The Miami Police Department is the latest force
searching for ties between Luka Rocco Magnotta and an unsolved
homicide, as law-enforcement agencies across the continent take a
closer look at the distinct Montreal killing.
   
Magnotta, arrested in Berlin following an international manhunt,
is the prime suspect in the death and dismemberment of 33-year-old
Concordia University student Jun Lin.
   
While there is no evidence to connect Magnotta to any such crime
elsewhere, the brutality of his alleged modus operandi and his
extensive international travels have caught the attention of
investigators in several jurisdictions.
   
The latest is a veteran Miami homicide detective, whose
department has been trying to solve a three-year-old cold case that
shares similarities to the Montreal slaying.
   
Sgt. Confessor Gonzalez plans to contact Montreal police to
explore possible links between Magnotta and the mysterious, 2009
death and dismemberment of Guatemalan national Omar Laparra.
   
He said he will also take a look at Magnotta's movements back and
forth across the U.S.-Canada border.
   
``I looked up the story _ rather interesting,'' Gonzalez told The
Canadian Press in a phone interview.
   
``If Mr. Rocco was in Miami at the time of my murder then yeah,
I'll be definitely looking at him.''
   
Miami, where Magnotta is thought to have spent some time in
recent years, is now one of several jurisdictions reading up on the
unique circumstances around Lin's death _ which has shocked people
around the world.
   
Police forces in Los Angeles and Gatineau, Que., have also
indicated that they're inspecting Magnotta's recent activity because
both jurisdictions have unsolved homicide cases involving corpse
mutilation.
   
Miami police say Laparra, 21, vanished after leaving a bar in
Miami's Little Havana neighbourhood early in the morning on May 31,
2009. He was never seen alive again.
   
Over the following several days, Gonzalez said Laparra's remains
were found stuffed in four plastic bags floating in waterways around
the southern part of the city.
   
``We were never able to put it together,'' he said about the
case, which was described by U.S. TV show America's Most Wanted.
   
``It makes no sense at all why someone would do this.''
   
Magnotta, 29, remains imprisoned in Germany, where he awaits
extradition to Canada. He is expected to face several charges here,
including first-degree murder.
   
It's unclear when _ or even if _ Magnotta may have been in Miami.
There have been suggestions that Magnotta, who actually filed for
bankruptcy in 2007, may have used the Internet for self-promotional
purposes and exaggerated the lavishness of his globe-trotting
lifestyle.
   
Several online postings declared that a person named Luka
Magnotta was living in Miami in August 2010.
   
``Just bought myself a new Lotus (sports car) and im enjoying
myself in Miami, my new home,'' the poster, named luka-magnotta,
said at the time on a website for car enthusiasts.
   
``What do you guys think of my new wheels?... Its hot huh.''
   
The post was accompanied by a photo of Magnotta sitting in a
Lotus. There were also boasts about using the car to sweet-talk a
female police officer into reducing a ticket, and about getting
frequent sexual attention thanks to the vehicle.
   
The Los Angeles Police Department said that some of its
detectives have discussed a recent L.A. homicide and dismemberment
with Canadian investigators, though officers there made it clear
they are not yet linking it to Magnotta. They simply want to know
whether Magnotta was in L.A. at the time.
   
Last week, Gatineau police said they would contact their Montreal
counterparts to look for possible connections with the 2011 slaying
of an 18-year-old college student.
   
Magnotta, originally from Scarborough, Ont., is also believed to
have spent time in New York, Paris and London.
   
There is one other message on a sports-car website _ one that
seems particularly poignant today. Two body parts were mailed to
Vancouver last week. Police are now trying to determine what links
Magnotta might have had to that city.
   
``What do you guys think of the car,'' a luka-magnotta posted on
a different online forum, for Lotus car fans.
   
``I live in Miami and Vancouver ... I think I can only get away
with driving it in Miami though... Nice huh.''