UGH! WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MONTREAL THESE DAYS.

 MONTREAL – The search for the most wanted man in Montreal has led police overseas as they believe Luka Rocco Magnotta fled to another continent before anyone suspected him of murder.

The 29-year-old faces a first-degree murder charge alleging he killed a man whose torso was discovered Tuesday in a suitcase behind the apartment building, on Decarie Blvd., where Magnotta lived for four months before he disappeared.

Montreal police believe Magnotta, an actor in gay pornographic videos, killed the man, whose remains have yet to be officially identified, on May 25, inside his tiny second-floor apartment. The homicide only came to light four days later.

Police believe there is a link between the man Magnotta allegedly killed and dismembered and body parts that were mailed to Ottawa. Packages containing body parts arrived Tuesday, coincidentally, around the same time a janitor discovered the torso inside the discarded suitcase in Montreal. One package arrived at the federal Conservative Party’s headquarters and another, destined for the Liberal Party, was intercepted.

Montreal police Commander Ian Lafrenière said investigators believe Magnotta managed to leave Canada and is now “in another continent.”

Lafrenière wouldn’t confirm a report, by the Journal de Montréal, that investigators have tracked Magnotta to Europe. A woman who answered the phone at the home of a relative of Magnotta in Ontario on Thursday afternoon declined to comment. An arrest warrant issued by Interpol on Thursday lists Magnotta’s birthplace as Scarborough, Ont.

A Montreal police source said investigators believe Magnotta is in France.

A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole before 25 years.

According to the warrant made public at the Montreal courthouse Thursday, Magnotta also is charged with committing an “indignity to the body of the human remains (of) an unknown person.” The second charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.

The same warrant revealed Magnotta was initially accused of second-degree murder, a lesser charge that still carries a life sentence, but offers more flexibility to a judge when determining parole eligibility. Lafrenière said the warrant charging Magnotta with second-degree murder was issued early in the investigation, while investigators were still at the murder scene. He said a prosecutor later decided to upgrade the charge to first-degree murder after she was shown a disturbing video depicting a man, believed to be Magnotta, committing indignities to a body. The graphic video was posted to a website and has been viewed by many on the Internet.

“The video changes everything,” Lafrenière said of why the charge was altered even before the first arrest warrant was made public.

The warrant charges Magnotta with causing the death “of an unknown person.”

It is unusual for indictments to not identify the victims of a homicide. But, Lafrenière explained, the victim in this case has yet to be identified officially, even though investigators believe they know who he was. He said one reason why the remains have yet to be officially identified is because some parts of the body have yet to be located. Lafrenière also said investigators have had difficulty reaching the victim’s family as they live outside Canada.

Earlier this week, residents of the apartment building where Magnotta lived were shown a photo of a man the police believe was the victim. They described him as an Asian man in his 30s.

Magnotta does not have a criminal record in Quebec provincial court or in Montreal municipal court. But on Thursday, the Ottawa Citizen learned that in 2004, Magnotta was charged, under the name Eric Clinton Newman, his name at birth, with defrauding numerous large retail chains, including Sears Canada Inc., the Brick and 2001 Audio Video. He also was accused of stealing $17,000 from a woman and sexually assaulting her.

He was sentenced to a nine-month conditional sentence and put on probation for 12 months in 2005 after convictions for three counts of fraud and personation with intent in Toronto.

In 2004, a charge of fraud, four counts of impersonating an authority, six counts of possession of property obtained by crime and a single count of sex assault were all withdrawn.

His bail conditions were extensive and included an order to stay away from a theft victim. The conditions also prohibited him from owning or using any computers, accessing the Internet and email and possessing “any 35mm cameras, digital cameras or video cameras.”

The Ottawa Citizen contributed to this report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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