MONTREAL — A friend of Jun Lin’s has told Luka Rocco Magnotta’s first-degree murder trial about his frantic search for the missing Chinese engineering student in May 2012.
Dong Dong Xu testified today he was pressed into action on May 27, 2012, after a call from Lin’s ex-lover, Feng Lin, who hadn’t heard from the victim in nearly 60 hours.
Xu says he went to Jun Lin’s apartment in Montreal and a convenience store where he worked part-time.
He immediately called police after the store owner told him Lin hadn’t turned up for two shifts.
Xu then continued his search at Concordia University, where the 33-year-old Lin was enrolled as a student.
Lin was last seen alive walking into Magnotta’s apartment building on the night of May 24, 2012. His torso was discovered in trash behind the building on May 29.
“I was afraid something unpleasant happened, so I called the police,” Xu testified.
Magnotta, 32, has pleaded not guilty to five charges. He has admitted to the acts he’s accused of in Lin’s death, but is arguing he is not criminally responsible by way of mental disorder.
The Crown contends the slaying was planned and deliberate.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Montreal police homicide detective wrapped up her testimony.
Defence attorney Luc Leclair questioned Claudette Hamlin about surveillance videos of Magnotta seized by authorities at a Paris bus station and an Internet cafe in Berlin where the accused was arrested on June 4, 2012.
The jury watched Magnotta walking into the cafe. About 90 minutes later, an employee is seen motioning to Berlin police on the street. They enter, arrest Magnotta and leave with him in tow.
The charges against Magnotta are first-degree murder; 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.