Body-parts victim ID'd as Chinese student in Montreal
Search on for suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta in France
CBC News
Posted: Jun 1, 2012 6:06 AM ET
Last Updated: Jun 1, 2012 11:12 AM ET
Police have identified Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Chinese citizen studying in Montreal, as the victim of the gruesome homicide that has led to an international manhunt for Luka Rocco Magnotta.
Lin was attending Concordia University and was last seen on May 24, according to police. That's one day before a grisly video, reported to be of the killing, was posted to an internet gore site.
Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafrenière said investigators believe the victim was killed on May 24 or 25.
On May 26, suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta flew out of Montreal's Trudeau airport, police said. Lafrenière would not confirm his destination.
Rocco Luka Magnotta is shown in a photo from the website http://www.luka-magnotta.com. Magnotta is wanted in the shocking case of a dismembered body whose parts were mailed to different places including Conservative Party headquarters. (Canadian Press)
"He may have returned under another identitiy," he said.
The student was reported missing by a family member on May 29, police said, the same day packages containing human remains were discovered in Ottawa and a suitcase with more remains was found outside a Montreal apartment building.
French police are searching for Canadian porn actor Magnotta, who is suspected of killing the student and sending the dismembered body parts in the mail.
Search for suspect centred in France
A senior French police official said Friday he is "sure" that Magnotta is currently in France. Another French police official said Magnotta apparently flew to Paris from Montreal last weekend, The Associated Press reports.
Lin Jun was last seen on May 24 and reported missing on May 29, according to Montreal police. (Facebook)
In France, officials said the country's fugitive search unit had been ordered to hunt for Magnotta. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about such searches publicly.
Montreal police said they believed Magnotta killed Lin, a man he had a relationship with, made a video of the killing, and mailed body parts to the headquarters of two major Canadian political parties.
Police were reported to be showing photos of the victim around Magnotta's neighbourhood to see whether anyone recognized him.
Interpol aids in search
Interpol posted a picture and information on Montreal resident Magnotta on its website Thursday among a group of many international suspects wanted for crimes including homicide, kidnapping and organized crime.
Interpol's involvement came after Montreal police issued a worldwide warrant for first-degree murder.
Clues at the Montreal crime scene led police to expand their search abroad.
"We found some evidence," said Lafrenière. "We found, also, a letter that was posted on a website making us believe he might be gone out of the country."
He said they were working with airport officials in Montreal as well, but wouldn't disclose any information they had provided.
"There is no country in the world that is not talking about him," Lafrenière said. "There’s a lot of heat on him. There’s a lot of pressure on him, so we believe that it’s going to be hard for him.”
