Expensive flight home
Government spent $376,000 to bring killer Magnotta back from Europe
The big-ticket military mission to fetch fugitive Luka Rocco Magnotta from Germany in 2012 was ordered by a senior cabinet minister who considered it a matter of “national interest.”
In June 2012, the air force made a $376,128 decision to dispatch one of its largest aircraft to collect the accused killer in Berlin, where local police had collared him to end an intercontinental manhunt that made global headlines.
The low-budget porn actor and stripper fled to Europe after the brutal Montreal killing and dismemberment of 33-year-old university student Lin Jun.
Magnotta was given a life sentence in December after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, among other charges. The 32-year-old is appealing the verdict and wants a new trial.
After Magnotta’s conviction, National Defence made public more than 1,700 pages of emails documenting the cost of repatriation, the debate over options and the scramble to whisk him home after he agreed to extradition, lest he change his mind.
The messages, obtained under the Access to Information Act, also offer a rare look behind the curtain at the government’s efforts to keep details of the “sensitive” mission out of the public spotlight.
The decision to involve the Royal Canadian Air Force — and ultimately one of its CC-150 Polaris Airbus jets — was discussed at the upper levels of the country’s political and military ranks, the emails show.
Peter MacKay, defence minister at the time, ordered then-general Walt Natynczyk to lend a hand “as soon as possible” after Montreal police asked for federal help. “We will support this request as an assistance to law enforcement,” MacKay wrote to Natynczyk on June 16, 2012, in a partially redacted email.
He cited a section of the National Defence Act, which allows the defence minister to call on the military to help police in certain situations.
Natynczyk hit send on a reply to MacKay 21 minutes later.
“Sir, understood,” Natynczyk wrote. “Your direction will be actioned.”
After exploring its options, the military chose to bring Magnotta home on an Airbus, which can hold up to 194 people when configured for passengers. At the time, it cost an estimated $15,505 per hour to operate.
Taxpayers paid $376,128 for the National Defence portion of the trip, and the department paid the entire bill, a spokeswoman said.
The documents explain that prisoner transfers like Magnotta’s are usually made with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police aircraft, specialized air transport companies or commercial airlines.
But the Mounties’ jet was unavailable because of “mechanical reasons,” the emails show. Commercial and charter options were deemed no-gos because some companies didn’t meet security requirements. And commercial airlines refused to transport the notorious accused killer.
“How can we bring him back to Montreal on a commercial flight with other people sitting on board?” Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafrenière said the day Magnotta landed at Mirabel airport, north of Montreal. “For very extraordinary cases, we do have to take some extraordinary measures.”
Officials felt crunched for time because Magnotta had declined to fight extradition, the emails show, so they chose the long-range Airbus, an option that avoided a pit stop between Berlin and Montreal.
Magnotta was convicted last December, when he was also found guilty of criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament.
For very extraordinary cases, we do have to take some extraordinary measures. CMDR. IAN LAFRENIÈRE, Montreal police