(CNN) — A Canadian porn actor suspected of killing and dismembering a university student in Montreal left Germany on Monday and was headed back to Canada, government officials said.
Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, was aboard a Canadian military plane in police custody, Rob Nicholson, Canada’s minister of justice, and Vic Toews, minister of public safety, said in a joint statement.
Magnotta faces first-degree murder and other charges in last month’s slaying of Jun Lin, a 33-year-old Concordia University student from China. He did not fight extradition from Germany after his arrest there earlier this month.
Authorities accuse Magnotta of dismembering Lin and mailing one of his hands and one of his feet to Canadian politicians.
Police also believe Magnotta filmed the death and dismemberment and posted the video to the Internet. Montreal police have said the video shows Magnotta engaged in sexual acts involving body parts and also included evidence of cannibalism.
The Canadian government worked with Montreal police, the Quebec Prosecution Service and German officials to bring about Magnotta’s extradition, officials said.
Berlin police arrested Magnotta at an Internet cafe where he was browsing articles about himself. An employee of the cafe recognized him and flagged down a carload of German police trainees.
The arrest ended an international manhunt that began after the body parts were mailed.
Authorities have said they believe Magnotta killed Lin May 24 or 25, posted the video, then flew to France on May 26. He was thought to have boarded a bus to Berlin on June 1 while police were searching for him in Paris, Berlin prosecutors have said.
The case began when a caller complained to police about a strong smell coming from an alley behind Magnotta’s Montreal apartment building, police spokesman Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere has said. Investigators found a torso stuffed inside a suitcase.
The same day, officials at Canada’s Conservative Party headquarters received a package addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that contained a foot. Officials later intercepted a package addressed to the Liberal Party that contained a hand. DNA tests showed both were Lin’s, Lafreniere has said.
A gay porn actor, stripper and escort, Magnotta was well known to animal rights activists online, who accused him of killing kittens and using the carcasses in sexual acts.
Authorities have said they were looking into the animal abuse allegations and also examining possible links to other crimes.
CNN’s Paula Newton contributed to this report.
