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It could be days before Montreal police determine whether a hand and foot sent from their city to two elementary schools in Vancouver belong to the man brutally killed in the dismemberment case shocking the nation.
Vancouver police are now in the process of sending the body parts of Chinese student Lin Jun to Montreal police.
Montreal police would not say exactly how they would be transported, only that it would not be by mail.
A hand, foot and torso belonging to 33-year-old Lin turned up in different cities last week, a crime the police allege was done at the hands of Luka Rocco Magnotta.
With Magnotta sitting behind bars awaiting extradition in a Berlin jail, another package containing a hand was opened at Vancouver's False Creek Elementary School on Tuesday. An hour later, a foot was found by staff at St. George’s School, also in Vancouver.
Vancouver police have handed over the investigation to their Montreal counterparts after determining a similarity in the packages and address on gruesome parcels discovered in Ottawa on May 29.
Police also revealed for the first time on Wednesday, there were notes included in the packages sent to Ottawa and Vancouver.
The details of the notes are being held closely by the police to prevent and identify copycats.
“We will keep the information from the notes to verify this is the right person,” said Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafreniere.
Deliveries an act of terrorism: psychologist
He noted Lin’s hand and foot were already found – one delivered to Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa, and one parcel destined for the Liberal party intercepted at a Canada Post shipping facility.
Lin’s torso was recovered behind Magnotta’s low-rent apartment building in a working-class neighbourhood in Montreal.
Police allege Magnotta killed Lin before dismembering and sexually desecrating his body, action which police believe was videotaped and later posted online.
More on the alleged crimes here.
Montreal-based clinical psychologist Pierre Faubert called mailing body parts across the country an act of terrorism.
And in today’s regularly terrorized society, people are pushing the boundaries in an attempt to outdo each other.
“If someone wants to do something that will go beyond that bar, then someone has to do something even more atrocious and even more horrible and that will prick the curiosity of the public,” he said.
Lafreniere said police are still working to determine whether Magnotta had any personal connection to the city.
"Our suspect travelled extensively," Lafreniere said. “We know he's travelled to the American west coast. (We're now investigating), has he been to the Canadian west coast?"
Police are still looking for one more body part, the head. If it was sent by mail within Canada, it should turn up soon.
“If you look at the timeline, this is almost the maximum of time that a package can take (to get) from Montreal to another location,” Lafreniere said.
He said that police have scoured Canada Post parcels and are “almost at the end” of sifting through the mail in an attempt to recover missing limbs.
“We’ve been working extremely hard to find the body parts out of respect for the family...finding everything will be very good news for them,” he said.
Lin’s father, mother, sister and uncle arrived in Montreal on Tuesday night and are now under the care of the Chinese consulate. They are expected to meet with investigators, but are not yet willing to speak to media.
More on Lin's family's emotional journey to Canada here.
Foot found on Montreal street was fake
For a few frantic moments on Wednesday morning, there were fears yet another body part had surfaced in Montreal’s west end.
It turned out to be a fake foot made of rubber, the type used in special effects.
“It’s a very bad joke,” Lafreniere said, suggesting that there are fans of Magnotta, a “very unpopular person.”
Faubert said copy cat acts reveal a morbid mind.
“It’s very often the lonely, isolated, insulated people who really have a hard time clicking with others,” he said, adding that it is their way of connecting with a big story.
Investigators are also watching videos that have surfaced on the Internet, and suspect that some may have been made by Magnotta while he was on the run.
Allegations out of character: acquaintances
Magnotta’s acquaintances in Montreal have also begun to process the news of the slaying – an act that several said doesn’t fit with the man they knew.
“He was so quiet this guy,” said Danielle Cleroux. “Nice guy."
Cleroux works as a waitress at Le Club Sandwich, where Magnotta would come in after working shifts at a strip club.
More on who Luka Magnotta is here.
Cleroux worked the night shift and Magnotta often sat in her section.
“He was so gentle … at the time,” she recalled.
Others acquaintances who did not want to be identified also said the allegations about Magnotta are very out of character.
Magnotta awaiting extradition
Magnotta is spending his third night behind bars – isolated in a cell at a high-security state prison in Berlin.
He is expected to undergo a psychiatric assessment, but German authorities won’t say whether they’ve questioned Magnotta about the morbid deliveries in Vancouver.
According to his German defence lawyer – who found him to be polite and nice – Magnotta is worried about his own safety and is anxious to get back to Canada.
When exactly that will be is still uncertain, but the fact Magnotta indicated he would not fight extradition will speed up the process.
First the Berlin prosecutor’s office needs to draft an extradition warrant – they’ve started working on it but they won’t be done until at least early next week.
“I think we don’t have to wait so long and after we have the warrant of extradition we need a decision of the federal government,” said Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the German prosecutor. “And then I think we will be glad when he’s gone and transported back to Canada.’
Canadian authorities have been working closely with the Germans and are ready to respond with any kind of documentation needed to expedite the extradition. Montreal police are also on standby to leave for Berlin.
More on Magnotta's arrest in Berlin here.
With files from Stuart Greer in Berlin, Mike Armstrong and Domenic Fazioli in Montreal and Frank Qi in Vancouver
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.