WARNING: THIS REPORT CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS

MONTREAL—The victim in the heinous, videotaped murder attributed to a Toronto-born porn actor is Lin Jun, a foreign student from China, police announced Friday, confirming a Toronto Star report.

Montreal police Commander Ian Lafrenière also gave more details of the crime for which they intend to accuse Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, of first-degree murder and interfering with the dignity of a dead body.

It occurred during the night from May 24 to May 25. Lin, 33, has not been seen since the 24th and was reported missing on 29th.

An international manhunt is underway for Magnotta. Lafrenière said police believe the suspect flew to Europe on May 26. He’s said to have headed to France and authorities there are reportedly on high alert.

As body parts in the heinous, videotaped murder that police attribute to a Toronto-born porn actor lie sealed in plastic at Montreal’s morgue, police have confirmed the victim is the same person the Consulate General of China has identified as missing.

Lin Jun was an undergraduate in the faculty of engineering and computer science. Concordia is offering psychological support and counselling to any students or faculty needing it.

The university’s president, Frederick Lowy, extended his condolences to Lin’s family and friends.

“It is never easy to deal with the loss of a loved one, particularly when the death is unforeseen. Our hearts go out to his family and friends during this very difficult time,” he said in a statement.

The investigation into the case took on international dimensions Thursday as police sought the help of Interpol to find Magnotta, who is believed to have fled to France. Police say they plan to charge Magnotta with first-degree murder and interfering with the dignity of a dead body.

Magnotta is the sole suspect in a bizarre and grotesque killing in which the victim was cut into pieces and body parts were sent through the mail. A second foot ended up at the headquarters of the ruling Conservative Party of Canada in Ottawa. A hand was also mailed, destined for the Liberals.

Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Chinese national, was murdered between the evening of May 24 and May 25, Lafrenière said at a mid-morning news conference Friday.

Family and friends, the Chinese Consulate in Montreal said, lost contact with him on May 24.

“We believe those two individuals knew each other,” Lafrenière said of Lin and Magnotta.

Police initially intended to charge Magnotta with second-degree murder but have now decided he will be charged with first.

Lin was “a Chinese national studying in Montreal,” he said. Chinese authorities have contacted his family.

“I can just imagine how they reacted. I’m sure it was horrible for them,” Lafrenière said.

Lin arrived in Montreal in July 2011.

The Chinese Consulate in Montreal has been searching for him for days. A May 30 posting on its website is headed “Find Lin Jun.”

Murder victim is missing man from China

Magnotta left for Europe on May 26 but may have returned “under another identity,” Lafrenière said at the news conference.

“We’re not going to give you the exact destination. We believe he could be anywhere. We have information from the airport at this point that we’re keeping to ourselves.”

Police around the world are helping search for Magnotta and images have circulated widely.

However, said Lafrenière, “We don’t know which identity he used to travel. He has three.”

Born Eric Clinton Newman in Scarborough, Magnotta has also used the alias Vladimir Romanov.

“He uses disguises. He may use a wig,” Lafrenière said.

Toronto police admit they could have done more

A video was posted May 25 to a Canada-based website that deals with death and gore. It shows the perpetrator repeatedly stabbing then dismembering the victim. It also appears to depict cannibalism and sexual defiling of the body.

Online reaction reveals a disturbing appetite for gore

Police have said the video is authentic. “We have all the reasons to believe it is the killing,” Lafrenière said. Police also believe the victim in the video, an Asian male, is the same one whose body parts were sent to Ottawa.

In the background is the song “True Faith” by New Order, notable for its presence in the film American Psycho.

Lafrenière mentioned “another site in Edmonton” that is part of the investigation but said it is “more difficult to get to,” without giving details.

“We hope these sites will be taken down.”

In 2005, Magnotta pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud under $5,000 and impersonation. He received a nine-month conditional sentence and 12 months probation.

There is no shortage of material about Magnotta both online and off, much of it impossible to authenticate. The bulk of it suggests self-promotion.

There are also mentions that raise questions about mental illness and possible links to notorious sex killer Karla Homolka.

A few years ago Magnotta tried out for a Canadian gay reality TV show called Cover Guy. “A lot of people tell me I’m really, devastatingly good looking,” he tells the judges. “I’m very determined and every goal I put my mind to I surpass.”

But the judges think he’s too skinny for the contest and decline to put him through to the next round.

In posing for Toronto gay magazine Fab when he was 22, he tells the magazine he wanted to be a police officer.

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There are photos of him with what appears to be a girlfriend. There are also online indications that he fathered a child. One video posits that Magnotta’s child died.

Magnotta moved to Montreal about four months ago, according to the manager of a rundown apartment building where the suspect rented apartment 208. He said he moved to the city to be closer to his child.

On Thursday, Nina Arsenault, a former girlfriend, told the Toronto Star that Magnotta had a temper and “if it went on it was terrifying.”

Arsenault, a transsexual who dated Magnotta 10 years ago, said he spoke very briefly of his family, but when he did there was “always red hot anger.”

“He hated his dad. He hated his family and said they didn’t understand him and he had to get away from him.”

Arsenault said she saw him pick fights with people on the street during their three-week relationship.

The two met at Remington’s, a Yonge St. strip club. Arsenault said Magnotta worked there as a stripper, adding he was also an escort and did live sex shows via webcam.

She said Magnotta exhibited a number of eccentricities, including banging his head in the shower and hitting himself quite regularly.

Magnotta is well known among animal activists, who have put together an online portfolio accusing him of being a torturer of cats and kittens.

The Sun tabloid newspaper in London claimed Friday that one of its reporters interviewed Magnotta over the alleged cat brutality.

“He was without doubt one of the most disturbed and disturbing individuals I have ever encountered,” wrote Sun reporter Alex West.

They met six months ago at a pub in Wembley where Magnotta was staying. West was rebuffed when he tried to get police to investigate the young Canadian over the kitten video.

A later email that the reporter believed was from Magnotta “described in lurid, horrifying detail the disgusting things he wanted to do to me — acts of the darkest sexual and violent nature.”

A 2007 article under Magnotta’s name talks about mental illness.

“I am Manic Depressive or Bi Polar,” it reads. “One day im normal, the next i cant get out of my bed and then next week I want to conquer the world lol.”

A blog posting from January 2012 connected to his name extensively discusses the current whereabouts of Homolka. In a 2007 newspaper interview, he denied any links to her.

Lafrenière said there is no evidence the two knew each other.

One neighbour, a former actor, called Magnotta the “coldest person you’ve ever met” and recounted how Magnotta asked him how to move from porn into regular acting.

An online interview from 2010, purportedly with Magnotta, indicates he started doing porn in Los Angeles at age 20.

He praised the business but warned, “You have to realize that after age 30 your career is basically over.

“Time is your biggest enemy.”

With files from Betsy Powell and Patty Winsa

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