The internet can be a scary place, especially now a days with things such as the election and covid outbreaks. Online communities can often lead to bullying but can also be helpful for people reaching out for someone going through a similar situation to them. What I’m about to tell you about is very controversial. Some people may think it’s extremely interesting and some people may think the people involved spent a little too much time on the internet. Recently, Netflix released a Docu-series called “Don’t F*ck with Cats” where an online community ultimately caught a murderer.
“The docu-series tells the story of one of Canada’s most infamous crimes, the murder of Lin Jun. Lin was killed by Luka Magnotta, who courted internet infamy before the murder by circulating videos of himself killing kittens.” Luka posted his disturbing videos on YouTube which drove a lot of people to anger and a Facebook group was created with people all over the world trying to figure out where this animal abuser was.
“Together they analysed Luka’s video frame-by-frame. They looked at plug sockets on the wall to narrow down the killer’s location. They listened to background sounds to determine the languages heard. The group even went so far as to find the online sellers of blankets and vacuums seen in shots to find some clue of who the cat killer was.” The Facebook group finally discovered the animal killer was Luka and tried to warn Canadian police that he would soon move from animals to humans. Their pleas were ignored and Luka eventually ended up killing Lin Jun. He was eventually caught by someone who recognized him and sent to prison.
Now I didn’t go into too much detail about all the research that went into discovering Luka’s identity, but please read the links below for more information. Although there was a horrible and disturbing outcome to this, because of the Facebook group that was created, a bad person was Identified strictly through the internet. I find it fascinating that people discovered who a murderer was and where they live strictly on watching video posts and looking at the surroundings in the video.
References:
Bruney, Gabrielle. “Netflix’s ‘Don’t F**k With Cats’ Tells the True Story of One of Canada’s Most Infamous Murderers.” Esquire, Esquire, 20 Aug. 2020, www.esquire.com/entertainment/a30308038/netflix-dont-fuck-with-cats-luka-magnotta/.
Rennex, Michelle, et al. “’Don’t Fuck With Cats’ Is The Most Disturbing Documentary Since ‘Abducted In Plain Sight’.” Junkee, 9 Jan. 2020, junkee.com/dont-fuck-with-cats-netflix/237080.
“Luka Rocco Magnotta Arrested in Germany | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 5 June 2012, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/luka-rocco-magnotta-arrested-in-germany-1.1147219.
I also watched this Netflix docu-series and was instantly sucked in. I could not believe how someone could do, let alone post, something so horrific on the internet and to think it was just the start to something far more sinister. However, I was amazed to see all of these complete strangers ban together to help solve the mystery. Don’t F*ck With Cats is a prime example of the power an online community can have.
References
Bruney, G. (2020, August 20). Netflix’s ‘Don’t F**k With Cats’ Tells the True Story of One of Canada’s Most Infamous Murderers. Retrieved November 9, 2020, from https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a30308038/netflix-dont-fuck-with-cats-luka-magnotta/
It seems like in modern times people spend a decent portion of their lives on the internet. That coupled with people’s fascination with crimes made a perfect storm for this Facebook group to catch a murderer BEFORE he murdered. It is amazing how observant people can be when promoted to figure something out. Not only that, but I find it incredible that a virtual community was able to work so well as a group. I understand the group’s outrage at Magnotta’s videos of him killing cats. I have to wonder if they knew that killing small animals is often a sign of someone having a mental illness of the violent variety and whether that was part of their initial influences for catching this guy or if they originally wanted to get him for animal abuse. Though I have a feeling that the documentary would likely clear up that question for me.
The internet seems to be a powerful tool for solving crimes. In fact, there are plenty of stories about people solving “cold case” or “unsolved” crimes by using the internet to work with others and to find more information or to do as the Facebook group that caught Magnotta and rewatch videos over and over to find minute details that help solve a crime. Here is just one of many lists of crimes that were solved with the help of the internet: https://www.insider.com/crimes-solved-by-people-online-2018-5#when-a-human-head-turned-up-in-a-bucket-full-of-hardened-concrete-it-took-web-sleuth-ellen-leach-to-put-the-puzzle-pieces-in-place-and-help-bring-a-murderer-to-justice-8.
References:
Bruney, Gabrielle. “Netflix’s ‘Don’t F**k With Cats’ Tells the True Story of One of Canada’s Most Infamous Murderers.” Esquire, Esquire, 20 Aug. 2020, http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a30308038/netflix-dont-fuck-with-cats-luka-magnotta/.
Jitchotvisut, Janaki. (2018, May 11). 8 times crimes were solved by the internet. Insider Inc. Retrieved from https://www.insider.com/crimes-solved-by-people-online-2018-5#when-a-human-head-turned-up-in-a-bucket-full-of-hardened-concrete-it-took-web-sleuth-ellen-leach-to-put-the-puzzle-pieces-in-place-and-help-bring-a-murderer-to-justice-8.
I found this documentary super interesting as well, and it got me thinking on the purposes of internet communities and groups as whole. In “Don’t Fu*k with Cats,” I felt as though without this Facebook group, the murder on Lin Jun would have gone largely unnoticed by mainstream media and thereby allow Luka Magnotta to continue in his goal of becoming a serial killer. With the same sentiment, most serial killer’s dream of being idolized as depicted by Luka. He was obsessed with becoming a celebrity, so much so, he had lied about dating certain Canadian celebrities just to be brought into the lime-light. The Facebook group, although providing enough evidence to ultimately catch him, could have been one of the reasons he was pushed to murder Lin Jun in the first place, again emphasizing the pros and cons of internet communities started out of sheer anger and self-righteousness.
I find that internet groups carry a sense of mob-mentality, in the sense that they allow ideas, whether good or bad to be propagated, shared, and ultimately widely absorbed. Consider the current political climate, groups idolizing QAnon have now infiltrated mass media while before only being left to the fringe. There becomes a point where Facebook groups and other forms of social media go beyond bringing people together and connect them over a singular interest. The pessimism in this response may come from my own reservations about Facebook as a whole, but in general, the message is this: internet groups can be a great way for people to connect and share similar thoughts or desires, but with that comes the possibility of those similarities going beyond trivial and harmless to outlandish and hurtful.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to online communities. In the text it states,”Facebook and Myspace were reported to fulfill needs for interaction with others, and members used the sites as a way to exchange information about events, and to share interests and media resources, such as video clips and links to bands.” (Gruman). Social networks like Facebook and Instagram allow people to connect with other people they know or may not know. Personally, I use social networks to keep in touch with family and friends I do not see often to keep them updated in my life. I have never been apart of an internet group but can see why they intrigue people. Internet groups allow people with the same interests and ideologies to share thoughts, ideas, videos, and etc. In the documentary, we saw how an Internet group led to the murderer of Lin Jun to be caught. Like everything, there are pros and cons to Internet communities.
References:
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W. , &. Coutts, L.M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems 3rd edition. SAGE Publications.
Bruney, Gabrielle. “Netflix’s ‘Don’t F**k With Cats’ Tells the True Story of One of Canada’s Most Infamous Murderers.” Esquire, Esquire, 20 Aug. 2020, http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a30308038/netflix-dont-fuck-with-cats-luka-magnotta/.
I think it is really interesting that you bring up a community of people that identified and found a murderer. I’ve been following a few subreddits the last couple of years after following the news about a 26-year-old guy named Dakota Miller that went missing in Pittsburgh in 2017 (Shumway, 2019). I remember reading various things about his case and how it was very relatable to many other disappearances and subsequent drownings of young men in the Pittsburgh area (Shumway, 2019). The subreddits I stumbled on relating to this topic have been following what they call “the smiley face killer theory.” This singular “killer” has not expanded to likely include a network of serial murderers who operate under the same MO. They kidnap, hold, and then drown young men (Smiley Face Killer Murder Theory • r/SmileyFaceKiller, 2019). The cases that the subreddit follows are primarily mid/North Atlantic and moving west toward Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Some cases go as far south as Austin, Texas. The more cases people have found and discussed detailed around the larger the network seemed to spread, the similarities are remarkable. The Oxygen network created a six-part limited series on the main cases that started the theory, episode one being the Dakota James case (5 Chilling Details That Will Make You Believe In The ‘Smiley Face Killings,’ 2019). The total number of related cases exceeds 350 at this point in time, and that is all due to the work of a community of people on Reddit who put their best detective foot forward and started sorting through the details. I think it is extraordinary the things that can be accomplished by a community of people working together over the internet, and not just for things like video games or fundraising, solving actual crimes and linking together cases to create a very well detailed theory, with supportive evidence.
Sources:
5 Chilling Details That Will Make You Believe In The ‘Smiley Face Killings.’ (2019, February 4). Oxygen Official Site. https://www.oxygen.com/crime-time/chilling-details-make-you-believe-smiley-face-killings
Shumway, J. (2019, September 19). Serial Killer Or Accidental Drowning? KDKA Investigates What Happened To Dakota James. KDKA CBS Pittsburgh. https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/09/19/serial-killer-or-accidental-drowning-dakota-james-mystery/
Smiley Face Killer murder theory • r/SmileyFaceKiller. (2019, February 11). [Reddit “Subreddit”]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/SmileyFaceKiller/