Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - He Wants To Be Famous But... // The Luka Magnotta Murder Story

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Luka Magnotta is a Canadian convicted murderer who gained international notoriety in 2012 for the murder of international student Jun Lin in Montreal

Of all the stories I've told you, this one's actually going to make you mad. So this all starts with this guy, Luca. And Luca's around 27 during this time, living in Toronto, Canada. But here's the thing about Luca. He really, really wants to be famous. He craves a lot of attention for himself. And Luca is already an aspiring model, an actor, and he tries everything he can to put himself in the spotlight. Like he auditions for a lot of roles, like a lot of times for reality TV shows.

My name's Luca, and I'm a bisexual, and I like to sleep with both men and women, obviously. Sometimes he even acts in some adult videos. But this isn't really getting him the attention he wants. He keeps getting rejected. And that is when Luca starts thinking, maybe this talent stuff is overrated. Maybe all I need to do is just look famous. So around 2009 he comes up with a plan, a plan to trick people into thinking he's already popular.

So he creates a bunch of fake Facebook profiles, apparently around 70 of them. And on them, he pretends to be his own fans. And he like comments on his own posts and he like hypes himself up. Then these fake fans start spreading stories about him that he's connected to famous people. He says that he's once dated Madonna. He says that Marilyn Monroe is his biological mother. He says that he's in a relationship with a Canadian serial killer, Carla Homolka. He also posts a lot of pictures of him traveling around the world like he's a celebrity,

but a lot of these pictures are completely fake. But despite all this effort, nothing really changes. He's still not really getting the attention that he wants. So it's now 2010, and that's when Luca decides that he wants to try something completely. completely different, something with shock value, something so disturbing that people have to pay attention. So he gets two little kittens and he makes a video of himself unaliving the kittens. But in this video, he keeps his face kind of hidden. Then he uploads the video to YouTube and just like he wanted this video blows the and of course people who watch it are super pissed. But what's

Whatever, Lucas sees all this and he's super happy. I mean, his account is now getting all kinds of attention. So he decides, I'm gonna do it again. And he makes another video hurting a cat and he posts it and then he makes another one and he posts it too. And this is in 2010, so the YouTube moderation system isn't as fast at catching horrible videos as it is now. And when Lucas videos are removed, he just creates a new account and he uploads them from

there. people online get really upset and they want to find whoever is behind these videos. So they start investigating and they start analyzing everything. Some of them even create an online group whose whole goal is specifically to find who's making these videos. And they like go through Luca's videos frame by frame looking at everything, the backgrounds and other tiny details, anything that could lead them to him. And these guys look for him for about two years.

And that is when they finally get an anonymous tip that the person behind all the videos is actually Luca. It's speculated that Luca himself tip them off because again, the guy just loves attention. Anyway, so now this group is trying to find Luca. And they're actually able to figure out where he lives in Toronto. And then they go and they turn all this information over to the Toronto police. And so police go to Luca's apartment. But unfortunately, by this point, he's already moved away to Montreal.

So at this point, he's feeling pretty good about himself. He got all the attention he wanted, and police weren't able to catch him. So he decides he's going to do it all over again. This time, he's going to go bigger. This time, his victim's not going to be a cat. It's going to be a human. So it's now 2012, and Luca is ready to do his next stunt, and he's going to go all out for this one.

You know that movie from the 90s, basic industry? instinct? Well, Luca is apparently obsessed with movies, especially that one. And in that movie, there's a famous scene where Sharon Stone's character commits murder using an ice pick. Well, Luca becomes fixated on this idea. He doesn't want to just kill someone for his next video stunt. He wants to recreate something cinematic, something that people will talk about. So he gets to work on this idea. He gets ropes to tie his victim down. He gets a screwdriver and he modifies it to look like an ice pick. Not sure why he didn't just go and buy an ice pick, but whatever. And once everything is ready, there's only one more thing he needs. His victim. So Luca gets on

Craigslist, and there he posts an ad, saying that he's looking for a man to hook up with, and that he wants to film the whole thing. And that is when this guy comes along. His name is June Lynn. And June Lynn is 33. He's a computer engineering student in Canada, and he's also gay. So Jun Lin replies to the ad. He's like, I'm down. So Luca invites him to his place. And soon June Lynn arrives and he and Luca start drinking wine together. But what June Lynn doesn't know is that Luca has put some sedatives in his drink. So pretty quickly, he's knocked out. And that's when Luca gets to work. He ties Jun Lin up. Then he sets up his camera. Then he gets his modified screwdriver and he stabs him multiple times, just like in the movie Basic Instinct.

Then he also gets a dog and he hurts it on camera too. And of course, when Luca's done with all this, he uploads the video to YouTube. And after that, he cuts June Lin up and he disposes of the body in a few different places. Some he puts in a suitcase and throws it in a pile of garbage outside his building. Some he mails to the offices of major political parties in Canada. and some he mails to two elementary schools. And of course, when all these packages with human body parts are discovered, the story blows up everywhere.

So now police are fully involved and they're investigating. Meanwhile, back at Luca's apartment, a janitor notices a suspicious suitcase in the pile of trash out back. So he reports it to the local police. And when the police arrive and they open it, they find part of June Lynn. And from here, police are able to connect everything. The uploaded video of the murder, the packages, Luca mailed, everything.

And they look at CCTV footage from the post office, and they see that Luca is actually the one mailing the packages. They also look at CCTV footage from around his building, and they see Luca and June Lin entering the building, and later, Luca dumping the suitcase with the body in it. So now they're pretty sure Luca has something to do with the murder. And Luca figures that police are on to him. So he puts a wig on to disguise himself, and he flees from Montreal all the way to Paris, and then later from Paris to Berlin.

Meanwhile, back in Montreal, police have no idea where he's at. So it feels like Luca might actually get away with all this. When Westchow first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to WestJetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and

actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. Until, until Luca finally screws up. That same year in 2012, Luca walks into an internet cafe in Berlin, and he sits down at the computer and he starts searching for himself online. Because I guess he wants to see what other people are saying about him. You know, he wants to see if he's getting any attention because he loves attention. But then, the owner of the cafe recognizes him because his picture has been all over the news. And he quietly calls the police. And so, bam, Luca gets arrested.

Here's a picture of him. And ultimately, he goes to trial in Canada, and he's found guilty, and he gets sentenced to life in prison.