THE MAN KILLED in a videotaped attack that was discovered after body parts were mailed to Canada’s top political parties was a Chinese student, according to police.
Authorities in France are continuing to search for the suspect, a Canadian porn actor.
Montreal Police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere identified the victim as Jun Lin, 33. Police have said he dated Luka Rocco Magnotta, who is now on Interpol’s equivalent of its most-wanted list.
A senior French police official said he is sure Magnotta is in France and that Magnotta has been there in the past. Another French police official said Magnotta apparently flew to Paris from Montreal last weekend, before the case emerged.
Lafreniere said Jun Lin doesn’t have family in Montreal, but a family member reported him missing on Tuesday. He had last been seen May 24. Lafreniere said the murder occurred the night of May 24-25, and the suspect left for Europe on May 26.
“He is a Chinese citizen who studied at a university here in Montreal and was here for a certain time,” Lafreniere said. “Thanks to the Chinese embassy, we have been able to reach the family with the sad news of what happened.”
The case began on Tuesday, when a package containing a severed foot was opened at the ruling Conservative Party headquarters. A hand was discovered at a postal facility, addressed to the Liberal party of Canada. A torso was found in a suitcase on a garbage dump in Montreal, outside Magnotta’s apartment building.
Montreal police have said they believe Magnotta, 29, fled for France based on evidence they found at his apartment and a blog he once wrote about how to disappear.
“What will hinder him the most is what he used to glorify himself, the web, with all the photos we have of him,” Lafreniere said. But he warned that Magnotta is “someone who can disguise himself, he can change into a woman, wear a wig.”
France’s fugitive search unit has been ordered to hunt for Magnotta, the French officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about such searches publicly. They gave no details about his suspected whereabouts.
Police suspect Magnotta filmed the murder. The video, posted online, shows a man stabbing another man with an ice pick while the victim lies naked and tied up. The first man later reveals he has slashed the other man’s throat. He also dismembers the corpse and performs sexual acts with it.
“We have quite convincing proof of the crime he committed,” Lafreniere said Friday, referring to the video.
Other body parts remain missing.
Police said Magnotta is also known by the names Eric Clinton Newman and Vladimir Romanov, and they described him as white and 5 feet 8 inches tall (1.78 meters) with blue eyes and black hair. A police official said he was a porn actor.
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