Morbid Instinct: Don't F**k With Cats Review - Hunting an Internet Killer

In this episode of Morbid Instinct, Jeremy, Josh, Colette, and Elaine dissect the disturbing Netflix docuseries Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. The series follows a group of amateur internet sleuths who launch a manhunt for Luka Magnotta after he posts graphic videos of himself killing kittens, escalating to the murder of Jun Lin.

The discussion explores the psychology of Magnotta, a narcissist desperate for fame who used multiple aliases and photoshopped images to create a fake online persona. The crew debates the ethics of the internet sleuths, acknowledging their crucial role in identifying Magnotta (using clues like a vacuum cleaner and a CASINO poster) but also criticizing their reckless witch hunt that led to the suicide of an innocent man, Edward Jordan. They also touch on the media's complicity in giving Magnotta the attention he craved, the parallels to the movie Basic Instinct (which Magnotta used as a blueprint for his crime), and the unsettling reality that people seemed more outraged by the kitten videos than the murder of a human being.

Key Highlights
[02:46] The Reaction: The hosts discuss the visceral reaction of the internet sleuths (and themselves) to the kitten torture videos, noting that harm to animals often triggers a faster and more intense public outcry than harm to humans.
[11:39] Basic Instinct Connection: A deep dive into how Magnotta modeled his murder of Jun Lin and subsequent interrogation on the movie Basic Instinct, using an ice pick (painted screwdriver) and even mimicking Sharon Stone's mannerisms.
[13:00] Master of "Disguise": The crew mocks Magnotta's attempts to create a globetrotting lifestyle using Photoshop, pointing out that his "master plan" was riddled with errors like using his own credit card while on the run.
[19:26] The Innocent Victim: A somber discussion on the collateral damage of internet vigilantism, specifically the harassment of Edward Jordan (a man falsely accused by the group) who later took his own life.
[20:25] The Vacuum Cleaner Clue: The hosts marvel at the sleuths' attention to detail, such as identifying Magnotta's location based on the model of a vacuum cleaner seen in the background of one of his videos.
[48:09] Media Responsibility: The group debates whether the documentary itself plays into Magnotta's hands by giving him the fame he sought, echoing the final question posed by the series: "Are you complicit?"