The terrifying story behind Netflix's Don't F**k With Cats series (2024)

Netflix is well-known for its true crime documentaries and dramas, but its latest limited series Don't F**k With Cats is perhaps the most twisted story yet.

Based on true events, the three-part documentary portrays the chilling crimes of cat killer Luka Magnotta, who recorded himself murdering animals - and eventually a human - in his bedroom.

Don't F**k With Cats also provides interviews with the remarkable Internet users who banded together and helped Canadian authorities catch him.

Here, we take a look at the events that inspired the documentary in more detail.

Born Eric Clinton Kirk Newman, Magnotta lived in Ontario, Canada with his dad Donald Newman and mum Anna Yourkin - who also features in the documentary.

From 2003, Luka began working as a male stripper and escort, and had appeared in p*rnographic videos.

His first conviction was in 2005, when he was convicted of one count of impersonation and three counts of fraud, after impersonating a woman and applying for a credit card to purchase over $10,000 worth of goods. He was given a nine-month conditional sentence, with 12 months probation.

As of 2006, Magnotta legally changed his name to Luka Rocco Magnotta.

At Magnotta's trial, Ms Yourkin said her son: “Did not [have friends]; he was isolated. No schooling, no friends of any kind.”

Yourkin maintains her son is innocent and in a recent interview with Global News 640, said: “I’ve come to terms with the fact that my son was accused and convicted of first-degree murder. But the aftermath is very hard to deal with.”

She also released a memoir in 2018 entitled My Son the Killer: The Untold Story of Luka Magnotta.

The first of the graphic videos, '1 Man 2 Cats', was uploaded to the Internet in 2010; in the footage, Luka (who was not identified for some years) was seen torturing two kittens, before placing them in a vacuum pack and suffocating the animals.

Naturally, there was uproar online after the graphic and upsetting video was shared on social media.

A small group of people, including Deanna Thompson and John Green, then formed a Facebook group in order to track the culprit down and bring him to justice.

They used various sleuthing techniques to establish where the video was recorded. Their investigation began by trying to identify the types of plug sockets in the video, then where the model of vacuum was sold in the world.

The group eventually established the cat killer was located in Canada, which helped the investigation significantly.

33-year-old Lin Jun, also known as Justin Lin, was attending the Concordia University in Montreal at the time of his murder.

He was first reported missing by friends on May 29, 2012, after he didn't show up for work and his friends couldn't find him at his apartment. By that point he'd been gone for 5 days.

On May 25, a graphic video was uploaded to Begstore.com, which saw a man tied to the bed and being stabbed multiple times in the chest with what appeared to be an ice pick and a kitchen knife.

The man was then dismembered, before the video showed acts of necrophilia. Body parts were then given to a dog to chew on, before the puppy itself was killed.

A janitor later discovered the decomposing torso of the man on May 26 inside a suitcase, which had been dumped in an alleyway behind an apartment building.

Police then searched the scene and found more human remains, a crumpled poster, papers identifying the suspect and his address, and other items present at the time of the murder.

Authorities in Canada then confirmed the victim was an Asian male, revealing the victim's name as Lin Jun.

On May 29, a package was sent to the Conservative Party of Canada containing a left foot. It was marked with a red heart.

Later, the Liberal Party were sent a package with the victim's left hand, but Canada Post intercepted it. Authorities confirmed they were the body parts of Lin Jun.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Luka Magnotta, which was followed by a red notice from Interpol on May 31, 2012.

They managed to track Magnotta's movement to Paris, where Luka then rented a hotel room in Bagnolet.

Unfortunately, Luka had already left the hotel by the time the police arrived at the scene.

Magnotta then travelled to Berlin, where he was eventually apprehended by police at an internet cafe.

Given the nature of his crimes, commercial airlines refused to bing Luka back to Canada, which meant the Royal Canadian Air Force had to return Luka to his motherland.

A few years prior to committing murder, Luka Magnotta started to plant seeds to convince family, friends and officials that he was in trouble.

He told his mother and even lawyers that he was being forced into various acts by a man called Emmanuel 'Manny' Lopez.

However, after his arrest, the same Facebook group that discovered Luka's location also debunked his story.

They already knew that Luka had various alter egos and aliases online, which he had previously used to infiltrate their group. Using this information, they went through the profiles they had identified as his, to see if there was any connection to 'Manny'.

Eventually, one of the users came across a profile under the name 'K Tramell'. After a Google search, the group realised it was a reference to Sharon Stone's character in the 1992 movie, Basic Instinct, who was called Catherine Tramell.

Upon further inspection of the film, they learned that Catherine's abusive ex was called Manny.

Once scene from the movie in particular stood out, as it closely resembled the set up in Luka's video, 1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick.

In the scene, Sharon Stone's character is straddling a naked man. In the background there's a stained glass window and he is tied to the bed frame. She then feels for an ice pick and repeatedly stabs his chest.

Similarly, Luka was seen straddling Lin Jun's body in the distressing footage, and the poster (which police found in the trash) was pinned on the wall behind. He then modified a screw driver to look like an ice pick, which he used to kill the victim.

On December 23, 2014, Luka Magnotta was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life and is currently imprisoned at the Archambault Institution in Quebec.