A woman married a wrong husband and died

Scalp ripped off, dismembered, and drained of blood: A wealthy Canadian heir turned his wife into a cartoon character in his imagination.

A wealthy Canadian novelist and cartoonist, a devotee of violent aesthetics, brutally murdered his wife, who had just given birth, to realize his dark inner world. He tortured her horribly before her death, and afterward, dismembered and skinned her. During his trial, he vehemently denied the charges. What kind of monster is this?

Blake Lebel was born on May 8, 1981. His father, Lorne Lebel, was a Canadian athlete in his youth who later became a renowned real estate tycoon. His mother, Eleanor, also came from a business family.

Blake, who grew up in affluence, had a strained relationship with his parents. He always felt his father favored his older brother. After his parents separated due to marital discord, his brother lived with their father, while he lived with his mother.

After his mother's death in 2011, according to her will, his brother received many of her stocks and bonds, while he only received some fixed assets. Feeling this was unfair, he took the inheritance dispute to court, but ultimately only won less than half of the estate. Many people think of Blake as just a spendthrift rich kid, but he has his own artistic career. He has directed low-budget films and produced a series of space-themed animations, though these projects were poorly received, he didn't lose heart.

His proudest project is a graphic novel called *Syndrome*, filled with gore and violence, but he believes this is the art he wants, and he hopes it will be adapted into a television program.

In 2006, he fell in love with model Amanda, the two married and had children, frequently attending various parties. However, in 2015, when Amanda was about to give birth to their second child, Blake suddenly wanted a divorce and left without saying goodbye.

It turned out he had been having an affair. He had fallen for another woman named Ianna, a Ukrainian immigrant who was a tax lawyer before becoming a model.

But he had been lying to Ianna, saying he was single, claiming he was already divorced and had cut ties with his ex-wife. Soon, Ianna became pregnant.

At this time, Blake was overwhelmed with problems. He not only had to secretly resolve his divorce from Amanda, but also care for the pregnant Ianna, while simultaneously having an affair.

Later, Ianna gave birth to a girl. Blake was overjoyed, but soon after, he heard that his brother was involved in underground gambling with celebrities, the wealthy, and members of the Russian mafia. His brother had lost a large sum of money, at least $1 million.

He was anxious, fearing his brother would implicate him. His work was also in disarray; he was juggling caring for his wife and daughter with his mistress, keeping him extremely busy every day.

In May 2016, Blake's mistress suddenly reported him to the police, accusing him of sexual assault. After Blake was arrested, Ianna received the information and bailed him out.

Ianna, still recovering from her illness, was furious at her husband's infidelity, but Blake remained defiant, believing he had done nothing wrong and showing no affection for his daughter.

He threatened Iana, saying that if she didn't have sex with him, he would find other women, and that even though Iana's health hadn't fully recovered, she had to comply with his demands.

Fearing losing everything, Iana was terrified. She asked her mother to take her newborn daughter to an apartment several kilometers away, while she stayed behind to obey Blake's arrangements.

Iana's mother, Olga, strongly objected to this, believing that Blake's controlling nature and Iana's complete loss of self made their relationship unhealthy and not a healthy, equal one.

However, no matter how Olga tried to persuade her daughter, Iana couldn't leave Blake and continued to live a submissive life.

On May 23, 2016, Iana went to buy a stroller with her mother. After receiving a text message from Blake, Iana rushed home. Olga didn't know then that this would be the last time she saw her daughter.

On the afternoon of the 24th, Iana couldn't be reached by phone. Disturbed, Olga immediately called the police. The police arrived outside Iana and Blake's apartment, but left after no one answered the door.

Olga was frantic with worry after receiving no news, but the police only reassured her that Iana hadn't been missing for 24 hours and told her to wait patiently.

Another day passed, and Olga decided to force her way into her daughter's apartment. She called a friend, and when they arrived at the door, she had just seen Blake through the window, but no one answered, and Blake had closed the window.

On the 26th, Olga called the police again. This time, the police agreed to force entry. They managed to obtain a spare key from the real estate agent, and after knocking without response, they used the spare key to open the door.

Upon entering the house, everyone smelled blood. The hallway door leading to the bedrooms was locked from the inside, and the police struggled to open it. Inside the living room, they found a scene of chaos, signs of a struggle, and dried blood on the floor.

The police called out Blake and Iana's names again, but still no one answered. Now only the master bedroom remained unsearched. When the police tried to open the door, they found it locked, with a mattress used to barricade the entrance.

At this moment, a strange man suddenly burst in. He said he was Blake's friend and had received a message from Blake a few days earlier, in which Blake said he was suffering greatly and hadn't been able to contact him since. Worried about Blake, he rushed over.

Then, Blake suddenly shouted loudly from the master bedroom, saying that Iana wasn't home and he absolutely wouldn't leave the bedroom. Only after his friend's repeated persuasion did he finally come out. He was wearing only boxer shorts, covered in bruises, but smiling broadly.

Police quickly entered the room. They found large patches of blood on the master bedroom walls and something under the blanket on the bed. When they lifted the blanket, they discovered a disfigured female corpse—Iana, who had been missing for several days.

Iana had been dismembered. Her body was deathly pale, all the blood had been drained from her, and she had numerous bruises, bite marks, and injuries from blows and abrasions.

Beyond that, the most horrifying aspect was that her entire scalp was gone, leaving only her skull. Most of the skin on her right cheek had also been torn off, including behind her right ear down to her jawline.

Police speculate that Blake had been sleeping next to the body before their arrival.

Police found a passport and $400 in cash in Blake's pants pocket, suggesting he intended to clean the apartment before fleeing back to Canada.

A search of the apartment revealed that nowhere was clean; bloodstains were everywhere—on the floor, in the bathroom, in the bathtub, and on the walls.

Supplies used to clean up the bloodstains and bloodstained clothing were found in a nearby dumpster. Police found 11 bags of blood-stained clothes, towels, and bedding there, along with Iana's right ear.

Although Blake vehemently denied the crime, all the evidence bore his fingerprints, leaving him with no way to deny it.

During the trial, the evidence images and gruesome scenes played in court were heartbreaking and unbearable for everyone present. It was unimaginable the excruciating torture Iana had endured before her death.

Olga always felt that if the police had arrived sooner, her daughter might have survived. However, according to the forensic autopsy report, Iana was already dead before the police first arrived at the apartment.

Police comparison revealed that Blake's methods of torturing and killing Iana were strikingly similar to some scenes in his comic book "Syndrome," such as a couple hanging and bled to death, an infant with its scalp cut off, and a headless female corpse lying on a bed…

In June 2018, Blake was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and torture, facing life imprisonment without parole. Their daughter, Diana, was taken back to Ukraine by Olga to be raised.

In February 2019, after litigation, Iana's family was eligible for a $40 million settlement, but they have yet to receive the payment.

Blake's brother had no involvement in gambling, nor were there any stories of him being a wealthy man, a member of the Mafia, or losing a million dollars; these were all Blake's delusions.

However, tests on Blake showed that he had not used drugs before the incident and his mental state was normal.

Regarding his motive for the murder, Blake explained that after his daughter's birth, Ianna showed him too little attention, which made him jealous. Later, Blake said, "No woman really loves me; they only love my money. I'm tired of it all."

He tried to shift all the blame onto others, but in reality, he was the one who was unfaithful, and over the years, his distorted worldview had turned him into a violent and bloodthirsty monster.

In 2020, Blake attempted to apply for parole but was refused, and he remains incarcerated to this day.

Even now, Ianna's family still dreams of Ianna being tortured to death; this nightmare may haunt them for the rest of their lives, impossible to erase…