MONTREAL – The judge in Luka Rocco Magnotta‘s first-degree murder trial is raising concerns about what he calls a fake Twitter account bearing his name.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer convened court this afternoon to discuss the account after reporters covering the trial began following it over the noon hour.
Cournoyer says he found out about it after receiving Twitter notifications at his personal email address.
READ MORE: Magnotta murder trial: What the jury wasn’t allowed to see
The account was created in October 2012 and and had no tweets on it.
Cournoyer says he has no Twitter account and wanted to put it on the record in the event comments are posted in the days to come. After his comments, all of the new followers, mostly journalists, disappeared.
Meanwhile, the eight women and four men deciding Magnotta’s fate were in their fifth day of deliberations as they tried to reach verdicts on the five charges against the accused.
READ MORE: Magnotta’s actions prove planning of deliberate murder, Crown tells jury in closing arguments
They have emerged just once since their work began on Tuesday.
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They asked Cournoyer whether a personality disorder is a disease of the mind from a legal standpoint, something he confirmed.
On Friday afternoon they sent a note to the judge indicating they weren’t able to view certain videos on the court-issued computer in the room where they’re doing their work.
Magnotta is charged with first-degree murder and four other offences in the slaying and dismemberment of Chinese engineering student Jun Lin in May 2012.
Magnotta has pleaded not guilty by way of mental disorder and is trying to be found not criminally responsible.
His lawyer says he is schizophrenic and couldn’t tell right from wrong at the time of the slaying.
READ MORE: What does the Luka Magnotta jury have to decide?
The Crown says Lin’s slaying was planned and deliberate.
Lin’s father is at the courthouse awaiting the verdict.
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