The Canadian man on trial for the rape and murder of a Chinese student in her Toronto apartment while her horrified boyfriend watched helplessly on Skype in Beijing was found guilty on Monday.
Brian Dickson, 32, did not show any emotion as he was convicted of the first degree murder of 23-year-old Qian Liu in April 2011, receiving a life-sentence with no chance of parole for 25-years.
Liu's father broke down in tears as the verdict was delivered - bringing an end to three years of trauma for the family after the York University student's boyfriend watched her fend off Dickson before calmly turning the computer off.
Liu was found dead after her boyfriend managed to contact authorities after he witnessed the last moments of his girlfriends life.
Robert Nuttall, Dickson's lawyer, said his client has been 'absolutely remorseful for a very long time.'
'He didn't say anything. He just accepted the verdict,' Nuttall said. 'It was a very tough case. A very, very tragic case.'
'The case hung on the mechanism of death. The jury struggled with it, the jury made their decision and they made their decision of first-degree murder,' said Nuttall.
Nuttall said his client accepted the verdict.
The prosecution presented the theory that Dickson forced himself on Liu then killed her by asphyxiation to cover it up.
Liu, who was 23, had moved to Canada to study English. Dickson lived in an apartment in the same house as Liu, just outside the campus of York University.
Dailym
No comments:
Post a Comment