The mother of convicted killer Luka Magnotta says she loves her son “unconditionally,” even after he was sent to prison for murdering and dismembering a Chinese exchange student and mailing pieces of his body across the country.
Anna Yourkin, who recently co-authored the book My Son, The Killer, spoke to Global News 640’s Alex Pierson about the aftermath of the crime.
“I’ve come to terms with the fact that my son was accused and convicted of first-degree murder,” Yourkin said. “But the aftermath is very hard to deal with.”
LISTEN: Alex Pierson is joined by Anna Yourkin, the mother of Luka Magnotta, to discuss her book ‘My Son, The Killer”
Magnotta, 36, was convicted of stabbing 33-year old Jun Lin to death in 2012. Pieces of Lin’s body were mailed across the country.
The case gained worldwide notoriety after a video of Magnotta stabbing and dismembering Lin’s body was posted online. Magnotta, a porn actor, was identified from the video and was arrested in Berlin by Interpol.
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Magnotta was also found guilty of the four other charges he faced: criminally harassing then-prime minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament, mailing obscene and indecent material, committing an indignity to a body and publishing obscene materials.
COMMENTARY: Should a murderer’s mother tell her kid’s story? Scott Thompson asks
During the search for Magnotta, his mother said she didn’t hear about his actions until watching it on the news.
“It wasn’t a phone call,” Yourkin said, “The police had showed up at my house and I was assuming it was for something different. But the following day, I believe it was, I heard it on TV.”
“It was devastating, my world as I knew it, I knew it would never be the same.”
WATCH: Jun Lin’s father breaks down discussing trial and Luka Magnotta (2015)
She said she didn’t speak up about Magnotta at the time because she didn’t have the strength, but has written the book now to “clear up the lies, the misconceptions” about Magnotta’s personality.
“Who the person my son is, and always has been to me, he’s a wonderful human being,” she said, adding that “he’s loved.”
As for if he feels guilty about the crime, Yourkin said she couldn’t answer.
“It’s a subject that we haven’t openly discussed because I think it’s going to take a lot of time,” she said.
Brian Whitney, who co-authored the book with Yourkin, spoke to Magnotta for the book. He told media that Magnotta didn’t show many signs of remorse, and described him as “haughty.”
WATCH: Luka Magnotta found guilty for murder of Jun Lin (2014)
But Yourkin said she and her son have a bond that can work through anything.
“It wasn’t a question of forgiveness, I unconditionally love my son,” she told Global News. “I know we have a bond that can work through anything. So we did.”
Neither Yourkin nor Magnotta has spoken to Lin’s family, though Yourkin offers her condolences in the book.
— With files from Alex Pierson and the Canadian Press
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