Canadian ‘porn killer’ Luka Rocco Magnotta has been arrested in an Internet café in Berlin following an international search of less than a week. Canada wants Magnotta to be sent back to Montreal to face justice over his high-profile atrocities.
By Frank Kuin
Canadians have reacted with shock and relief to the arrest by German police of Luka Rocco Magnotta, nicknamed the ‘psychopathic porn killer’ accused of the gruesome murder of a Chinese student in Montreal and sending body parts to political party offices in Ottawa.
Luka Rocco Magnotta in a photo he published online.
Magnotta was arrested on Monday in an Internet café on Karl Marxstrasze in the German capital less than a week after Interpol started an international manhunt for him. German police took Magnotta in custody without resistance after being alerted by staff at the café.
The 29-year-old porn actor is the suspect in the gruesome murder of 33-year-old student Lin Jun in Montreal. Video footage of the crime was allegedly published by Magnotta on the Internet. Body parts of the victim were found last week in Montreal and Ottawa, including a foot that was sent to the headquarters of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party.
On the weekend, Magnotta had reportedly been sighted in Paris where he traveled shortly before the crimes came to light. From the French capital, he traveled by bus to Berlin. At the Internet café, he browsed pornographic sites and online news coverage of his own macabre case, which has received worldwide attention.
Due to the international notoriety he acquired in the past week, Magnotta was recognized by the cashier at the café, Kader Anlayisli, upon his entry just before noon. Anlayisli and the owner of the café, Ulku Sungur, checked photographs of Magnotta, which are widely available online.
Luka Rocco Magnotta enters the Internet café in Berlin where he was arrested soon after (foto AP).
“We thought he looked familiar, but we couldn’t be sure,” Sungur told media. Magnotta, an alias for Eric Clinton Newman, wore sunglasses, but was not otherwise disguised. In 2009, he had published an online article titled “How to completely disappear and never be found.”
At 1:30 p.m., seven policemen arrived on site. Magnotta tried to give a false name, but gave up when the officers asked for his passport. “You got me,” he reportedly said.
In a reaction, Harper said he was “pleased” Magnotta had been arrested. “I just want to congratulate the police forces on their good work,” he said in London, where he is attending celebrations to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
German policemen enter the Internet café to arrest Magnotta (foto AP).
Magnotta has to appear in a Berlin court on Tuesday. It is unclear how long his extradition to Canada will take; if he is not accused of a crime in Germany and does not fight extradition, it could be a matter of a week to several weeks.
Forensic psychologists believe that Magnotta is enjoying his notoriety and will probably not fight extradition to Canada, where a future trial is expected to attract much publicity.
Lin Jun, a 33-year-old student from China, is the victim of the crimes.
Canadian authorities have charged Magnotta with first-degree murder, committing an indignity to a body, publishing obscene material, mailing obscene and indecent material, and criminally harassing Prime Minister Harper and other members of Parliament.
The Chinese community has reacted with relief to the arrest. The murder caused shockwaves in China; the Chinese embassy has warned Chinese citizens to be cautious in Canada. Lin’s parents are on their way to Montreal to collect their son’s remains.
Near Concordia University in downtown Montreal, where Lin was an engineering student, an informal shrine has sprung up, with flowers and pictures. One of the notes left reads, “We got that beast.”
Informal shrine to Lin Jun near Concordia University in downtown Montreal.
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