THE CANADIAN PRESS

Luka Rocco Magnotta quietly left Canada last month as a little-known porn actor and prostitute with a penchant for self-promotion on the Internet.
   
He returned in a military plane Monday, handcuffed and escorted onto the tarmac by an armed guard. As a media helicopter buzzed overhead, he was placed in a police convoy and whisked away to face charges including first-degree murder.
   
During his month-long European sojourn, Magnotta became the suspect in a crime so brutal that it made headlines around the world.
   
Just before 7 p.m. Monday, he landed aboard a plane that took him to Montreal from Germany, where the 29-year-old was arrested following an international manhunt.
   
A convoy of vehicles with flashing lights rolled out to meet Magnotta at Mirabel airport, north of the city. A half-dozen men escorted him down the stairs off the plane, onto the tarmac, and into a minivan at the centre of a convoy that included motorcycles and police vehicles.
   
The transfer was monitored by armed guards, at least one of whom carried an assault weapon. Magnotta was seen wearing handcuffs when he landed and he had also been restrained earlier, on the plane, federal sources said.
   
His fellow passengers on the military transport aircraft included officials and law enforcement from Canada and Germany, those sources added.
   
``The return went very smoothly,'' said Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere. ``We didn't hear about any trouble from him  no demands.''
   
Police said Magnotta could face a judge in Montreal as early as Tuesday. As the gory case moved back to Canada, authorities in Germany were breathing a sigh of relief Monday.
   
``We are glad that he's gone,'' said Martin Steltner, a spokesman for Berlin's prosecutor's office, on Monday. ``(There's) a lot of trouble in this case.''
   
The stomach-churning details of the Montreal slaying, and the subsequent international police search, whipped up a storm of media interest around the world.
   
Magnotta was arrested in a Berlin Internet cafe after Montreal police issued a warrant for his alleged connection to last month's killing and dismemberment of Montreal university student Jun Lin.
   
The male escort and porn actor, originally from Scarborough, Ont., was accompanied on the flight by Montreal police officers.
   
Federal sources said the plane was also carrying German and Canadian officials, Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers and Canada Border Services Agency employees. The plane was already in Germany when it added Magnotta as a passenger.
   
The Quebec prosecutor's office said Magnotta would likely have to appear in court within 24 hours following his extradition, in keeping with Article 503 of the Criminal Code.
   
Given the severity of his alleged crimes, Magnotta was being restrained during the flight.
   
His supposed victim, Lin, was found in multiple pieces. Lin's torso was found locked inside a suitcase in an alley outside Magnotta's Montreal apartment building. His hands and feet were mailed separately to the offices of political parties in Ottawa and schools in Vancouver.
   
DNA tests have confirmed that all the body parts belong to Lin, a Chinese national studying computer science at Concordia University.
   
The 33-year-old's head has still not been found and police have made its recovery a priority so the family can have some measure of closure.
   
Police also believe the killer videotaped the Lin's death and posted the footage online.
   
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Monday that he's been pleased with the co-operation between Quebec police and government departments, particularly National Defence for providing a plane on short notice.
   
He noted that Magnotta himself had sped up the process by declining to contest his extradition. Magnotta could have delayed
that extradition but chose not to fight it.
   
``The suspect in this case decided to voluntarily return to Canada, so that this matter can proceed as quickly as possible,'' Toews said in Ottawa.
   
Toews and Nicholson also thanked German officials Monday for the suspect's swift extradition.
   
``It is important that Canadians can have confidence that those who are accused of serious crimes will face the full force of the law,'' they said in a joint statement. ``Canada values the co-operation of its international partners in the fight against
crime.'