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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Magnotta extradition cost $375K

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 09/17/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The Canadian Press Archives Luka Rocco Magnotta exits the airbus with police back in June. (CP)

MONTREAL -- The cost to Canadian taxpayers for Luka Rocco Magnotta's extradition from Germany, aboard a government plane fit for the prime minister, is expected to be about $375,000.

The estimated price tag for the accused killer's unusual journey home includes flight expenses, catering service and a hotel stay for authorities who fetched the fugitive from across the Atlantic, according to federal documents obtained by The Canadian Press.

Berlin police arrested Magnotta in early June to end an international manhunt following the killing and dismemberment of Chinese national Jun Lin.

Magnotta is facing several charges in connection with the gruesome slaying, including first-degree murder. The 30-year-old porn actor and stripper has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The circumstances of his exceptional return to Canadian soil also raised eyebrows.

Magnotta flew home aboard one of the military's CC-150 Polaris Airbus transport planes, an aircraft that can be configured to accommodate prominent passengers such as the prime minister, foreign dignitaries, the Governor General and members of the Royal Family.

The flights, from an Alberta military base to Germany and back to Canada, spanned 23.9 hours at an estimated rate of $15,505 per hour -- for a total cost of $370,570.

The rate is an estimate that includes maintenance, hangar fees, crew salaries and fuel, which makes up $6,420 of the hourly cost, according to the Department of National Defence.

The hotel cost for eight crew members to stay overnight in Berlin was expected to come to nearly $1,300, while the catering total was approximately $3,500 -- $1,500 in Montreal and $2,000 in the German capital.

The figures were included in a package of documents obtained under the Access to Information Act.

A spokeswoman for the Department of National Defence said the final bill for the mission should be confirmed by financial staff in the coming weeks.

Montreal police were thankful the federal government made the plane available for the extradition.

"How can we bring him back to Montreal on a commercial flight with other people sitting on board?" Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere said in Mirabel, shortly after Magnotta emerged from the plane.

"For very extraordinary cases, we do have to take some extraordinary measures."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 17, 2012 A9

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