'Cannibal of Montreal' convicted of murdering Chinese student

Toronto, Dec 24 (IANS/EFE) A jury has found Luka Magnotta, dubbed "The Montreal Cannibal", guilty of first degree murder for brutally killing and dismembering a Chinese student in 2012, and later eating the parts before posting photos of the crime on the internet.

At the start of his trial in September, Magnotta confessed to the murder of Jun Lin in 2012 in Montreal but his lawyer asked him to be declared not guilty, arguing that he was mentally ill.

On Tuesday, after eight days of deliberation, a 12-member jury rejected the defence's petition and declared Magnotta guilty on five counts related to the murder of the 33-year-old student.

According to the jury's decision, Magnotta will serve a 25-year prison sentence before being eligible to apply for parole.

After hearing the verdict, Jun Lin's father, Diran Lin, who traveled from China for the trial, made a statement saying: "I feel bad that I was not there to warn him that night. I will never see his smiling face on video chat or hear about his new accomplishments or hear his laugh."

Lin's murder was discovered May 29, 2012, when his torso was found inside a suitcase on a street in Montreal.

The same day, a packet containing Lin's severed left foot was delivered at the headquarters of Canada's ruling Conservative Party.

Another packet, with the victim's left hand, was found in a post office on its way to the headquarters of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Four days earlier, a person posted a video on a website featuring macabre images showing the brutal killing, dismembering, necrophilia and cannibalism of Jun Lin.

After being identified as the only suspect in the crime, Magnotta was arrested in June, 2012, in an internet cafe in Berlin and extradited to Canada.

--IANS/EFE

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