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The latest episode of Investigation Discovery's Death by Fame centered around the brutal murder of 30-year-old Iana Kasian. The murder remains one of the most brutal slayings in the history of Hollywood. Although the killing took place in 2016, it still perplexes experts in various fields.
Iana Kasian was murdered in the apartment she shared with her fiancé Blake Leibel. Blake was a wealthy former Canadian comic book creator and graphic novelist who worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood.
After Iana's mother failed to reach her on the phone, she came to West Hollywood in search of her daughter. However, what she found was Kasian's brutally mutilated body along with the perpetrator, Blake.
The episode was released on Monday, February 5, 2024, at 9 pm and this article will look at five chilling details about Iana Kasian's murder at the hands of Blake Leibel.
The Murder of Iana Kasian - 5 surprising details
1) Iana Kasian was killed three weeks after she gave birth to her and Blake Leibel's daughter
Iana was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine where she practiced law before moving to Hollywood with the hopes of becoming a model. She ran into Blake in 2016, soon after he had divorced Amanda Braun.
Iana and Blake began dating and within a short span of dating, they got engaged in 2016, which was followed by them having a baby. However, reportedly, the baby changed everything.
Their baby was born in May 2016 and three weeks after that, Iana's mother flew to LA when she hadn't heard from her daughter. She reached LA on May 24, 2016, and when she couldn't find Iana, she called the authorities.
2) Leibel murdered Kasian because he was "jealous" of their baby
Reportedly the most shocking thing about the case was the motive behind the murder. The murder scene was a bloody one and it was a brutal murder, which according to investigators showed that Blake Leibel wasn't in a normal state of mind when he killed his fiancé.
However, according to a report by People Magazine, Blake allegedly murdered Iana because she gave their baby more attention than she gave him. Prosecutors alleged that this combined with his desire for power and control, led to the murder
3) Iana Kasian was beaten to death before her body was drained of blood and mutilated
Following the lead of his famous graphic novel, Syndrome, Leibel reportedly mutilated and drained Iana Kasian's body of all blood. When the police arrived, prosecutors claimed that Leibel was lying with Kasian's body in the master bedroom.
The manner of Kasian's death was revealed in detail in a civil lawsuit filed by her mother. Los Angeles County Coroner Dr. James Ribe's description in the lawsuit stated:
"Kasian's entire scalp was traumatically absent and was not found, was not present with the body. Her skull had been stripped down to the surface of the bone ... There was no scalp present except for little bits in the back of the neck...she had lived for at least eight hours approximately after receiving the scalp injury and the bruise to the collarbone... I have never seen this before."
4) Iana and Blake's baby was in the house when all of this happened
The three-week-old baby was in the apartment throughout the lengthy torture and murder. Soon after the police apprehended Leibel, the child's custody was transferred to Olga Kasian, Iana's mother.
As per reports, the baby was taken away to Ukraine.
5) Blake Leibel was sent to prison with no possibility of parole for life
Leibel initially pleaded not guilty to the counts of murder, torture, mayhem, and aggravated mayhem. However, with all the evidence against him, he was charged with first-degree murder, torture, and aggravated mayhem, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Leibel has remained one of the most infamous names in the history of West Hollywood.
The latest episode of Death by Fame is available for streaming on Discovery+.
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