Suspected killer Luka Magnotta arrested in Germany

TORONTO - The suspect in the gruesome killing and dismemberment of a Chinese university student in Montreal has been arrested in Germany.

Global News has exclusively obtained a booking photo of Magnotta taken by police in Berlin.

Canada’s most-wanted fugitive Luka Rocco Magnotta used the Internet to build his infamy, but it was that egomaniacal online obsession that eventually cornered the suspected killer.

After a six-day international manhunt, German police arrested Magnotta without incident in an Internet café in Berlin at 2 p.m. local time on Monday.

Magnotta, 29, is the prime suspect in the gruesome killing and dismemberment of Chinese student Lin Jun, a crime police believe was videotaped and later posted online.

Lin’s torso was found in a suitcase in a Montreal alley last week, while other severed body parts were mailed to the offices of political parties in Ottawa.

German police closed in on Magnotta as the fugitive was sitting alone in a corner of a 24-hour Internet café in an Arabian district near Berlin’s city centre.

Magnotta was reading news reports about himself online at Helin Tele-und Internetcafe on Karl Marx Strasse when a civilian noticed him and flagged down a police patrol on the street.

Thomas Neuendors, spokesmen for Berlin City Police, said seven young officers from a police school entered the café, where they found Magnotta and demanded to see identification.

Neuendors said Magnotta rambled off several names, before calmly admitting defeat, telling police: “Okay, you got me.”

Magnotta to face extradition request

The suspected killer is now in a Berlin jail and is expected to go before a judge on Tuesday. Global News has obtained an exclusive booking photo of the suspect.

After fingerprints confirmed it was Magnotta in custody, Montreal police commented on the arrest, saying they were “extremely happy” with the news.

Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafreniere thanked the media and public for widely distributing news of Magnotta, relishing for a moment in the irony of the arrest.

“The web may have been used to glorify himself, but it’s the web that brought him down,” Lafreniere said.

Magnotta will likely be extradited to Canada at some point, but a legal expert tells Global News it could take months.

"If Luka Rocco Magnotta fights extradition, the process could take weeks even months," said Eric Sutton, a Montreal-based criminal lawyer with Peris Sutton and St. Laurent.

Canada first needs to submit a formal request for his extradition, which must be accompanied by documentation outlining the evidence.

The federal government has already started the process, according to Julie Di Mambro, a spokeswoman for Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson.

“Officials with the International Assistance Group (IAG) are working expeditiously in conjunction with officials from the Attorney General of Quebec (the prosecuting authority) to prepare the materials in support of the request,” she said.

Magnotta faces five charges in Montreal including first-degree murder, causing an indignity to a body, corrupting morals, harassing the prime minister and using the mail to deliver obscene materials.

With Magnotta now in a Berlin jail cell, police in Canada are searching any links the suspected killer may have to other unsolved homicides.

“This is far from being over. The investigation has brought us to the suspect, now there are all kinds of other questions besides that,” LaFreniere said. “Is there other possible homicides or other crime linked to that person, that will be investigated by our investigators, that’s for sure.”

Magnotta bound to check web: experts

The police in Canada and abroad made all the right moves, according to privacy expert and professional disappearing artist Frank Ahearn.

“They just put this out there and did exactly what he did,” said Ahearn, the author of The Digital Hit Man. “They made it a worldwide story, the media and the police, and I think that is a great action.”

Ahearn said an internet café would be a “hot zone” for the authorities looking for Magnotta.

“He is such a media hound and also he wants to stay on top of the news about him,” said Ahearn. “...that was his downfall.”

Ahearn said it’s not surprising that Magnotta was taken peacefully, given that the alleged crime was committed in the safety of his own apartment.

“You have that a lot, that killers appear pretty brazen on video, but when five cops stare them down their true colours come out.”

Friends remember Lin in Montreal

In Montreal, memorials have cropped up to honour Lin, who is being remembered as respectful and reliable by friends and coworkers.

A dozen bouquets adorned the foot of a statue of Norman Bethune, a Canadian physician who served in China, on the Concordia University campus. Lin was enrolled as an undergraduate student in the school’s faculty of computer science and engineering.

People are also expressing their condolences at the convenience store where Lin worked, posting notes in both English and Chinese on a wall.

Lin’s employer, Kankan Huang, said he is glad Magnotta has been arrested.

“I hope Luka Magnotta pays,” he told Global News.

The message from the Chinese consulate in Montreal was similar.

“We hope he faces justice as soon as possible,” said spokesman Xu Zheng.

Xu said the consulate is doing everything possible to help Lin’s family come to Canada, but could not provide details about how many family members would come and when.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in London, England to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, when he heard the news of Magnotta's arrest.

"Well I'm obviously pleased that the suspect has been arrested and I just want to congratulate the police forces on their good work," he said.

Liberal leader Bob Rae said Canadians should be in mourning over the loss of Lin.

“He came to Canada to improve himself and the life of his family and he is dead and his family in China is in mourning, his friends are in mourning, and all of Canada is in mourning,” Rae said. “We should be continuing to mourn the person who died, rather than in any way, shape or form celebrating the notoriety of Mr. Magnotta.”

Magnotta’s infamy

The details of the gruesome crime sent shockwaves throughout Canada and the world, with international headlines nicknaming Magnotta the “Canadian psycho” or the “Carver of Montreal.”

CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS GRAPHIC INFORMATION NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL READERS.

Police allege Lin and Magnotta knew each other, a relationship that ended in the suspected killer’s bachelor apartment in a gritty part of Montreal.

In a video of the alleged killing, a person repeatedly stabs a young man with an ice pick before dismembering him and committing sexual and cannibalistic acts on parts of the body.

Body parts were later mailed to Ottawa, with a foot arriving at the Conservative Party headquarters and a hand being intercepted by authorities before it could make it to the Liberal Party. Other body parts are still missing.

Montreal police prompted an international manhunt for Magnotta after identifying him as a suspect in the slaying on May 30. Interpol put Magnotta, who also goes by the names Eric Clinton Newman and Vladimir Romanov, on its equivalent to a most-wanted list.

Magnotta has a prolific online trail, much of it in the darkest corners of the Internet.

An online profile belonging to man with the same name identifies Magnotta as a porn star and bisexual model, who is wanted by animal-rights activists for torturing and killing cats and then posting the acts on YouTube.

Magnotta was also rumoured to have dated sex-killer Karla Homolka, which he later denied.

He also authored an online article in 2009 entitled, “How to Completely Disappear and Never be Found.”

Search started in France

That was not to be Magnotta’s destiny, with his getaway trail tracked by police in North America and Europe.

The search was focused on France over the weekend, where police were responding to a flood of calls reporting Magnotta sightings.

French media report some of Magnotta's belongings, including pornographic magazines, were found in a Paris hotel, and that police have been trying to track his movements through his cell phone activity.

Magnotta was apparently put up one night by a man who later contacted authorities after realizing who is guest had been.

One published report had Magnotta spotted in a bar and in a hotel where he spent two nights. The bar manager was quoted in French media saying Magnotta ordered a soft drink and appeared very nervous. The manager said the fugitive left with a man with an “impressive physique.”

Another sighting reported in French media was from a woman who said Magnotta tried to join an after-party at her hotel room.

By Monday, European media were reporting Magnotta was believed to be fleeing to Berlin by bus.

“It just goes to show, no matter who you are, it’s not as easy to disappear as you might think,” said Ahearn.

With files from The Canadian Press, Global News' Domenic Fazioli in Montreal and Frank Qi in Vancouver.