A senior French police official says he is "sure" that Luka Rocco Magnotta is currently in France. Another French police official says Magnotta apparently flew to Paris from Montreal last weekend.
The officials say France's fugitive search unit was ordered to hunt for Magnotta.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about such searches publicly.
A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole before 25 years.
According to the warrant made public at the Montreal courthouse Thursday, Magnotta is also charged with committing an "indignity to the body of the human remains (of) an unknown person." The second charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.
The same warrant revealed Magnotta was initially accused of second-degree murder, a lesser charge which still carries a life sentence but offers more flexibility to a judge when determining parole eligibility.
Commander Ian Lafreniere, of the Montreal Police Service said the warrant charging Magnotta with second-degree murder was issued early in the investigation, while investigators were still at the murder scene.
He said a prosecutor later decided to upgrade the charge to first-degree murder after she was shown a disturbing video depicting a man, believed to be Magnotta, committing indignities to a body.
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