In
what might well transpire to be a defining moment in the Magnotta
Trial, Dr.
Joel Watts,
forensic psychiatrist appearing for the Defence, was asked under
cross-examination by the Crown about an extract from his report
(P.92) regarding online postings promoting the 'One
Lunatic One Ice Pick'
video prior to the murder
of Jun Lin:
"I
asked Mr. Magnotta about online postings that appeared on the
Internet in the weeks prior to the killing, allegedly promoting the
video of Mr. Lin’s death." Dr.
Watts told the Court: “I
cannot recall
where I got that information, but I thought it important enough to
ask Mr. Magnotta about it.”
In
response, Magnotta
told Dr. Watts: "I
have been trying to make sense of it, I hope it was not me, I don’t
remember doing it, it feels weird.”
In
his report Dr. Watts then asked if Magnotta had chosen the title 'One
Lunatic, One Ice Pick',
Magnotta replied:
“I don’t remember doing it, I don’t know what the hell is wrong
with me. Maybe I’ve been watching too many movies, maybe it was to
scare people, I don’t know if I even did it.”
Conveniently,
meticulous
'forensic' psychiatrist
Dr.
Watts omitted to mention this information in his lengthy testimony to
the Court, but after his 124-page report was filed into evidence the
Crown seized upon this omission in an attempt to unravel the Defences
case about the murder not being premeditated.
22nd April 2012 - YouTube - Rita VanVolkenberg - A video is uploaded entitled 'Cannibal Serial Killer - Luka Magnotta' featuring a slideshow of LM pics (many fake and photoshopped) with the track "True Faith" by New Order accompanying, which is the same track featured in 1 Luatic1 Ice Pick.
It
remains somewhat perplexing exactly why the Crown did not introduce
these online postings into evidence when presenting it's case, but I
rather suspect Crown prosecutor, Louis Bouthillier, took a
calculated risk to withhold these postings from Crown Disclosure (i.e.
from the Defence) with the intention of seeking an opportunity to
introduce evidence about the online postings at some point after the
Defence had set out their case, or possibly as rebuttal evidence.
Dr. Watts' omission gave the Crown such an opportunity, but alas for Mr. Bouthillier the gambit proved futile, as when he attempted to question Dr. Watts about the online postings, Magnotta's Defence attorney, Luc Leclair, objected and the Jury were sent out for an hour while Counsel made legal argument about the matter.
It would be ridiculous for me to attempt to speculate about what went on during legal discussions while the Court was in closed session, but the simple fact is that this was the first and last the Jury heard about the online postings.
The Jury has never seen, or been shown, evidence about these online postings and, therefore, they cannot take these postings into consideration when considering whether the murder of Jun Lin was premeditated.
The answer to that question I posed in the title of this article, is...a resounding NO!!
N.B. I have posted an updated version of this article in my report 'A final analysis of the Magnotta Case', but I have decided to keep this version because people have taken the time to comment.
Good article. I don't see how Luka can wriggle out of this, given the fact that he made and uploaded a trailer for the video BEFORE he committed the murder. He can't deny that he is responsible for the trailer, since he is pictured in it holding an ice pick!
ReplyDeleteI don't think these postings will ever be presented to the Court. For some reason, the Crown did not do so and the Defence is unlikely to make reference to them because it would undermine the explanation already given.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Luka's actual state of mind was during the period from 2010-2012, from the kitten killings to the murder of Lin Jun. Did he feel remorse from these killings? Was he doing it for the thrill or for the attention or both? How much of the Defense is a big lie and how much of it can give us insight into his behavior?
ReplyDelete