“Okay you got me” – Magnotta tells German police

BERLIN, GERMANY (NEWS1130) –  German police are confirming they’ve arrested Canadian fugitive Luka Rocco Magnotta in Berlin.

Thomas Neuendorf with the Berlin Police Department confirms a man at an Internet cafe recognized Magnotta.

“He saw him on the Internet, goes out to the street, and there was a police car. He stops the police and tells him that he saw the man in his cafe,” explains Neuendorf. “The policemen go in and they found the Canadian there. At first, the man said several names, but at the end he told the policemen, ‘OK, you got me.'”

Police say the gay porn actor was arrested without incident.

Magnotta was on police radar after reports this weekend that he was spotted at a hotel bar in Paris. It appears he took a bus to Berlin.

Magnotta is scheduled to appear before a judge in Germany tomorrow. The question is now, will he be extradited back to Canada?

“The likely result would be that the Canadian government would make a request to the German government for his extradition. The German government would then commence extradition proceeding,” explains Vancouver immigration lawyer Dennis McCrea.

If Magnotta doesn’t consent to an extradition hearing, the process could be dragged out.

CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT MAY DISTURB SOME READERS

Magnotta was wanted in Montreal on five charges including first-degree murder in the slaying of Chinese exchange student Jun Lin.

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

Police said Magnotta fled Canada on May 26, the day after they believe Lin was killed.

Lin was reported missing on the same day a torso was discovered stuffed in a suitcase in a heap of garbage behind a Montreal apartment building.

That same day, a foot was found in a package mailed to the Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa, and a hand was later found in a package at a postal warehouse in the city.

The package with the hand was addressed to the Liberal Party of Canada, and tests show the three body parts came from the same victim.

Montreal police said Magnotta knew Lin and they had some sort of relationship.
    
Lin was reported missing on May 29, but police believe he was killed several days before.

“The last time he was seen was May 24th and we believe the homicide took place between the the 24th and 25th,” Montreal police commander Ian Lafreniere said.

According to Montreal newspaper La Presse, his identity was matched to the severed torso found in the suitcase in Montreal after following up on a request from the Chinese Consulate General to be on the lookout for Jun, whose family in China lost touch with him on the May 24 — just a day before the gruesome murder video was posted online.

The paper reported that Jun, who is from the east central Chinese city of Wuhan, arrived in Montreal in July 2011.

Meanwhile, Montreal police said they believe Magnotta has fled North America. A Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday, and he was added to Interpol’s wanted persons’ list.

Last week, French police said they were “sure” that Magnotta is currently in France. Another French police official said he apparently flew to Paris from Montreal last weekend.

The officials said France’s fugitive search unit was ordered to hunt for Magnotta. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about such searches publicly.

Police said Magnotta is also known as Eric Clinton Newman and Vladimir Romanov, while a Google search says he may go under Thierry Bordalis as well. He is originally believed to be from Scarborough, Ont., and only moved to Montreal a few months ago.

Police combed through an apartment complex in Montreal where it’s believed the suspect and possibly, the victim lived. On Tuesday, a severed torso was discovered in a suitcase among other body parts.

Magnotta was not known to Montreal police prior to this incident, but investigators are positive they have identified the correct suspect.

According to various sources on the Internet, Magnotta is an amateur gay porn star who may have dated serial killer Karla Homolka. He is the writer behind a blog entitled “How to Completely Disappear and Never Be Found.”

In Toronto, Magnotta was convicted of four counts fraud under $5,000 in 2005.

CTV News reported it has learned that a note found with one of the packages revealed that six body parts were placed in the mail and that Magnotta planned to kill again.

There are also videos posted of Magnotta committing gruesome acts, such as suffocating cats, and police believe a clip of him killing and dismembering a body is linked to this case.

CityNews reported via sources that the suspect allegedly videotaped the crime and posted it on a snuff website.

In the video, someone repeatedly stabbed a young man with an ice pick. While both killer and victim lay naked, he dismembered the corpse and committed sexual and cannibalistic acts on it. The video is now being reviewed by Montreal police.

There could be more body parts within the Canada Post system, Lafreniere said. Canada Post said it was collaborating with police and said it couldn’t comment further as a police probe was underway.

There’s also another video shot inside the apartment that has been released, showing blood stained sheets and a pool of blood in the fridge.

According to Ottawa police, the body parts sent to Ottawa were both mailed from Montreal.

Ottawa police Sgt. Steve Hodgson said the first package was sent to the party’s offices on Albert Street, just blocks from Parliament Hill, on the 12th floor. The package was opened by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s campaign manager Jenni Byrne. She saw the blood and smelled a foul odour and called police, according to a Conservative party statement.

Reports suggest that the second package containing a hand was bound for the Liberal Party headquarters, but this cannot be confirmed.