The graphic novelist whobrutally tortured and scalped his fiancéejust weeks after she gave birth will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Last week, Leibel was found guilty for the first-degree murder of Iana Kasian, who was found drained of her blood, scalped and tortured in their West Hollywood apartment in May 2016.
Her mother, Olga Kasian, appeared in court for the sentencing and delivered a statement referring to her granddaughter.
Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty
“The life of this little angel began with the fact that her father massacred her mother,” she said through a Russian interpreter,according to theLos AngelesTimes.
Kasian grew up in Ukraine with her parents and sister, went to law school and prosecuted tax crimes there, according to theTimes. She immigrated to the United States in 2014.
Leibel’s background differed greatly from Kasian’s. While his graphic novels did not have a lot of commercial success, he was reportedly living on an $18,000 a month allowance as his father is Canadian construction tycoon Lorne Leibel.
It was after the birth of Diana that Olga became worried about her daughter after dozens of missed calls and text messages.
Pieces of Kasian’s flesh were found on the bed, behind the mattress and on the floor while a bed sheet showed Leibel’s bloodied handprints,THRreported.
Silverman told jurors thatSyndromeserved as a “blueprint” for Leibel in Kasian’s “very slow, excruciating, painful” death, theTimesreported.
In the basement of their apartment building, police also found 11 trash bags, some of which contained sheets covered in blood as well as Kasian’s body parts, including chunks of her hair and scalp, the publication reported.
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“He is a monster.”
According to KTLA, Silverman suggested hismotivation for the gruesome killing was due to jealousyof losing Kasian’s attention to their daughter.
“The amount of cutting and tearing, the violence involved; that’s a lot of anger because she no longer was making him the number one most important thing in her life,” Silverman said in her closing arguments on Tuesday.
source: people.com
