04-21-2011, 09:04 AM
A 29-year-old Toronto man has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of 23-year-old York University student Qian Liu.
Brian Dickson is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning.
A police source told the Star a missing webcam, laptop and cellphone were not seized as part of the arrest. They are still missing and hold key clues to the investigation.
Police announced the arrest as a plane carrying Liu’s grieving parents touched down Wednesday afternoon.
The exhausted couple was ushered through Pearson airport by Chinese consulate staff, stopping momentarily to address reporters before being ushered out a private exit.
“We are very sad but we would like to take this opportunity to thank . . . everyone, the media, community and Chinese consulate staff,” Jianhui Liu, the victim’s father, said after the 13-hour flight from Beijing. “Thank you, but we are really tired.”
He is research director of Communist Party history at a school that trains party officials and a much-admired lecturer.
His daughter’s body was discovered by two friends and her landlord at 27 Aldwinckle Heights on Friday morning, after they were alerted by Meng Xianchao, the victim’s boyfriend in China, who said he witnessed part of the struggle between the woman and an intruder by webcam the night before.
Liu was found in a basement apartment naked from the waist down, police said, adding there were no obvious signs of trauma.
Police are still awaiting toxicology test results to determine the cause of death.
Police asked the media not to publish photos of Dickson, saying it will compromise their investigation. They also stressed that a photograph of man circulating in Chinese-language Internet chatrooms, purported to be connected to the killing, is not of Dickson.
- so is the guy who was apparently stalking her according to her friends NOT the guy that was arrested? Or did her friends just have the wrong picture? Confusing
This week, the Star reported that Liu had been stalked by a man, painted as a rejected suitor in a popular Chinese chatroom. However, police said there is no evidence of “criminal stalking.”
Liu arrived in Canada in September and lived in a house on Haynes Ave. before moving to the Aldwinckle Heights apartment in January.
Police forensic vans were parked this week in front of both residences, located near York University.
A friend of Liu posted online that the suspect once lived with the victim, but police wouldn’t confirm that, or explain why she moved so suddenly.
A person of interest was interviewed early in the investigation and released. At the time, police said they were checking out his alibi.
Police wouldn’t confirm whether the man arrested is the person they had interviewed.
Full Article.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/9780...udent?bn=1
Brian Dickson is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning.
A police source told the Star a missing webcam, laptop and cellphone were not seized as part of the arrest. They are still missing and hold key clues to the investigation.
Police announced the arrest as a plane carrying Liu’s grieving parents touched down Wednesday afternoon.
The exhausted couple was ushered through Pearson airport by Chinese consulate staff, stopping momentarily to address reporters before being ushered out a private exit.
“We are very sad but we would like to take this opportunity to thank . . . everyone, the media, community and Chinese consulate staff,” Jianhui Liu, the victim’s father, said after the 13-hour flight from Beijing. “Thank you, but we are really tired.”
He is research director of Communist Party history at a school that trains party officials and a much-admired lecturer.
His daughter’s body was discovered by two friends and her landlord at 27 Aldwinckle Heights on Friday morning, after they were alerted by Meng Xianchao, the victim’s boyfriend in China, who said he witnessed part of the struggle between the woman and an intruder by webcam the night before.
Liu was found in a basement apartment naked from the waist down, police said, adding there were no obvious signs of trauma.
Police are still awaiting toxicology test results to determine the cause of death.
Police asked the media not to publish photos of Dickson, saying it will compromise their investigation. They also stressed that a photograph of man circulating in Chinese-language Internet chatrooms, purported to be connected to the killing, is not of Dickson.
- so is the guy who was apparently stalking her according to her friends NOT the guy that was arrested? Or did her friends just have the wrong picture? Confusing
This week, the Star reported that Liu had been stalked by a man, painted as a rejected suitor in a popular Chinese chatroom. However, police said there is no evidence of “criminal stalking.”
Liu arrived in Canada in September and lived in a house on Haynes Ave. before moving to the Aldwinckle Heights apartment in January.
Police forensic vans were parked this week in front of both residences, located near York University.
A friend of Liu posted online that the suspect once lived with the victim, but police wouldn’t confirm that, or explain why she moved so suddenly.
A person of interest was interviewed early in the investigation and released. At the time, police said they were checking out his alibi.
Police wouldn’t confirm whether the man arrested is the person they had interviewed.
Full Article.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/9780...udent?bn=1