A Comic book writer accused of murdering and mutilating his model girlfriend had written a graphic novel with chilling parallels to the killing.
Blake Leibel, 36, has been charged with scalping Iana Kasian, ripping parts of her face off and draining her of all her blood in “Hollywood’s most brutal murder”.
Just six years before the young mum was found dead, Leibel published a disturbing novel featuring images of naked women being decapitated and hung from the ceiling.
The novel, called Syndrome, revolves around a psychopathic serial killer who gets sexual pleasure from torturing and killing women.
The publisher and associated writers are not involved in the case in any way.
In one upsetting scene, the fictional serial killer says: “They kill, we kill. In the end we all become monsters.”
These chilling words are accompanied by images of a bloodied hand and a stomach being slashed with a knife.
The lead character appears to have an “obsession” with headline-grabbing brutality.
When asked he felt anything for his victims as they suffered, the fictional killer responded: “Nope I felt like coming, you should try it.”
Leibel, 36, the son of wealthy Canadian real estate tycoon and Olympic sailor Lorne Leibel, could face the death penalty if he is convicted over Iana’s brutal murder.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Iana, 30, who is originally from the Ukraine and moved to LA in 2014, was found dead next to the couple’s baby daughter in a West Hollywood apartment in May 2016.
An autopsy found she was tortured for eight agonising hours before she died from her injuries.
Her skull was exposed after parts of her scalp and one ear were either cut or ripped away.
According to the Toronto Sun, Dr James Ribe of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office said: “I have never seen this before.
“And I doubt hardly any forensic pathologists in this country or abroad have even seen this, outside of, perhaps, wartime … it’s extremely rare.
“[Her] entire scalp was traumatically absent and was not found, was not present with the body.”
The report shows there was also an injury to Kasian’s jaw that appeared to be human bite marks.
According to Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials, Leibel was arrested a week before her murder on suspicion of felony rape and was out on bail.
Just months before the killing, Leibel was working on another dark script called Psychopomp.
It follows an anti-hero who uses “high-tech weapons to kill those that go against his code of honour”.
The story has been described as a cross between the Dark Knight and A Clockwork Orange.
One reader described it as “bad Batman fan fiction”.
A Hollywood producer told the Toronto Sun: “He wanted to be a respected comic book guy and he used his money to create that image.
“He wanted to be cool and edgy — and he wasn’t. But you could just tell, he wasn’t right in the head.”
“I didn’t see the violence coming. I thought he was just a weirdo … wearing this big, heavy Columbine jacket … I mean, this is LA.”
He reportedly lived in Los Angeles on an $18,000–(£13,300)-a-month allowance and had dreams of making it in the comic book industry.
Leibel also worked on an animated version of the Mel Brooks film Space Balls.
He has been charged with murder, mayhem, aggravated mayhem and torture.
The two-month-old baby he shared with Iana has been placed in the care of the victim’s mum.
