Man found guilty in gruesome 2016 murder of model in West Hollywood
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- A Canadian-born graphic novelist has been found guilty of multiple felonies in the 2016 torture-murder and blood-draining of his fiancee.
Blake Leibel has been convicted of killing Iana Kasian at the couple's West Hollywood apartment.
WARNING: Details in this story may be graphic for some readers.
The prosecution said his book "Syndrome," featuring a baby with its skull partially removed, became the blueprint for what he would do to his fiancee.
Investigators said the model and mother of an infant had been found in her bed, apparently suffering from blunt force trauma to the head.
RELATED: Autopsy report reveals graphic details in 2016 murder of model in West Hollywood
Authorities said Kasian was tortured and mutilated before she was killed and all of her blood was drained from her body.
Graphic details in the recently released report also indicate that her scalp was missing, leaving her skull fully exposed. Her scalp was never found.
The report indicates the scalp had been cut at the back of her head, but in other areas it appeared to have been ripped away. The report also stated portions of the right side of her face were torn off, including her right ear.
There was also an injury to her jaw, which the report said appeared to be human bite marks.
In trial, medical experts testified that among cases of mutilation and torture, this one was unlike any described in scientific literature because the defendant kept Kasian alive for as long as it took for her heart to pump almost all of her blood out of her body, through her wounds.
"The victim in this case was alive, not only during the perpetration of the mutilation and the scalping and the torture, but that she had to remain alive for a period of a minimum of six hours," a prosecutor said.
As for a motive: The prosecution theorizes that Leibel was jealous of the couple's new baby and the attention it received from Kasian.
Leibel faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. His sentencing is set for June 26 at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles.
