Blake Leibel

In 2010 Archaia published the graphic novel Syndrome which was a joint venture with Leibel's company Fantasy Prone. The story revolved around a sadistic doctor and a serial killer he was studying. Leibel described the book thus : " “Syndrome is a story about obsession, on a number of levels, as experienced by four characters who all come from different worlds and yet find themselves embroiled in this giant, impeccably simulated environment,” said creator Blake Leibel. “It’s the ultimate ‘backstage’ story, in that sense.”[3]

On May 26, 2016, after barricading himself in his West Hollywood apartment, Leibel was taken into police custody following their discovery of the corpse of his fiancée, 30-year-old Ukrainian former tax office prosecutor and fledgling model Iana Kasian. Kasian was mutilated, drained of blood and lying in their bed. Their infant daughter was in the care of Kasian's mother who was visiting from Ukraine and staying in a nearby apartment. Leibel was subsequently charged with murder, torture, mayhem and aggravated mayhem, to which he pleaded not guilty.[1]

An autopsy report was released on September 20, 2017, listing Kasian's causes of death as exsanguination and head trauma.[4]

A civil lawsuit filed by the victim's mother, Olga Kasian, included transcripts of Los Angeles County Coroner Dr. James Ribe's deposition, which 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... portions of the right side of her face were torn away including the right ear and part of the posterior face on the (right) side, all the way down to the jawline... there were quite a number of bruises and abrasions on the face, primarily on the left side, the left cheek, and left jaw area, a number of bruises and abrasion, including one which turned out to be a human bite mark... 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. And I doubt if hardly any forensic pathologists in this country or abroad have even seen this outside of, perhaps, wartime... So it's extremely rare...

— Dr. James Ribe, Los Angeles County Coroner's Office[5][6]

In June 2018, Leibel was convicted of first-degree murder, with supplemental charges of torture and mayhem.[7] He was given a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.[8] Leibel is currently serving his sentence at the California Correctional Institution.[9]

Blake Leibel was born to two notable Canadian families. His father, Lorne Leibel, is of Jewish descent and is a prominent Toronto real estate mogul and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee.[10] Additionally, Leibel sailed for Canada in the 1976 Summer Olympics.[11] His mother was Alros Products heiress Eleanor Chitel Leibel,[12] whose father, Paul Chitel, held several patents.[13] He has a brother named Cody.[14]

• Blake Leibel at IMDb