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Accused body-parts killer Luka Magnotta back in Canada

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MONTREAL - The overseas travels of alleged body-parts killer Luka Rocco Magnotta drew to a close early Monday evening when a military transport jet brought him to Canada from Germany to face a murder trial.

The slightly built porn actor was flanked by four officers as he descended the stairs from the Airbus aircraft at Mirabel Airport, about 50 km north of Montreal. His hands were cuffed in front of him and the 29-year-old was not wearing leg shackles.

A half-dozen military officials, border agents and heavily armed police officers had been waiting for the jet when it arrived from Berlin just before 7 p.m. Magnotta had been held in the German city since he fled to Europe last month.

Wearing a long-sleeved green shirt, dark slacks and white shoes, Magnotta was led into a burgundy minivan with tinted windows. A tactical police offer clutched a machine gun nearby.

Journalists were kept at a distance as a convoy of two marked police vans and three motorcycle constables led the unmarked vehicle to a booking centre about 45 minutes away in Montreal.

Detectives were to interrogate Magnotta overnight related to the May 24 murder and dismemberment of his lover, Chinese student Jun Lin.

Magnotta was to be arraigned on Tuesday. Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere met reporters on the tarmac and recapped the search that involved Interpol as well as police officers in France, Germany and Canada.

"We all felt the tension of this unprecedented manhunt," he said. "We are very happy to tell you that he's on Canadian soil."

Lafreniere said the flight from Germany was smooth and without incident.

The arraignment will likely happen via videoconference before a judge at the Montreal courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. The Magnotta case made international headlines after a janitor found Lin's torso in a travel bag outside Magnotta's west-end Montreal apartment on May 29. Lin's hands and feet were mailed to federal political parties in Ottawa as well as to two Vancouver schools. His head hasn't been found.

A video of what police say is the murder was uploaded online. It shows a man who looks like Lin being killed with an ice pick and then dismembered. The video also shows acts of necrophilia and cannibalism.

Magnotta was arrested June 4 in an Internet cafe in Berlin after the cafe owner recognized him. He was held in jail there while awaiting extradition.

The former sex-trade worker faces charges of first-degree murder and indignity to a body. He also faces charges of distribution of obscene materials as well as criminal harassment of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and of Parliament.

In a statement Monday, the federal government acknowledged its involvement in bringing Magnotta home.

"Our government's co-operation with the international community has led to this individual being swiftly returned to face justice," Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews jointly said in a release Monday. "It is important that Canadians can have confidence that those who are accused of serious crimes will face the full force of the law."

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