Gruesome killing in Canada spurs international manhunt
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
A gruesome killing in Montreal has spurred an international manhunt for a Canadian man suspected of hacking apart a victim, then mailing pieces of the body to politicians.
Canadian police said Wednesday they were searching for Luka Rocco Magnotta, a 29-year-old model and porn actor who has used several different names. Interpol added Magnotta to its wanted list Thursday as police said he may have left Canada.
‘There is no country in the world that is not talking about him,’ Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafrenière told CBC News Thursday morning.
Officials have not released the name of the victim. A dismembered torso was found in a suitcase in an alley behind a Montreal apartment Tuesday, the same day that a severed foot arrived by mail at the Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa, according to Canadian media. Another package containing a human hand was stopped at an Ottawa postal facility before it reached the Liberal Party.
More body parts may be in the mail: The foot came with a note saying that six body parts had been sent, CTV News reported Wednesday. The suitcase holding the torso was found near Magnotta’s second-floor apartment, which was reportedly still spattered with blood Thursday.
“I can’t believe I’m cleaning this tomorrow, man,” an apartment handywoman told the Canadian Press as she looked at the mess and gagged. “I need a bonus for this.’
The slaying is believed to have been captured in a video uploaded to the Internet last week. The video shows someone stabbing a young man with an ice pick, dismembering the corpse and committing “sexual and cannibalistic acts on it,” the Canadian Press reported.
Magnotta appears to have left a twisted trail of Internet ramblings. One blog in his name titled “Necrophilia Serial Killer Luka Magnotta” begins: “It’s not cool to the world being a necrophiliac. It’s bloody lonely. But I dont really care,” the National Post reported.
Animal rights activists believe Magnotta was also behind a string of disturbing videos showing kittens being killed, which had spurred calls to find Magnotta long before the alleged dismemberment.
On his website, Magnotta wrote that many hoax websites had been made in his name. ‘I do not feel the necessity to address the specific accusations made in the posts since they are so far from my character that responding to them will give them more credibility than they will ever hold.”
He had previously denied dating infamous killer Karla Homolka, who was freed from prison seven years ago, though skeptics believe he spread the rumors about dating her in the first place.
ALSO:
Colombian rebels release French journalist
Mexico’s PRI opens campaign office in Los Angeles
Europe ponders ‘banking union’ to avert further euro crises
-- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles