OTTAWA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Luka Rocco Magnotta, a Canadian actor convicted in 2014 of first-degree murder for the killing and dismemberment of Chinese exchange student Jun Lin, will remain behind bars despite his mother's fear he could contract COVID-19 in prison.
"Mr. Magnotta is not eligible, under law, for any form of parole until June 4, 2034," the Correctional Service of Canada said in a statement to American tabloid news website TMZ, which reported the wish from Magnotta's mother, Anna Yourkin, that her son be released from the prison where he is serving a life sentence for Lin's murder.
The maximum-security facility located in the province of Quebec where Magnotta is being held reportedly had 15 inmates tested positive for COVID-19. Fifteen prison employees have also contracted COVID-19.
Born Eric Clinton Kirk Newman to teenage parents in Toronto on July 24, 1982, he later changed his name to Luka Rocco Magnotta when he pursued a dead-end career as an actor and model.
Magnotta was convicted on charges including the first-degree murder of Jun Lin, a computer engineering student at Concordia University, in 2012 in Montreal, committing indignities to Lin's body and broadcasting obscene materials.
Magnotta was also found guilty of dismembering Lin and mailing body parts to Canadian political parties and to two elementary schools.
In Canada, a first-degree murder conviction stipulates an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Enditem
