Luka Magnotta inspired by film Basic Instinct, Crown says - Action News
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Luka Magnotta inspired by film Basic Instinct, Crown says

Killer Luka Magnotta drew on elements from the 1990s erotic thriller Basic Instinct, using not only the name of the movies main character, but also borrowing from her crime when he stabbed 33-year-old Jun Lin to death, according to the prosecution.

WARNING: This story contains graphic details

Luka Magnotta has acknowledged that he killed Concordia University student Jun Lin, but says he is not criminally responsible because of mental illness. (Canadian Press)

Luka Magnotta drew on elements from the 1990serotic thriller Basic Instinct, using not only the name of the movies main character, but also borrowing from her crime when he killed 33-year-old Jun Lin, according to the prosecution at his murder trial.

The Crown suggested Magnotta painted the black screwdriver he used to repeatedly stab Linsilver, so that it would resemble the ice pick used by Sharon Stones character, Catherine Tramell, to murder one of her lovers.

Magnotta painted this screwdriver handle silver, the Crown suggested, so that it would resemble the ice pick used by Sharon Stone's character in the movie Basic Instinct. (Montreal Police)
The title of an edited video showing parts of Lin's slaying that Magnotta posted online also refers to an ice pick.

The Crown contends the similarities dont end there.

Sharon Stones fictional characters fianc, who is never seen in the film, is called Manny Vasquezthe same first name as a man Magnotta claims was a client from hisescortservicewho turned abusive.

Magnottaalsotold a psychiatristwho interviewed him about the night he killed Linthat "Manny"was there urging him to kill, another psychiatrist, Marie-FrdriqueAllard, testified Thursday.

However, the version of events he recounted toAllard, hired by the defence to assess Magnottaspotential criminal responsibility, did not mentionMannyspresence.

Allard, who was on the second day of cross-examination by the Crown, acknowledged that she can see a resemblance between the film characterMannyandMagnottasManny, explaining that she spent a long time wondering whetherMannywas real or simply part of the accuseds "delusional ideas."

She concluded that he may have had a client called Manuel Lopez, but that the actions Magnottaattributes toMannymay be affected by his psychotic state.

Magnottaused the name "KirkTramell" repeatedly in Europe in the days before his arrest, and he chose "Catherine"as his computer login, the Crown said, as an homage to Basic Instinct.

Prosecutor LouisBouthillierreturned frequently to issuesinAllards127-page report onMagnottasstate of mind, trying to point out holes in the logic.

He asked whyMagnottapaid for a hotel room in Paris for nine nights, particularly when he hoped to stay with a Parisian he had met online, but then left much earlier for Berlin.

Allardresponded it was not logical, and that its difficult to impose logic on the actions of someone that, she contends, was in a psychotic state at the time.

Its not logical unless he was fleeing from police, the Crown argued.

Diagnosis stands: psychiatrist

In response to the Crowns persistent questions about contradictory details inMagnottasstory,Allardacknowledged that sometimes the accuseds story was incoherent.

But the forensic psychiatrist maintained its clear to her thatMagnottasuffers from schizophrenia, and that the illness and his hallucinations are responsible for his acts on May 25, 2012.

Allardtold the court even if she discounted his version of the crime, "there are still several signs that show me he was psychotic."

The psychiatrist notedMagnottaslengthy medical history, and the facthe hadnotbeentakingantipsychotic medicationsince2010.

She pointed to two hospital visits during the time he was off medication to prove that, without regular treatment, his mental health was deteriorating.

Allardalso stated during her testimony that a murder can be premeditated while a patient is in a psychotic state.

Magnottahas pleaded not guilty to the five charges against him, but has admitted to committing the underlying acts, including killing Concordia University student Lin and committing an indignity to his body.

The Crown contends the killing was premeditated.