A former porn actor dubbed the “Canadian Psycho” appeared in court on Monday for a hearing on whether a trial can proceed in the grisly murder and dismembering of a Chinese man.
Luka Rocco Magnotta, 30, made worldwide headlines last year after allegedly filming himself murdering his victim in May last year and performing lewd acts with the student’s body before posting the images online.
Magnotta, dressed in a white T-shirt and pants, arrived escorted by prison guards for the start of the preliminary hearing in Montreal.
Photo: Reuters
He sat quietly in the prisoner’s box with his hands resting on his knees as his defense lawyers pressed the judge to bar the public from the hearing, which is expected to last at least 10 days.
Magnotta has pleaded not guilty to first degree murder and other charges, including committing indignities to a body and harassing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Police say the occasional gay porn actor and male prostitute used an ice pick to stab his 33-year-old victim, Lin Jun (林俊), before carving up his body, sexually abusing the corpse, filming the act and posting the video online.
Days after the killing, police discovered the victim’s torso in a suitcase by the trash outside an apartment along a busy highway in Montreal.
His severed hands and feet were sent through the mail to federal political parties in Ottawa and to two schools in Vancouver. The head was found in a Montreal park months later.
Lin’s family, who traveled to Canada from China last year following their son’s horrific death, have returned to watch the court case of a man they have branded “a devil.”
After listening to brief arguments, Judge Lori Renee Weitzman adjourned the proceedings until the next day when she is expected to announce her ruling on the defense’s request for a closed-door preliminary hearing, according to a prosecution spokesman.
Preliminary hearings are routinely covered by a temporary publication ban, but it is rare for them to be held behind closed doors, and the prosecutors in this case as well as lawyers for several Canadian media opposed the motion.
“Our argument is that the publication ban, which covers all the evidence, is more than sufficient to protect the rights of the accused to a fair trial and [so] there is no need to exclude the public and the journalists from the courtroom,” Mark Bantey, a lawyer representing local media, said outside the courthouse in downtown Montreal.
“It is one of hallmarks of democracy that the public be able to attend trials, report on them and criticize the proceedings,” he said.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television