Magnotta trial hears from officer tasked with tracing so-called murder video
Posted October 16, 2014 2:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT MAY DISTURB SOME READERS
Luka Magnotta’s first-degree murder trial is hearing from the police officer who captured a so-called murder video from the Internet.
Nadine Paoliello says she was asked to download copies of the 10-minute, 22-second video that appeared under various titles, most notably “One Lunatic, One Ice Pick.”
The 32-year-old Magnotta is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying and dismemberment of Chinese engineering student Jun Lin in Montreal in May 2012. He has admitted to the physical acts he’s accused of but has pleaded not guilty by way of mental disorder.
Paoliello offered a brief description of what she saw: a naked man strapped to a bed, a decapitated head and an individual cutting pieces of a body. At one point, a small dog is seen gnawing on the body too.
She said her tasks included tracking down who uploaded the video to a number of gore-related websites and finding out more about Magnotta, who had a prominent presence on social networks.
The jurors are expected to watch the video this afternoon.
Magnotta faces four other charges: criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament; mailing obscene and indecent material; committing an indignity to a body; and publishing obscene materials.
Earlier on Thursday, the trial heard from a postal-counter employee who said Magnotta exchanged postal boxes on May 25, 2012, because they were too small for what he intended to send.
Tomokazu Lee was working behind the Canada Post counter at a pharmacy outlet in Montreal’s west end.
Lee told the jury he remembered Magnotta because he appeared at the counter twice that day: once to exchange boxes and once in the early evening to send two packages.
Magnotta was caught on the store surveillance video mailing two boxes, which contained Lin’s body parts.
