exactly! are we supposed to be amazed that the police arrested this guy? especially since there is no motive? lack of circumstancial evidence.
What makes these reports so annoying, each account contridicts themselves. Each reporter is trying to outscoop the other, so the details are either muddled or full of conjecture.
a report done by CTV
The lawyer defending Brian Dickson, accused in the slaying of York University student Liu Qian, said Friday his client would “absolutely” plead not guilty to a first-degree murder charge.
Steven Krys, who is representing the 29-year-old suspect, said he would be constructing “a very strong defence” for his client.
His statement came hours after Liu’s boyfriend in China described how he watched in horror via webcam last week as Liu was attacked some 10,000 kilometres away in her Toronto basement apartment.
“The man tried to hold Liu Qian,” Meng Xianchao told China’s CCTV English news broadcaster on Friday, two days after Dickson was charged. “She was resisting and saying, ‘No, no, please don’t.’”
‘Mind went blank’
The couple had been video chatting online around 1 a.m. ET a week ago when there was a knock at the door, according to police.
Meng said he was stunned when he saw an intruder burst into the 23-year-old woman’s Toronto basement apartment. A struggle ensued and Meng managed to view part of the attack before the computer was shut down.
“At that time, my mind went blank,” Meng said. “I was so far away, I couldn’t reach her. I felt helpless and I couldn’t calm down.”
Brian Dickson, an amateur actor and running instructor, and former York University student, was arrested and charged five days after the body of Liu — named by police and in some media accounts as Qian Liu — was found at her residence near York’s campus.
No signs of trauma on body
Dickson lived in the same boarding house as Liu, an international English student from Beijing who arrived in Toronto in September 2010.
During a court appearance Thursday, Dickson was remanded in custody to April 26.
No clear cause of Liu’s death has been determined, as there were no signs of trauma on her body, although she was found naked from the waist down.
People who know Dickson have painted different pictures of him.
Mixed impressions
He’s friendly, but also seems to have a darker side, according to Natalie Feheregyhazi, who met Dickson in a theatre class in 2009. They had acted in a play together.
But Feheregyhazi, a bartender, said she felt uncomfortable when Dickson would visit her at her workplace in a neighbourhood known as the Danforth.
“My gut had a negative feeling about him, despite the friendly exterior,” Feheregyhazi said. “He had a very mild exterior — quiet, awkward exterior — but something behind that might be a little frightening.”
She said she always noticed “odd behaviour” from Dickson, adding that he was later banned from the bar.
Toronto police Const. Tony Vella confirmed on Thursday that Dickson is known to police, but would not elaborate.
Neighbours of Dickson’s family in Riverdale described him as a polite young man.
“Great kid, cordial, sociable, curious,” said Lorne Hiro, who walks her dog with Dickson’s parents.
“I really feel bad for the parents because this has hit them like a ton of bricks,” Hiro said.
York University issued a release on Thursday saying Dickson is not a registered student and never earned a degree from the school.
According to the university’s website, he was acclaimed as McLaughlin College’s representative with the York Federation of Students in 2006. He also worked with the NATO-affiliated Atlantic Council of Canada in 2008. Biographical information posted on the website seemed to indicate an interest in international relations, listing his involvement in the York Model United Nations and an NGO that seeks to improve literacy in Pakistan.
On the York campus, meanwhile, students said they were still spooked by the recent events so close to them.
“Just because someone is in custody doesn’t mean the problem’s solved,” said Vanessa Hunt, president of the students federation.
“You’ve got all these areas with obstructed views. It’s just a breeding ground for something to happen.”
JUST MY OPINION HERE:
The media isnt allowed to publish Brian Dickson’s pic, so what, the police pick some unsuspecting bastard and told him to pose in front of the ACC? They keep insisting that photo circulating isnt brian dickson. well one has to wonder, why would anyone want to willingly pose as a suspect in murder investigation. if it is a police officer ok, why not. but if it is a civilian it wouldnt bode well for him at all.
As for IDing Brian Dickson as the accused, one ponders:
- did the police find his fingerprints in the apartment? is that how they ID him? Dickson lived on the first level of the apartment.
- was he the “reported” roommate Liu previously lived with? apparently not.
- was he the stalker that was giving Liu a hard time? uh apparently so. one “reporter” said “Apparently Brian Dickson had been a stalker of Liu and had been sending her a number of texts on her cell phone. At first Liu did not know who was stalking her, but later her friends said that she had informed them about Brian Dickson being the stalker.” – wow one big huge conjecture for mankind!!!! according to this reporter, Liu was hit repeatedly. uhwhat part of no trauma to the body! no bruises do you not comprend?
- meng kept saying “the man” even after it is revealed who the accused is. “the man” he doesnt refer to Dickson so it is apparent he has not been asked to ID Dickson.
I surely hope that Meng if he was asked to ID Dickson, he wasnt presented with a photo array. or a six pack. A photo array is a set of photographs that law enforcement show to a witness to id a suspect. All photos of must be similar to the suspect, including skin color, hair, possible & tattoo, scars. the array should not be suggestive anyway, highlighting the suspect from any of the other photos. IE: if the suspect has lighter skin, there should be no other male/female with darker skin.
For public safety reasons, police officers do not always take the time to arrange a photo lineup to show witnesses. In some cases officers may use only one picture of a suspect. In case of violent crime, for example, police may need to act swiftly and locate a particular suspect. In Manson, the Supreme Court ruled that using one photograph for the purpose of identifying a person as a criminal suspect is not unduly suggestive.
The use of photographs in a criminal investigation is just one identification procedure used by police. Other procedures include show-ups and in-person lineups. A show-up is the exhibition of a particular criminal suspect to a victim or witness shortly after the crime occurred. An in-person lineup is the live presentation of several persons, including the suspect, to the witness.
What also interests me York may be trying to distance themselves further from the backlash of Lui’s murder. or Dickson may have doctored his resume, after all what is alittle more embellishment going to hurt, after all he has to get ahead.
SECOND REPORT:
The Toronto man accused in the death of a York University student will be pleading not guilty to first-degree murder, his lawyer said on Friday.
Steven Kyrs said his client, 29-year-old Brian Dickson, would be pleading not guilty the first chance he gets.
“Absolutely, 100 per cent,” Kyrs told ctvtoronto.ca on Friday, before saying that he anticipated presenting a very strong defence.
Dickson is currently being held at the Maplehurst Correctional Facility after being charged earlier this week in the death of 23-year-old Qian Liu, a student who moved from China to study at Toronto’s York University.
Liu was found dead in her basement apartment one week ago, several hours after her boyfriend in China watched via webcam as she tried to fend off an attacker who had knocked on her door.
Her boyfriend, Meng Xianchao, spoke exclusively to CTV News in Beijing on Wednesday, and outlined the shock of watching what he said was a man attempt to hug his girlfriend before turning on her.
CTV Toronto’s Austin Delaney reported on Thursday that Dickson lived in a first-floor apartment in the same building, one of nine units inside the townhouse located near York University.
York University said in a released statement on Thursday that Dickson was not a registered student and does not have a degree from the university.
However, a 2008 newsletter from the Atlantic Council of Canada, a group founded to promote NATO at which Dickson was formerly an executive assistant, described him as a former York student who was twice re-elected vice-president of the undergraduate political science council.
The Atlantic Council of Canada confirmed in a statement that Dickson had worked with the group between Sept. 29, 2008 and March 27, 2009, but would not offer further comment.
Besides being a former global politics student, Dickson was active with several extra-curricular activities.
Dickson, who was an amateur actor with The Players Academy, was also the co-founder of the York Model NATO Organization.
Dickson’s profile on the Atlantic Council of Canada website described him as a running instructor and someone who “continually strives to get his parents to eat healthier food – a challenge.”
Kyrs said that Dickson’s family was doing as well as they could be under the circumstances.
Dickson is expected to make a brief court appearance via video on April 24.
SEE ANNOYING!!!