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Lin Feng, Jun Lin’s former lover, leaves the courtroom after testifying at the murder trial for Luka Rocco Magnotta on Oct. 1, 2014.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

The Globe and Mail's Les Perreaux (@perreaux) and Ingrid Peritz (@iperitz) are following the Magnotta trial in Montreal. Follow them for updates.

The murder trial of Luka Magnotta dipped into the world of hookups on gay online social networks and Montreal bars as the prosecutor and defence called evidence to suggest ways the admitted killer might have met his victim.

That Mr. Magnotta killed Jun Lin in Montreal on May 25, 2012, is not in question. The case instead hinges on the soundness of Mr. Magnotta's mind on the night of the killing, whether he was mentally ill and killed out of madness or carried out a premeditated murder.

Lin Feng, Jun Lin's lover starting in 2010, testified the couple broke up 12 days before he died. "He was experiencing some pressure from family. He was kind of obliged to make a relationship with a girl and get married," Lin Feng said, adding that the family was not aware Jun Lin was homosexual.

Lin Feng said his ex-partner used a gay hookup app called Grindr before and after they were in a relationship, where he would use westernized aliases. Jun Lin often went by Justin while in Canada. Lin Feng said he told Jun Lin after they had broken up that he was free to see new people, even strangers, but he portrayed Jun Lin as a faithful partner and a gym rat who wasn't into drugs or rough sex.

During cross examination, defence lawyer Luc Leclair suggested Jun Ling was very active meeting men on social media and frequented bars unknown to Lin Feng. The lawyer also suggested Jun Lin was into gay pornography and "Hollywood stars," implying Jun Lin might have had initiated contact with Mr. Magnotta, who once acted in such films. Lin Feng said he was unaware of such interests.

"I'm suggesting to you there was a lot of things you did not know about Justin," the lawyer said. Lin Feng insisted the two were faithful during their time together.

At one point, Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer admonished Mr. Leclair to "lay the groundwork for relevance" on the line of questioning. Mr. Leclair's mission is to show his client was mentally ill and not acting in a planned and methodical way. For example, whether Mr. Magnotta stalked Mr. Lin or whether their hookup was mutual could eventually speak to that state of mind when the six-week trial reaches a conclusion.

For now, it remains unclear how they met.

On May 13, 2012, Lin Feng returned to China to visit family as he agreed with Jun Lin to end their relationship. The two remained friends who exchanged text messages daily, Lin Feng testified.

Mr. Magnotta, 33, is charged with first-degree murder, criminally harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament for sending threatening notes to Conservative and Liberal party offices, mailing and publishing obscene material and committing an indignity to a body.

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