Luka Magnotta admitted to killing and chopping the body of Chinese engineering student Justin Lin (representational image).
Luka Magnotta admitted to killing and chopping the body of Chinese engineering student Justin Lin (representational image).Reuters

Canadian and former porn star Luka Magnotta has admitted to killing and dismembering a Chinese student on camera, before sending his body parts to politicians.

The shocking incident took place in Montreal in 2012.

Magnotta on Monday admitted to killing student Jun Lin, and also filming himself during the brutal act. However, the accused has pleaded not guilty to the murder, declaring himself mentally unsound.

According to a report in the Mirror, before chopping off Lin's body into several pieces, Magnotta also performed "indignities" to him. Later, he sent Lin's body parts to different schools and political parties. The 32-year-old then posted the gruesome video online.

Magnotta has been charged with first-degree murder, committing an indignity to a body, publishing obscene material, mailing such material, and criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of the Parliament.

During his trial in Canada, Magnotta admitted to wrongdoing for all the five charges he faces but denied criminal responsibility, claiming an unsound state of mind.

"He's been waiting a long time. There was a time that we never thought this day would come," the report quoted Magnotta's attorney Luc Leclair as saying.

Jurors will now watch footage of the murder, before giving the final verdict.

In May 2012, Lin's torso was found in a heap of rubbish behind a Montreal apartment. Also, his body parts were received by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office and at two British Columbia Schools. This lead to investigations and the discovery of the murder. His head was found at Montreal Park.

Later, the video posted by Magnotta surfaced online, and the police was able to link the whole episode together and nab Magnotta, who by that time had fled to London and then Berlin. He was finally arrested in Berlin.

Lin was enrolled as a computer science and engineering student at Concordia University in Montreal and belonged to the Wuhan city in China.

The trial is expected to last for up to six weeks.