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ALLEGED CANNIBAL KILLER PLEADS NOT GUILTY

Wed, 20 June 2012

Magnotta arrives in Canada (Pic: Montreal Police)

Luka Rocco Magnotta, the Canadian gay porn actor accused of murdering, dismembering and eating his former lover on video, has pleaded not guilty.

Magnotta, who was born under the name Eric Clinton Newman before changing it in 2006, appeared in a Montreal court on Tuesday after being flown home on a military plane from Germany, where he was caught earlier this month.

The 29-year-old pleaded not guilty to five charges, including defiling a corpse, harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and first-degree murder.

His lawyer Pierre Panaccio is expected to ask the court for a psychiatric evaluation of his client.

According to reports, Magnotta is in solitary confinement and is under a 24-hour suicide watch.

He is accused of stabbing Jun Lin, a 33-year-old Chinese student, slitting his throat and cutting him into pieces. He then allegedly ate his flesh, performed sexual acts with the body parts and posted a video of the gruesome incident onto a website.

One of Lin's hands and a foot were mailed to the Liberal Party headquarters in Ottawa, along with a note threatening the Canadian prime minister.

Magnotta fled Montreal and became the subject of an international manhunt before being spotted and arrested at a Berlin internet café.

He has worked as a porn actor, model, escort and stripper.