Envelope addressed to Magnotta contains suspicious powder
Posted July 17, 2012 4:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An envelope addressed to murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta caused a major shutdown today at a bustling Canada Post sorting centre in Montreal.
The president of the union local says police were called to the distribution centre after an employee spotted an envelope addressed to Magnotta.
Alain Duguay says police found a white powdery substance inside the envelope.
The incident prompted a lockdown at the centre and four employees were treated for what Duguay described as psychological reactions.
A spokeswoman for Montreal police says officers later determined the substance was not considered dangerous.
Const. Anie Lemieux says around 15 employees were kept isolated inside the centre as emergency crews set up a safety perimeter outside.
Lemieux says police are investigating the incident — including the letter’s origin.
A few hours later, a post office in the Montreal-area community of Ste-Julie was evacuated after staffers there found a suspicious powder inside a bin that came from the Montreal sorting centre.
Magnotta is facing numerous charges — including first-degree murder — in the death and dismemberment of Montreal student Jun Lin.
The 29-year-old porn actor has also been charged with shipping some of Lin’s body parts through the mail.
Duguay couldn’t say whether the envelope was addressed to the Montreal detention centre where Magnotta is locked up.
