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A man murdered the mother of his newborn daughter in a disturbing act of "savagery" which saw her subjected to eight hours of torture.

Graphic novelist Blake Leibel killed his partner, Iana Kasian, in his West Hollywood apartment in May 2016. The body of the Ukrainian model, 30, was discovered with its blood drained and head scalped.

Leibel, who was 37 at the time, was jailed for life without parole in June 2018. The killer is the son of wealthy real estate developer and one-time Olympian Lorne Leibel and enjoyed a financially comfortable life before his heinous crime.

He received a staggering $18,000 (£13,500) monthly allowance before inheriting a considerable sum following his mum's death.

In 2010, he published a graphic novel called 'Syndrome' about a scientist conducting experiments on a murderer in pursuit of a remedy for wickedness, reports the Daily Star.

The book features a horrific torture sequence, including a woman haemorrhaging on a mattress and a man suspended upside-down by his ankles being drained of blood.

Just six years later, Leibel would proceed to enact his fictional work in reality. The couple shared a home and had a baby - Diana - in early 2016. But difficulties arose and Iana eventually moved out and stayed with her mother.

However, she visited Leibel in the hope "patching things up" between them. When she had not returned home on May 26, Iana's concerned mum contacted the police and requested they check the novelist's residence.

Officers arrived to discover Leibel barricaded inside the property. Upon forcing entry, police were confronted with blood splattered across every surface and chunks of human flesh scattered throughout the apartment.

Making their way into a bedroom, they found the killer sprawled across the bed alongside Iana's body, with their baby lying beside her, completely unharmed.

A bloodied razor blade and knife were found close by, and her right ear had been severed, along with sections of the side of her face, leaving raw muscle and bone exposed.

In the basement, officers discovered 11 bin bags containing blood-soaked bedding, clothing and portions of Iana's scalp.

Dr James Ribe, of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, provided a harrowing account of the brutal abuse the victim had suffered prior to her death.

He said: "[Iana'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."

Her scalp has never been recovered - and according to the report, Iana, who was also covered in bruises and bore bite marks, had remained alive for at least eight hours after sustaining the scalp wounds and bodily injuries.

Dr Ribe added: "Also 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 the jawline."

The coroner determined that Iana's cause of death was exsanguination - the complete draining of blood from a person's body. The secondary cause of death was recorded as repeated blunt force trauma to the head.

Dr Ribe, who has practised medicine for more than 20 years, said: "I have never seen this before. And I doubt hardly any forensic pathologists in this country or abroad have even seen this, outside of, perhaps, wartime ... it's extremely rare."

During Leibel's sentencing, Superior Court Judge Mark E. Windham said, "the case is unusual only in its savagery," and that the murderer had displayed "inconceivable cruelty."

While prosecutor Beth Silverman said, "he threw away pieces of his fiancee ... like she was trash," and claimed he had used his graphic novel as a blueprint for torture.