Murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta arrested in Berlin

Canadian porn star accused of murdering a Chinese student and posting his body parts has been detained in Neukölln, say police

Luka Rocco Magnotta, suspected of killing and filming the dismemberment of a Chinese student, has been arrested in Berlin. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

A man suspected of murdering and dismembering a student in Montreal has been arrested in a Berlin internet cafe, German police have confirmed.

Interpol issued an arrest warrant last week for Luka Rocco Magnotta, a 29-year-old Canadian, who faces first-degree murder charges over the videotaped death of Jun Lin, 33, a Chinese exchange student whose body parts were posted to political parties in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.

Police in Canada said last week Magnotta had probably left the country for France. However, detectives have since confirmed the suspect had taken refuge in Paris before boarding a bus to Berlin at the weekend.

 

Magnotta was spotted by a cafe owner in Berlin's Neukölln district on Monday, police said. "Today, at about 1.30pm, a witness recognised Mr Magnotta in an internet cafe," said Guido Busch, a spokesman for the city's police. "Seven officers went into the cafe and immediately overpowered Magnotta, who tried at first to give a false name. The officers didn't buy it."

German television quoted the owner of the cafe as saying Magnotta had spent an hour surfing the internet before officers entered and took him into custody.

 

Magnotta is expected to appear in court on Tuesday, Busch added.

French police say the suspect fled to France on 26 May and was hiding in a hotel in a Parisian suburb as late as last Friday. Detectives raided his hotel room where they found pornographic magazines, according to reports.

In a crime scene Montreal police say is the worst they have seen, Magnotta's flat contained a bloody mattress and pools of blood on the floor and in the refrigerator. Detectives said a janitor found a torso with no head or limbs in a suitcase in an alley behind the building.

 

Authorities believe a decomposing foot sent to the Conservative party headquarters on Tuesday and a hand found inside a package at a postal depot belong to the same person.

Magnotta has left a bizarre internet trail, portraying himself as an alleged kitten killer and bisexual porn star.