A man who attacked a girl as she Skyped her boyfriend before killing her has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Qian Liu, a 23-year-old student from York University (the one in Toronto, Canada, not the UK), was chatting to boyfriend Xian Meng in China through Skype when Brian Dickson forced his way into her room.
Xian Meng testified that almost three years ago, on 15th April 2011, he heard two muffled bangs and then no more sounds from Liu. Dickson then appeared naked in front of the webcam and turned the computer off. Qian was later found undressed and face down in her flat. Semen found on her thigh and groin matched to a high probability with Dickson’s DNA.
Even though a pathologist couldn’t find the exact cause of death he said asphyxiation seemed the best explanation. ‘The case hung on the mechanism of death,’ said Dickson’s lawyer, Robert Nuttall, ‘The jury struggled with it, the jury made their decision and they made their decision of first-degree murder.’ They eventually found that Dickson purposefully killed Liu while sexually assaulting her.
Qian’s parents, who had travelled from China for the trial, were understandably devastated. ‘We are still very sad,’ Jian Hui Liu told CTV Toronto News after the verdict was delivered. His wife cried silently as he continued, through a translator, ‘The jury system in Canada is very good and very fair.’
The worst bit? Dickson is going to appeal the length of his sentence. Ugh.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.