and found mutilated pieces of human remains.
During autopsy, they found that the remains was a man, stabbed multiple times, and mutilated after being killed.
Green and his team knew about this finding when they saw it in a news report.
Formal investigation by the authorities found evidences at the scene.
From several plastic bags, a wine bottle, a poster, a yellow T-shirt, and a dead dog. There was also a blanket stained with blood. There was also screwdriver that looked like an ice pick, knife and a saw.
There was also a driving license from Ontario and a receipt, both of which had Magnotta's name on them.
There was also an address of the apartment.
Upon visiting the apartment, the unit 208 was empty, but smelled like it was recently neutralized by something to rid of unwanted scents. Curious, the police used Luminol which glows blue when mixed with blood, anf found that the apartment indeed had traces of blood by the bed and on the sofa next to it, and on the floor near a table, in the kitchen and in the bathroom.
Looking at the CCTV recordings, the police found a man using a yellow T-shirt going back-and-forth carrying plastic bags in the middle of the night.
Shortly after, the police found the name of the victim.
His name was Jun Lin.
Jun Lin, born in 1978, was an international student from Wuhan and an undergraduate in the engineering and computer science faculty at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
He was last seen on May 24, 2012, and those near him became suspicious when Lin didn't show up at work and didn't return their calls.
He was reported missing to the police on May 29.
When the police inspected his apartment, they retrieve his toothbrush.
It was through the DNA on the toothbrush that the police found that the victim was indeed Lin.
And after more investigation, it was found that Magnotta switched clothes with Jin. This was to fool the investigation into thinking that Magnotta was the victim and Jin was the culprit.
Lin was said to be heavily sedated with Oxazepam.
Just when the police wondered why the luggage bag only contained body parts that lack the head and the feet, it was then reported that Jin's left foot was mailed to elementary school, and his right hand was sent to a federal political party office.
And to the school Magnotta accompanied Jin's foot with a poem that reads:
“Roses are red, violets are blue, the police will need dental records to identify you. Bitch.”
Lin's head was eventually found at small lake in Angrignon Park in Montreal.
Looking at the CCTV on the mail office, the same man was seen.
And when the police asked who sent the mail, the officers saw that it was signed by 'Rocco', and the address was later revealed to be his mother's.
It was revealed from his mother that Magnotta is a shy person, and bullied since a child. As a film maniac, his favorite movie, according to his mother, was Basic Instinct, a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film starring Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone and others.
Magnotta first moved to Toronto because he wanted to be a model. His mother knew about Magnotta's wrongdoing after notified by her friends.
When she asked her son, he admitted to his crimes.
He said that he was influenced by a person named Lopez, who pays him good amount of money for making videos of kittens being killed. Magnotta however, told his mother to not tell anyone if she ever wants to meet his son again.
While the police started their investigation in real life, Green and his team continued their investigation on the internet.
First, Green and others found ads about someone looking for a dog, just days before the murder. There was also a listing that was searching for a gay man to be an actor for a film the uploader was trying to make.
Green and Thompson who spent years investigating this case, knew of Magnotta's writing style, and quickly recognized the two ad listings as written by Magnotta.
What began as a cat killer, Magnotta became a murderer.
With Green and his team doing their own investigation, and the police doing their own, the authorities asked Green to be included to Green's private Facebook Group.
It was then that the two sides collaborated, with Green's team sharing all their findings from all of their investigations.
After the police knew that Magnotta is a celebrity wannabe and that he is a master of evasion, and knowing that he was a kitten killer in Toronto to flee to Montreal to kill a human being, they expect Magnotta to again flee. This was when the authorities asked the airport in Montreal to look for a man that resembles Magnotta.
Green particularly noticed this clue when tracking his internet history, finding that Magnotta was a fan of the movie Catch Me if You Can, a film in which an FBI agent chases down a con man.
And that was true, as Magnotta was indeed fleeing, and this time, to Paris, France.
The authorities in Monteal quickly contacted the police in Paris, warning them of Magnotta.
When the French police started investigating, Magnotta was found taking a taxi to Novotel in Paris. But when the police arrived and went to the room Magnotta was supposed to be in, the room was empty.
Checking on the CCTV, it was seen that Magnotta fled the hotel in the middle of the night.
In other words, Magnotta wanted the police to go after him, taunting them all, just like the many movie references he left in the footages he made.
Investigations upon investigations by Green and his team and the police, it was realized that Magnotta was not only a master of evasion, but also attempted to keep on doing his evasion as long as he can.
Magnotta, despite leaving clues everywhere, possessed multiple identities. And by paying with cash wherever he went, Magnotta was prepared and ready for becoming a fugitive.
Magnotta was finally caught in Berlin, Germany.
After Magnotta first became an international convict, he has also became the subject of an Interpol Red Notice that prompted an international manhunt.
In June 2012, Magnotta was apprehended in Berlin at an Spätkauf internet café, in a working-class immigrant district of Neukoelln.
This happened because the person in charge with the internet café was just reading the news about Magnotta, and saw Magnotta entering his internet café to his surprise. Suspecting that the person was the real Magnotta, the person spied into the websites the person visited, and found that the person was visiting Interpol's website, and opened a web page with his face on it.
Quickly, the person in charge with the internet café called the police.
Extradition of Magnotta from Berlin to Montrel didn't involve any commercial airliners, as the airline companies didn't want to get involved in this case, and also because of safety concerns. This forced Canada to send its own military aircraft, Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150 Polaris, to fly from Canada to Berlin to pick up Magnotta, and return to Canada.
This attempt was said to cost tax payers in Canada a few hundred thousand dollars.
Everyone cheered, and no one cheered louder than Green and Thompson. It was this time that the duo met each other in real life for the first time.
After two years of investigation, it's all finally over.
Luka Magnotta pled not guilty to all charges through his lawyer.
On June 4, 2012, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was pleased that Magnotta was arrested and congratulated the police forces for their good work in apprehending him.
As for Lin, his body was cremated on July 11, and his ashes were buried on July 26 at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.
Luka Magnotta was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, offering indignities to a human body, distributing obscene materials, using the postal service to distribute obscene materials, and criminal harassment.
However, despite admitting to the acts, it was defended that the acts were caused by mental disorders.
During his trial for murder, defense witnesses provided evidence that Magnotta had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia as a teenager, had signs of episodic schizophrenia, histrionic personality disorder, borderline personality traits and paraphilia not otherwise specified.
The prosecution also revealed that Magnotta had been using illegal drugs during his teenage years which led to symptoms that mimicked schizophrenia.
Magnotta was also diagnosed with antisocial, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders.
But the prosecution accused Magnotta of pretending to be schizophrenic since his defense pleaded diminished responsibility due to alleged schizophrenia.
It was said that Magnotta was influenced by a person named Lopez, a person who was constantly following him can calling him, was willing to pay for the snuff film. It was also revealed that when checked in to Le-Soumamme hotel on 28th May 2012, he was using a passport in the name of Kirk Trammel.
Fortunately, Green and his team who spent years tracking Magnotta, managed to debunk these claims.
Green and others had already discovered that Magnotta had multiple social media profiles, which he had previously used to share the videos, create Facebook Groups and infiltrate their private group.
Manny and Kirk, are two surnames from the film Basic Instinct, Magnotta's favorite.
Other reference from the movie was found on the 1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick video, where Jin was tied to a bed post, in a similar fashion to Michael Douglas' character in the film was tied in bed by Sharon Stone's character.
There was also a stained glass window behind the bed, which was replicated by Luka using a poster from the movie Casablanca.
It was also through this classic film that Magnotta outlined his plan to fly to Paris.
Magnotta left clues everywhere to taunt the investigators. But when he was finally caught, these clues were used against him.
Magnotta serves life in prison at Quebec’s Archambault Institution, and later at Port-Cartier Prison, for murdering Lin, with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Magnotta was given an additional 19 years for the other charges, where he was found guilty for five offences.
Since his imprisonment, Magnotta has married a fellow inmate, Anthony Jolin, who was guilty for armed robbery, and also serving a life behind bars for stabbing another inmate to death in the shower.
Magnotta met Jolin in a dating forum called the Canadian Inmates Connect Inc..
On his profile, Magnotta described himself as a single white male who was seeking a “single white male, 28-38 years of age, white and in shape,” adding that he preferred “One who is loyal, preferably educated, financially and emotionally stable for a long term committed relationship."
“If you think you could be my prince charming, send me a detailed letter with at least two photos.”
Inmates are allowed certain amenities such as TVs and stereos. Under certain circumstances, tederal inmates are also allowed to wear their own clothing.
In 2018, Magnotta life behind bars was exposed in My Son, The Killer, a true crime book written by Brian Whitney and Anna Yourkin, Magnotta’s mother.
Magnotta's case was also documented on Netflix's docu-series Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. It details how online sleuths played a real-life cat-and-mouse game with this ruthless murderer before his capture.
Magnotta's case also led to the authorities charging Bestgore.com owner Mark Marek for corrupting public males, and filed a rarely used obscenity charge on him. In 2016, Marek pled guilty and was sentenced to a six-month conditional sentence, and had to serve half of the six-month sentence under house arrest.