Unfolding chilling case of millionaire property heir Blake Leibel who tortured fiancee for six hours before scattering body parts

Blake Leibel was convicted of first-degree murder, torture and aggravated mayhem on June 20, 2018
PUBLISHED JAN 21, 2024
Blake Leibel was sentenced to life in jail without parole for the murder of Iana Kasian (Obscura: A True Crime Podcast)
Blake Leibel was sentenced to life in jail without parole for the murder of Iana Kasian (Obscura: A True Crime Podcast)

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA: Blake Leibel, a Canadian convicted murderer, was once a great comic creator, graphic novelist, screenwriter, and film director, as per Tuko.

However, the animated film's screenwriter was found guilty of first-degree murder charges after he tortured his fiancee and mother of his newborn for six hours.

The horrifying details of Blake Leibel's case 

Growing up in Toronto, Canada, Blake Leibel was the ambitious artist and heir of a multimillion-dollar real estate business when he committed his despicable deeds, including the terrifying murder of his partner Iana Kasian.

Only a few weeks after Iana Kasian gave birth to their daughter, he was found guilty of her brutal murder. After torturing the mother for six hours, he dispersed pieces of her face, ear, and scalp about their Hollywood condominium and extracted all of her blood.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the bizarre story started in 2004 when Leibel, now 42, came to California and lived off an allowance from his parents that added up to $1.8 million over seven years.

It was Leibel's graphic novel titled 'Syndrome', released in 2010, which would later be described as a 'blueprint' for the horrific murder he carried out on his partner. 

The novel begins with the foreword, "If you loved hurting things, what would you do?' It then follows a scientist who tries to find a way to cure people of evil with one page depicting a woman lying naked on a bed with no head. Additionally, it ends with an image of a hand dripping blood and the caption, ''In the end, we all become monsters.''

He started dating 30-year-old Iana who was a former attorney, originally from Ukraine, and had moved to Los Angeles to work as an interpreter. By May 2016, the couple had welcomed a daughter named Diana. 

How did the police become aware of the brutal murder? 

Iana informed Olga, her mother, that Leibel had grown agitated following the baby's birth, presumably out of jealousy that the newborn was getting all of her attention.

Things took a terrible turn just three weeks after the baby was born when she asked Olga to look after the infant while Iana and Leibel worked on their relationship.

After several days without hearing from Iana, Olga became more concerned and requested that the police come to the couple's residence. Leibel had locked himself in the master bedroom of the apartment, but the officers managed to break in.

He eventually emerged, wearing only his boxer shorts, with cuts and bruises across his face. Cops entered the blood-spattered room where Iana's naked body was sprawled out on the bed covered with a red Mickey Mouse blanket - taken from their daughter's nursery.

Iana's eyebrow had been removed, her facial muscles and bones were visible, and there were hair clumps on a razor. As to the autopsy report, the 30-year-old was brutally slain while still alive, and pieces of her right face were torn off by hand.

According to NBC, investigators discovered pieces of flesh inside the bedroom and an ear and a portion of Iana's scalp, which had been turned inside out, in a trash can at the base of the home's waste chute.

As per Daily Mail, Iana's cause of death was exsanguination. Evidence suggested Leibel had dragged his fiancee's body through the home and submerged her underwater in the bathtub to drain her blood.

Leibel was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 2018 and ordered to pay $41.6 million to Iana's family.

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