Man Accused of Webcam Killing Appears in Court

Brian Dickson faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Liu Qian, whose last moments were caught on webcam.

The Toronto man accused of killing a Chinese university student is to appear in court today, less than a week after the victim's boyfriend witnessed a struggle via webcam half a world away. Brian Dickson, 29, faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Liu Qian, a 23-year-old York University student who was found dead in her Toronto apartment by a worried friend last weekend. Qian's boyfriend in China, Meng Xiaochao, said he was chatting with his girlfriend via webcam when an intruder broke into Qian's apartment and assailed her. Xiaochao's description of the suspect helped police track Dickson down. Qian's mother and father, who is a high-ranking Communist Party official, both arrived in Toronto on Wednesday ahead of Dickson's arraignment.