At the final day of crown testimony wrapped up today at the Luka Magnotta murder trial, several witnesses from Germany testified about the chain of events leading to his arrest on June 4th 2012 in Berlin.
The testimony were recorded as the court travelled to Europe this summer to meet witnesses in France and Germany.
Kadil Andlaisli testified he was working at an internet café in Karl Marx Platz in Berlin that day.
He says he immediately recognized Luka Magnotta based on a photo he saw in that morning’s newspaper.
He assigned him a computer and an internet connection.
“I couldn’t see his face as he looked at the computer” Andlaisli testified, "but I recognized him right away because of his weird cheek bones.”
He said Magnotta spent about 45 minutes in the café, looking at pictures of himself online.
Andlaisli says he then went outside the café to try to flag down a police car.
Eventually, a group of nine police officers walked into the café.
The officer in charge, Mark Lilge, approached Luka Magnotta, and asked him for identification, in German, but switched to English when the suspect indicated he didn’t understand.
According to Lilge, Magnotta said he didn’t have his papers on him, but that he was from New York and claimed his name was Kirk Trammel, a reference to a character in the movie Basic Instinct.
Magnotta, the officer said, was becoming increasingly nervous.
“He started sweating, then shaking and stuttering” explained Lilge.
He finally cracked and revealed his true identity, saying “You got me, I’m Magnotta, the one you’re looking for," according to Lilge.
The officer then told Magnotta he was wanted by international police, but Magnotta was in a hurry to leave with him, because he didn’t want to draw attention from the press.
Lilge says that once Magnotta was inside the police vehicle, he didn’t say a word, but kept a grin on his face.
The second arresting officer, Thomas Leymenn, also testified that Magnotta was frisked before being taken to the station. He didn’t have a weapon on him.
He would later be fingerprinted by the arresting officers. Leymann described Magnotta’s demeaner as “cool.”
“I might even call it arrogance,” the officer told the court via a video deposition made last summer.
Leymenn was the last witness heard by the prosecution, which announced that it was “almost done” with presenting its evidence. The judge dismissed the jury until Friday, when the Defence is expected to start calling its witnesses.
