Gruesome case nears end

MONTREAL – A Canadian man accused of dismembering his Chinese lover and mailing the body parts to schools and political parties around the country kept a promise made several months earlier to take the life of a human being, the prosecutor said Thursday in his closing arguments.

Louis Bouthillier asked jurors to convict Luka Magnotta of first-degree murder and four other charges in the 2012 slaying of Jun Lin.

The gruesome case shocked Canadians and quickly gained international notoriety after body parts arrived at offices of Canada’s biggest political parties and a video appeared online that prosecutors say shows Magnotta stabbing and having sex with the dismembered corpse.

Magnotta, 32, has pleaded not guilty and while he admits to the slaying, he is seeking to be found not criminally responsible by way of mental disorder.