'Canadian Psycho' Magnotta arrested in Berlin, report says. Found guilty of first-degree murder and four other charges.

Canadian murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta was arrested Monday in the German capital Berlin, the Bild newspaper reported.
The porn actor and stripper, who was the subject of a global manhunt after he allegedly murdered his gay Chinese lover and mailed body parts, was picked up at an internet cafe in Berlin's Neukolln district, the newspaper reported, citing police sources.
Magnotta, 29, fled Canada after the killing, initially heading to Paris.
Magnotta is wanted for threatening the Canadian prime minister, first-degree murder, defiling a corpse and using the mail system for delivering "obscene, indecent, immoral or scurrilous" material.
Kankan Huang, the owner of a Montreal convenience store where Jun Lin worked about 10 hours a week, said the victim was a responsible, polite cashier. He said he knew something was amiss when he didn't show up for work last week because Lin had never missed a shift since he was hired last August.
Huang said he was shocked when he read the news about his clerk's death.
The case began Tuesday, when a package containing a severed foot was opened at the ruling Conservative Party headquarters. A hand was discovered at a postal facility, addressed to the Liberal party of Canada. A torso was found in a suitcase on a garbage dump in Montreal, outside Magnotta's apartment building.
Police suspect Magnotta filmed the murder. The video, posted online, shows a man stabbing another man with an ice pick while the victim lies naked and tied up. The first man later reveals he has slashed the other man's throat. He also dismembers the corpse and performs sexual acts with it.
An online video also shows a man who looks like Magnotta committing violent acts against kittens. The video contains at least one photo made available by Montreal police that identified the man as Magnotta. For nearly two years, animal-rights activists have been looking for a man who tortured and killed cats and posted videos of it online.
"This is the kind of guy that's looking for attention," Lafreniere said. "He likes to glorify himself with the web. The web will glorify him and the web is also going to bring him back to justice because there are a lot of pictures of him out there and it will help lead him to us."
Police said Magnotta's birth name is Eric Clinton Newman and that he is also known by the name Vladimir Romanov.

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Holly cow I am so glad they got him.

Body parts suspect to face judge in Berlin
Published June 05, 2012

BERLIN – The Canadian porn actor suspected of murdering and dismembering a Chinese student in Canada before fleeing to Europe is to be brought before a judge in Berlin on Tuesday, a day after his arrest, as authorities kick off the process of seeking his extradition.
Luka Magnotta, 29, was arrested on Monday at an Internet cafe in a working-class district of the German capital. A cafe employee recognized Magnotta from a newspaper photo and flagged down a police car.
Cafe owner Uelkue Sungur told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Magnotta had spent his time at the computer looking for details of the hunt for him — including on Interpol's website — and at nude pictures of himself, apparently on his own website or email.
Martin Steltner, a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors, said officials were arranging for a translator and appointing an attorney to represent Magnotta when he is brought before a judge who will determine if he should remain in custody.
The closed-door appearance is largely a formality, but will pave the way for Canadian authorities to formally request his extradition for trial in his native country.
Steltner would not say how long the entire process would last, but other authorities have said Magnotta, who is being held at a police detention facility in Berlin, could be returned to Canada as early as the end of the week.
Magnotta arrived in Berlin on Saturday on a bus from Paris, Steltner said. He would not elaborate on what Magnotta did in the German capital between his arrival and the time of his arrest, citing the ongoing investigation.
Magnotta is wanted by Canadian authorities on suspicion of killing Jun Lin, a 33-year-old man he dated, and mailing his body parts to two of Canada's top political parties before fleeing to Europe.
They say Magnotta filmed the murder of the Chinese student in his Montreal studio apartment and posted it online. The video shows a man with an ice pick stabbing another naked, bound male. He also dismembers the corpse and performs sexual acts with it in what police called a horrifying video.
In Germany, surveillance camera footage of the Internet cafe, obtained by The Associated Press, showed Magnotta casually walking in to the shop at noon local time, wearing jeans, a green hoodie sweater and sunglasses.
He briefly spoke to the Internet cafe's desk person, then walked off to his assigned computer with the number 25 where he would later be spotted reading the news about his case.
About two hours later, seven German police officers are seen walking into the shop, without any haste.
On the camera footage, three police officers are seen accompanying the handcuffed Magnotta a couple of minutes after they first entered the cafe. Magnotta calmly walks alongside them.
Police say he at first tried giving fake names but then conceded: "You got me."

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LAPD probes possible connection of gay porn star to Hollywood dismemberment

Detectives in Los Angeles are probing the possibility that the gay porn star suspected of killing and chopping up a Chinese student in Canada could be connected to an unsolved murder in Hollywood Hills earlier this year.

Detectives want to know where suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta was in January, when the hands and feet of 66-year-old Hervey Medellin were found by two dog walkers near the famous "Hollywood" sign in Hollywood Hills, Officer Norma Eisenman, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department, told FoxNews.com.

“They’re just trying to see if there are any similarities,” Eisenman told FoxNews.com early Friday of the two cases.

Magnotta, 29, was arrested in Berlin on Monday following an international manhunt and is suspected of killing and dismembering Jun Lin, 33, before mailing some of his body parts to Canadian political parties in Ottawa and schools in Vancouver. Canadian police have said they will conduct DNA tests to confirm a match. Lin’s head remains missing.

Authorities in Montreal believe Magnotta has spent time on the West Coast. Montreal Police Department Cmdr. Denis Mainville has said investigators will scour hundreds of homicide case throughout the past three decades for any possible links to Magnotta.

Investigators have said Magnotta videotaped the dismemberment of Lin inside his apartment and posted it online May 25. The videotape also depicts the suspect eating parts of the body, according to police. A copy of the video viewed by The Associated Press did not show cannibalism, but police suggested they have a more extensive, unedited version.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles-based animal rights group says Magnotta first appeared on advocates’ radar in 2010 when he started posting “horrific” videos of animal abuse online.

“The videos began with a cat being fed to a snake then progressed to the torture and suffocating of kittens,” Last Chance for Animals (LCA) said in a statement posted on its website. “LCA was one of the few organizations that did not dismiss the videos as fake. LCA reached out to law enforcement in the U.S., Canada, and to Interpol about the videos but didn’t receive a response.”

Using thousands of page of pseudonyms and online posts by Magnotta throughout the years, LCA’s Special Investigations Unit predicted the suspect would check websites and videos of himself from mobile devices and Internet cafes while evading authorities.

In an attempt to lure Magnotta, the group posted a video about him, dubbing the former porn actor “The James Dean Killer.” A second video entitled “1 Man 1 Icon” was also posted to continue the ruse, utilizing family photos of Magnotta not yet published in mainstream media. The sites, according to the group, quickly received numerous hits from France and Germany when Magnotta was believed to be in those countries.

When Magnotta was apprehended and arrested in Berlin after days in Paris, he reportedly told investigators he was watching YouTube videos of himself.

“This case clearly demonstrates a link between cruelty to animals and violence toward humans,” the group’s statement continued. “LCA is pushing for tougher sentences to be handed out to animal abusers and an ‘animal abusers’ offenders list.”

On Thursday, German prosecutors said a decision on Magnotta’s extradition could be made within days. The decision isn’t expected before next week, spokesman Martin Steltner told The Associated Press.

Magnotta’s court-appointed attorney, Evelyn Ascher, declined comment on Thursday, saying in an email: “Until further notice I am not able to give any interviews, as there are too many requests.”

A male-to-female transsexual who claims she dated Magnotta said he desired to be “legendary” by any means possible.

“I think he did it to be famous," Nina Arsenault told HLN’s Dr. Drew. "He wanted to be legendary in any way he could be.”

Arsenault, who said she fell for Magnotta 10 years ago, said the man she knew back then was not capable of the “heinous” alleged crimes.

“He was the first man who showed any kind of interest in me” Arsenault said. “I had high hopes at the beginning. At first he was extremely charming — sort of the 'life of the party.' As time went on, I began to see his manipulations and a lot of lies.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Luka Magnotta Case: Jun Lin A Forgotten Victim In The Making?
Posted: 06/08/2012 11:53 am
Updated: 06/08/2012 12:56 pm

As headlines scream "cannibalism" and "dismemberment," everything else in the gruesome case of Luka Rocco Magnotta has quickly become overshadowed. And that includes details about his victim, 33-year-old Jun Lin.

Magnotta, the Canadian man who allegedly ate parts of his victim's body before sexually assaulting the dismembered torso, has quickly attained global infamy. People all over the world have watched the alleged acts, which police say Magnotta filmed and uploaded online. Copies might circulate on the Internet for the foreseeable future.

Yet in the case of other gristly crimes, savage acts have been seared into public consciousness, with the victims and their families going forgotten.

Take the infamous Milwaukee cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. A necrophiliac who raped and dismembered many of his victims, Dahmer has been remembered by millions, but how many people can name a single victim of his? How many have heard of Anthony Sears, for example, or Raymond Smith or any of the 15 others he murdered?

The alleged crimes of this spring appear to be just as horrific. Montreal police believe Magnotta, a 29-year-old, low-budget porn actor, carried out Lin's brutal murder on or about May 25.

On May 29, Lin’s torso was found in a suitcase near Magnotta's apartment. Later that morning, authorities were called to the headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada to investigate a suspicious package. Inside, they found Jun's severed foot and a note, indicating a plan for another killing, police said. A second body part -- Jun's severed hand -- was found that night inside a package at the Ottawa Postal Terminal that was addressed to the Liberal Party of Canada.

Other body parts of Jun were found at the apartment building; his right hand and foot showed up earlier this week at two Vancouver schools.

The majority of the media coverage this week has focused on Magnotta and what police are calling his premeditated performance -- videos he posted online weeks, possibly months before Lin's murder in which he allegedly hinted at what was to come.

In March, a now defunct blog post allegedly written by Magnotta and titled "Necrophilia Serial Killer Luka Magnotta" appeared online. In it, he allegedly wrote, "It's not cool to the world being a necrophiliac. It's bloody lonely. But I don't really care, I have never cared what people thought of me."

A series of videos that authorities say Magnotta posted online after Lin's murder have recently been found online. In one that was posted to YouTube, Magnotta said, "what's up and hi to all my fans."

The most recent videos, however, pale in comparison to the one Magnotta allegedly filmed of Lin's murder and posted online. Titled "1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick," the film is more than 10 minutes long. It shows a naked male being attacked with an ice pick and a knife. The victim is brutally stabbed multiple times, decapitated and dismembered. During the film, the killer masturbates with a severed arm, appears to devour a piece of flesh that he sawed from the victim's buttocks and has sex with the headless torso.

The Huffington Post acquired a copy of the video last week but it is too graphic to post.

A variety of experts have weighed in about this disturbing crime. There has been plenty of speculation about who, what, when, where and why.

Meanwhile, members of the distraught family of Lin -- his father, mother, sister and uncle -- traveled from Wuhan, the capital of Hubai province in China to Montreal this week to retrieve what remains of their loved one. Lin's head remains missing, but his torso, hands and feet have been discovered in various locations.

"We come to take you home now," Lin's mother said, according to CTV.

Yan Shi, the head of the Chinese student association at Concordia University where Lin was studying, said Lin's mother was so overcome by grief that she was barely able to stand.

"The entire scene was heartbreaking," Yan Shi told the Canadian Press. "Lin's mother was very emotional. She was crying the entire time. It's really terrible just being there. We didn't understand a word she was saying, she was crying a lot. She was barely walking. We had to help her."

Lin was in Montreal since last July, according to the Chinese consulate. He was enrolled as a undergraduate student at Montreal's Concordia University, majoring in engineering and computer science.

"On behalf of the Concordia community, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of student Jun Lin," Frederick Lowy, president and vice chancellor of the university, said in a statement. "We are saddened to learn of this loss of life and it has affected our community, especially those who knew him," Lowy said.

When not occupied by his studies, Lin worked for Kankan Huang, the owner of a Montreal convenience store. Huang told the Blaze that Lin was a "responsible, polite cashier."

De Frias Lakhany, a 21-year-old friend of Lin, told the Associated Press that Lin was shy and a dedicated student.

"[He was] so nice, humble and honest," Lakhany said. "He was really involved in his studies and never missed class."

Another friend, Pei Zhang, described Lin to CBC News as a "good person." Added Pei Zhang: "He was very gentle and positive. Always keep smiling."

On his blog on the Chinese website Weibo.com, Lin made no mention of his alleged killer. Instead, he discussed fashion, food, favorite TV shows, his beloved cat Andy and his feelings about attending school in Canada.

"Class is to begin soon," a posting from last year found by AP states. A photo of an empty classroom accompanies the entry. "I'm so nervous. Been out of school for so long," Lin added.

"I just realized I am 10 years older than my classmates," he wrote a month later. "They can call me Uncle. It's so crushing."

The blog, according to the AP, contains more than 1,000 entries, with a last one from May 16, roughly a week before the homicide. That entry, which does not appear to have any connection to the death, has attracted 40,000 comments.

Magnotta, captured in Berlin on Monday, faces charges of first-degree murder, committing an indignity on a dead body, publishing obscene material, mailing "obscene, indecent, immoral or scurrilous" material and criminally harassing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and several unnamed members of Parliament, police said.

Canadian justice officials this week sent a formal extradition request to Germany for Magnotta and wish to have Magnotta in custody soon.

"We hope that he can be extradited between now and the end of the month," German government official Martin Steltner told AFP.

It is not immediately clear when Lin's remains will be released to his family. The body -- all of the dismembered pieces that have been recovered -- is still considered evidence, according to police. As a result, members of the distraught family might return to China without their loved one's remains.

Various community efforts are being organized to help raise money for the Lins.

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By Giuseppe Valiante, QMI Agency

Magnotta hearing draws fans out of the woodwork

Lin's father breaks down again at accused butcherer Luka Magnotta's hearing

Luka Magnotta appears to wipe away tears at hearing

One of Luka Magnotta's lawyers withdraws from case

Security won't allow translator near Luka Magnotta during trial
MONTREAL — Court was adjourned for the day after accused murderer Luka Magnotta collapsed in the prisoner's box during his preliminary hearing Tuesday morning after the Crown presented video evidence.

Magnotta, 30, seldom looked at the screen above the prisoner's box, which was broadcasting the video evidence. Instead, he kept a curled hand over his mouth and repeatedly appeared to wipe his eyes.

Specifics of the evidence presented is under a temporary publication ban.

When the presentation was over, the court guard asked for a five-minute recess, and Magnotta collapsed to the floor.

Tuesday was the seventh day of Magnotta's preliminary hearing. The Toronto-area native is accused of murdering and dismembering Chinese student Jun Lin, 33, in Montreal in May 2012.

Magnotta is charged with first-degree murder, indignity to a human body, producing and distributing obscene material, using the postal service to distribute obscene material, and harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament.

The courtroom was silent during the video evidence.

Judge Weitzman at one point put her hand partially over her mouth and shook her head slowly.

Diran Lin, Jun Lin's father, who has been in and out of the hearing since leaving the courtroom in tears last week, was not in court Tuesday to witness the video evidence.

Earlier Tuesday, the Crown presented two witnesses: a former Canada Post employee, Vee Fong Law, followed by Montreal police digital crime analyst Nadine Paoliello.

The hearing resumes Wednesday.

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April 29, 2013 

The trial of accused killer Luka Rocco Magnotta will begin in September 2014, more than two years after his arrest in the death of university student Jun Lin.

Magnotta appeared Monday in a Montreal courtroom, where his jury trial was set for Sept. 15, 2014. It is scheduled to last six to eight weeks.

Defence lawyer Luc Leclair requested an earlier start date and even asked the judge whether April 2014 would be a possibility. Justice Andre Vincent replied that nothing was available before September.

"I expected an earlier date, but it's a busy courthouse," said Leclair, who has, for the most part, declined to speak to reporters.
"I'm not completely surprised."

The shackled defendant, who sat quietly behind a glass barrier around the prisoner's box as the date was set, will have a pre-trial conference later this year, on Sept. 3.

Magnotta, a former porn actor and stripper, was arrested last June in Berlin following an international manhunt.

Leclair explained how his client tried to speed up the process by declining to fight his extradition to Canada from Germany, a battle he said could have dragged on for up to five years.

"During that time witnesses that are essential for the Crown's case might have left the country, the evidence would have become stale and it's clear that the Crown's case would have been weakened," Leclair told reporters at the courthouse after Monday's appearance.

"However, he decided to come back to Canada and to face the public in Montreal, in particular, who will be called to judge him...
"He came, personally, to face the court because he has faith in the Canadian judicial system."

Magnotta's lawyer indicated that in the meantime he might file a motion to "quash" a judge's recent decision that ordered the accused to stand trial for first-degree murder.

His legal team had attempted to have the charge downgraded to second-degree murder.

But Quebec court Judge Lori-Renee Weitzman ruled a few weeks ago there was sufficient evidence for Magnotta to be tried on the charge of premeditated murder. Weitzman made the decision following Magnotta's preliminary hearing.

Leclair maintained Monday that he thinks the lesser charge is more appropriate because he believes the Crown's evidence against his client is more "circumstantial" than "direct."

"We are still studying the judgment that was given by the preliminary inquiry judge," Leclair told reporters.

The Toronto lawyer said he would wait until he received a transcript of Weitzman's ruling before deciding whether to proceed with the motion --which, he indicated, would not have any impact on the trial's 2014 start date.

The decision to send Magnotta to trial came at the end of a preliminary hearing that featured 32 Crown witnesses but no defence witnesses.

Pathologists, crime experts and several Montreal police officers testified for the Crown.

Others included a journalist from Britain, Canada Post employees, a senior Conservative party staffer and school officials from Vancouver. The inquiry also heard from one of Lin's friends, who was the only witness who actually knew the victim.

The evidence presented at the preliminary hearing was subject to a court-ordered ban. While attending the proceedings, Lin's father became distraught and left the courtroom in tears.

Magnotta faces five charges in connection with last May's death and dismemberment of Lin, a 33-year-old Chinese national studying engineering at Concordia University.

The 30-year-old Magnotta, a native of Scarborough, Ont., has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Parts of Lin's body were mailed across Canada in a gruesome killing that made headlines around the world.

Aside from the murder charge, Magnotta is facing four additional counts related to the case: committing an indignity to a body; publishing obscene material; criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament; and mailing obscene and indecent material.


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FEBRUARY 8, 2014

The prosecution in the murder case of Luka Rocco Magnotta has been given the green light to collect evidence in Europe that might be presented to a jury after his trial begins in September.

Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer granted the motion Friday morning. It allows the prosecution, represented by Louis Bouthillier, to travel to France and Germany to collect "commissioned evidence" from more than 30 witnesses. Magnotta, 31, is charged with the first-degree murder of Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Concordia student who was killed on May 25, 2012. Magnotta was arrested in Germany in June 2012. It is believed he arrived in Germany, via France, after having left Canada.

Cournoyer's order is no guarantee the evidence will eventually be presented to a jury. Once it is obtained it will have to be reviewed to determine if the methods used to obtain it coincide with Canada's legal system. The legal systems in France and Germany are both based on continental law, which is very different from Canada's common-law system.

In both European countries the accused does not have the ability to challenge a witness's testimony through cross-examination. Also, Magnotta cannot be transferred to France or Germany to hear the evidence in person.

As part of Cournoyer's order, Magnotta should be able to watch the evidence through a video linkup between his cell at the Riviere des Prairies Detention Centre and whatever buildings will be used in Europe. He would also be provided with the means to communicate with his lawyer, likely by telephone, without fear the calls would be recorded by police.

Cournoyer's order might turn out to be a small hurdle compared to what awaits the prosecution. A prosecutor who works for the Quebec government will have to act as a liaison between his counterparts in Europe to set up dates when the witnesses can be met. The tougher challenge will be to work out a method where the prosecution can get its evidence in a way that conforms with Canadian law and is agreeable to courts in France and Germany. Sebastien Bergeron Guyard, a prosecutor who acts as a liaison estimated it would take between four to six months to set everything up.

The case returns to court on April 25.

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Gabriel Campos Martinez Arrested in Hollywood Body Parts Murder
By Dennis Romero Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 12:33 PM

It only took more than two years, but the man originally reported to be the focus of an investigation into the death of 66-year-old Hervey Coronado Medellin, whose head, hands and feet were found near the Hollywood sign, has been arrested.

The LAPD today announced that 38-year-old Gabriel Campos Martinez has been arrested in San Antonio. He was the victim's roommate and boyfriend.

And he's the guy ...

... who was originally questioned in the death, sparking at least one news outlet to proclaim he had been arrested back in January, 2012.

The first of Medellin's remains were found by dog walkers Jan. 17. He was a retired Mexicana Airlines employee.

According to an LAPD statement:
With the help of a cadaver dog and additional department resources additional body parts were found near the same area where the head was discovered.
While reporters originally focused on Martinez, there was some speculation that Luka Magnotta, an L.A.-based adult actor arrested in Berlin after allegedly killing and dismembering a Montreal man, might have been connected.

Wrong.

It appeared that investigators originally searched the apartment Medellin and Martinez shared down the hill in Hollywood.

It was the "roommate" who reported Medellin missing before taking off for a trip to Tijuana, according to reports.

It's not clear what took so long for detectives to conclude that he is their alleged man.

Martinez was being held without bail in Texas and was awaiting extradition to California, the LAPD stated today.

[Update at 3:08 p.m.]: The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced this afternoon that "Campos-Martinez," as it calls the suspect, has been charged with one count of murder.

The D.A.'s office says he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail (and not no bail, as the LAPD says).

It alleges the suspect killed Medellin around Dec. 27 of 2011. Campos-Martinez and the victim had been roommates for six months, prosecutors said.

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Concern of “sensationalism” deters Canada from televising Magnotta trial
March 11, 2014
MagnottaBy:Celia Carr- Assistant External News Editor

After much debate, it has been decided that the murder trial for Luka Magnotta will not be televised due to the fear of “sensationalism” which already surrounds the case.

Canadian media Lawyers and certain Canadian judges believe that cameras should be allowed into this trial because it has already been such a highly publicized case since it happened. The Canadian Judicial Council however, has opposed this move.

“The danger (is that the media) will get into sensationalism. It scares me. Having to testify in court is already intimidating for witnesses and victims,” Robert Pidgeon, the associate chief judge of Quebec Superior Court told sources.

Magnotta, 31, a former porn star, is to stand trial in September for first-degree murder as well as for other charges in connection to the death and dismemberment of Jun Lin, a Chinese student studying in Montreal, in May 2012. The trial will be presided by Justice Guy Cournoyer.

In addition to the murder charges he will be facing, Magnotta is also accused of committing an indignity to a body; publishing obscene material; criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament; and mailing obscene and indecent material.

Lin’s torso was found in an alley close to Magnotta’s apartment and other parts of his body were mailed to the offices of politicians and also to a school in British Columbia. Lin’s head was found in Montreal Park. Following these incidents, an international manhunt was conducted and Magnotta was arrested in Berlin.

In the years leading up to now, Magnotta has previously pleaded not guilty to all charges, and recently has formally entered “Not-Guilty” pleas again.

Regardless of the nature and sensitivity of the case, there are still many lawyers and people involved with the judicial system who argue that cameras should be allowed into courtrooms because people should be able to see justice being served.

“I think we’re going in that direction. Justice is public. It’s done in other countries. I understand that there’s a fear that it would become a spectacle, so we have to find a way to protect witnesses and ensure that they’ll speak freely in court,” Montreal lawyer Richard Dube told sources.

Justice Guy Cournoyer’s recently rejected a motion from defence lawyer, Luv Leclair, for a publication ban on certain aspects of the case. He wanted the media to stop reporting that his client has often been shackled and handcuffed, and that he has appeared in high security courtrooms as it would be difficult to find an impartial jury. He claimed it would make it an unfair trial to Magnotta.

“When you’re looking for an impartial jury, you’re not looking for people with no knowledge, you’re looking for people who can be impartial and decide the case solely on the evidence…our whole system is based on that,” Mark Bantey, a media lawyer who argued against the ban said to sources.

Magnotta 2Since this motion was brought forward, Cournoyer has heard several other trial-related motions and is expected to hear more before the trial.

Due to the nature of the case, the judicial system sees it best to not televise the events happening in the courtroom because they feel it will take away from the importance of the trial itself. This case has already been notorious for its public interest and the twisted “fan base” that has surrounded Magnotta’s story. However, many people who were once obsessed with the Magnotta case and the eerie murder story have quickly come back down to reality and have realized the seriousness of the trial, such as blogger, Lexa.

“For me, I have chosen to redirect my support and sympathy to those who deserve it, in this case Jun Lin and his family,” Lin wrote in her blog concerning the matter.

Although the case has received less attention in the media while trial dates and decisions have been pending, it is expected that the dormant interest will ramp up again once the case goes to trial. It will be covered very heavily by the media and is expected to receive very old-school media attention, where reporters are running in and out of the courtroom in order to do TV standups for their stations on the courthouse steps.

Additionally, social media within the courtroom will be restricted as only last year the court system banned Twitter and other electronic communication from inside the courtroom. Unless the judge consents to the action, “It is prohibited to broadcast or communicate text messages, observations, information, notes, photographs, audio or video recordings from inside the courtroom to the outside,” according to the directive issued by a tribunal of judges.

Many judges for courts outside of Canada are less conservative in the way they handle communication within their courtrooms, stating that as long as the communication does not disrupt the proceedings, then it is acceptable.Currently however, the stance in Canada is that witnesses could be intimidated to testify in front of a camera, or that lawyers would start to act as if they’re playing a role in front of the public.

There have been requests for cameras to be allowed in other high-profile Canadian cases such as former Saskatchewan cabinet minister Colin Thatcher’s murder case and former B.C. Premier Glen Clark’s breach-of-trust trial.

More recently, the B.C. Supreme Court did allow for TV cameras to record the final arguments in a 2011 court hearing concerning the constitutionality of Canada’s polygamy law.

The U.S. and many other countries have embraced televising high profile cases similar to this, but Canada remains conflicted on the issue, and maintains a Conservative and traditional way of dealing with their trials.

More likely for now, cameras will make their way into the courtrooms of lower-profile cases in order to get everyone comfortable with having them inside the courtroom. However, they are not expected to become fixtures any time soon. It is very unlikely that they will be making their way into cases as notorious as Magnotta’s.

The trial for Luka Magnotta is expected to begin September 8, a week ahead of schedule, and is expected to last anywhere from six to eight weeks.

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By Sidhartha Banerjee   The Canadian Press

MONTREAL – The trial in one of Canada’s most publicized and shocking criminal cases is set to begin Monday with evidence being heard in the proceedings against alleged murderer Luka Rocco Magnotta.

Magnotta, 32, has pleaded not guilty to five charges in connection with the slaying and dismemberment of Chinese engineering student Jun Lin in May 2012.

The charges are first-degree murder; committing an indignity to a body; publishing obscene material; criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament; and mailing obscene and indecent material.

Trial judge Guy Cournoyer questioned potential jurors earlier this month about whether they could stomach evidence that could be considered gruesome, graphic and possibly upsetting.

The 14 bilingual jurors who will hear the case will receive instructions from Cournoyer before prosecutor Louis Bouthillier begins presenting the Crown’s arguments.

The investigation was launched after the discovery of a human torso stuffed in trash behind a Montreal apartment building in May 2012. Body parts then began surfacing in different parts of Canada – first at a federal political office in Ottawa and, later, at two British Columbia schools.

A video that purportedly depicted a slaying was posted online around the same time and was linked by Montreal police to the discovery of the body parts.

As the investigation progressed, Magnotta was discovered to have left the country, triggering an international police manhunt that Montreal police said was the largest in which they had taken part.

Interpol became involved and Magnotta was arrested without incident at a Berlin Internet cafe on June 4, several days after Lin’s slaying.

He returned to Canada a few weeks later, escorted by several Montreal police major-crimes detectives aboard a Canadian government plane.

Bouthillier has said up to 60 Crown witnesses could be heard at the trial, which is expected to last between six and eight weeks. Some Europeans could be called to testify.

The process of selecting the jury took eight days, with the court vetting about 1,600 people called to serve. That group was narrowed down to 16 people. Two will be dismissed when the trial begins and two of the remaining 14 will be discharged before deliberations.

The trial will take place primarily in English, although some parts are expected to be in French.

Magnotta will be represented by Toronto-based attorney Luc Leclair. The lawyer told reporters he was seeking jurors who were open-minded and intelligent and willing to listen to the case.

“He’s (Magnotta) been waiting a long time, I’ve been waiting a long time, we’ve been waiting a long time,” Leclair said on the first day of the jury selection process.

“There was a time that we never thought this day would come.”
Magnotta is a native of Scarborough, Ont., who, according to police, set up dozens of Internet user names and maintained 70 Facebook pages and 20 websites.

The trial is likely to lure plenty of curious onlookers. During the preliminary hearing, the case attracted criminology students, legal junkies and even a handful of people who appeared to support Magnotta.

Proceedings will be heard in a special courtroom equipped with numerous screens and a large metal-and-glass enclosure behind which Magnotta will sit.

But seating is limited: five spots will be set aside for media and five others for the public. A few other seats are reserved for Lin’s family, including his father Diran, who is in Canada for the trial.

The trial will otherwise be broadcast to an overflow room on a different floor.

Diran Lin has attended several days of proceedings since the case began and has said he hopes to see justice for his son.

Jun Lin, 33, was born in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. He had only been living in Canada since 2011, realizing a long-standing dream by coming to Montreal.

His family said in April 2013 that Lin had a comfortable life working in IT at Microsoft’s Beijing office, but had sought a move to Canada to study and to improve his life.

At the time of his death, Lin was enrolled as a computer engineering student at Concordia University and worked as a part-time convenience store clerk in south-central Montreal.

The 16 people selected as jurors and alternate jurors are:

1: Woman, auto parts analyst

2: Woman, assistant manager in a telecommunications firm

3: Man, works for a cleaning company

4: Man, web developer

5: Woman, stockbroker

6: Woman, public relations and translator

7: Man, university professor

8: Man, interpreter

9: Man, junior college professor

10: Woman, university employee

11: Man, retired financial analyst

12: Woman, call-centre employee

13: Woman, translator

14: Woman, works in administration at a butcher’s shop

*15: Woman, geologist

*16: Man, auditor

Jurors 15 and 16 are alternates who will only sit if any of the first 14 jurors are unable to do so. Otherwise, they’ll be discharged on Monday before the trial begins.

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WATCH: Just ten days before his trial, Global News obtained portions of two letters written from Luka Magnotta to his supporters. Above link..

CBC News Posted: Oct 01, 2014 6:00 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 01, 2014 6:07 PM ET

Lin Feng, the former boyfriend of victim Jun Lin, leaves the courtroom after testifying at the murder trial for Luka Magnotta.

Jun Lin’s family had been pressuring him to marry a woman, and he broke up with his boyfriend only weeks before Lin was killed, a Montreal court heard today at the Luka Magnotta murder trial.

The challenges of Magnotta's not criminally responsible defence

Lin Feng, Jun Lin's former boyfriend, was stoic and matter of fact as he told the court Wednesday that he had been very much in love.

"His family was not aware that he was gay — that’s why he was trying to date a girl,” Lin Feng said under cross-examination by Magnotta's defence lawyer.

He said they dated for a year and a half and lived together in Montreal.  

They were still close and sent texts to each other 40 to 50 times a day after Lin Feng moved back to China for the summer in May 2012. He became concerned when Jun Lin stopped answering his texts on May 24, 2012, while he was on vacation in Thailand.

Lin Feng, 35, is the fourth witness to testify at the trial. He answered the prosecution’s questions in Mandarin with the help of an interpreter.

Crown attorney Louis Bouthillier questioned Lin Feng about his relationship with the victim.

He told the court that his former lover was a faithful man who didn’t drink, smoke or do drugs. He rebuffed assertions by Magnotta's lawyer that Jun Lin was promiscuous and had a penchant for bondage. He said their sexual relationship had been "normal."

The defence asked Lin Feng about his knowledge of other men in Jun Lin's life, specifically a man named Emile with whom Jun Lin chatted via Skype on May 19, 2012.

Lawyer Luc Leclair suggested the two men had sexual relations and asked Lin Feng if that surprised him.

"We had split up at that time already, so he had all his freedom," Lin Feng said.

The witness, who addressed the court through a Mandarin-speaking translator, became visibly agitated when Leclair started questioning the reasons for their breakup and presenting stills from pornographic films, which the lawyer said had come from videos Jun Lin had downloaded.

"Do I have to look at these pictures?" he asked the court.

'Considering friendship'

Lin Feng said he met Jun Lin in Beijing in 2009, but they didn't start dating until they were both living in Shanghai in 2010.

He said he and Jun Lin had been “considering friendship," at the time of Jun Lin's death, in part because of the pressure Lin was under to find a wife. He confirmed that Jun Lin had been married previously and divorced.

Lin Feng told the court he had met Jun Lin's parents, but they weren't aware of the nature of their relationship.

He told the court he occasionally provided his former boyfriend with financial support.

“I would offer him some little help,” he said.

The two were still close and were in contact in the hours leading up to Jun Lin's death.

He told the court he was on vacation in Bangkok when a friend alerted him that Jun Lin had gone missing. Lin Feng booked a flight to Canada to help with the search and learned during a layover in Qatar that Jun Lin was dead.

Lin Feng is scheduled to return to China tomorrow.

Magnotta has been charged with five offences, including first degree murder, in connection with Jun Lin's death. He has pleaded not guilty, but has agreed to the facts of the case, including that he killed Lin.

Because of that admission, the Crown does not need to prove the facts of the case, but does need to convince the jury that Magnotta had the state of mind to commit the crimes.

His lawyer has told the jury he intends to argue that his client should be found not criminally responsible for the death because he suffers from a mental illness.

The prosecutor in the case said he intends to prove the killing was premeditated.

In total, more than 60 witnesses are expected to testify during the six-week-long trial.

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Feb 18 2015

MONTREAL — Luka Rocco Magnotta has formally withdrawn his appeal of a conviction in the first-degree murder of Jun Lin.

Magnotta's lawyer dropped the appeal Wednesday during a hearing at the Quebec Court of Appeal.

Magnotta was found guilty of first-degree murder and four other charges last December in the 2012 slaying and dismemberment of Lin, a Chinese engineering student.

The jury deliberated for eight days before returning five guilty verdicts.

Magnotta admitted to killing and dismembering Lin but was seeking to be found not criminally responsible by way of mental disorder.

His lawyer had announced the appeal in January, citing judicial errors and asking the court to grant Magnotta a new trial.

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