Man charged over 'murder on webcam'

A MAN accused of murdering a Chinese student made a brief court appearance yesterday, just under a week since the victim's boyfriend watched helplessly through a webcam as she struggled with an attacker.

Brian Dickson stood before the court as the judge read out a charge of first-degree murder. He did not enter a plea. His case was held over until 26 April.

The body of York University student Liu Qian, 23, of Beijing, was found last Friday in her apartment in Toronto a few hours after her boyfriend in China witnessed the attack, police said. She was naked from the waist down and there were no obvious signs of sexual assault or trauma severe enough to kill her. The autopsy was inconclusive.

Police arrested Dickson, 29, of Toronto, on Wednesday and charged him with first-degree murder. Dickson is not a student at York, university spokeswoman Janice Wells said.

Liu was chatting with her boyfriend, Meng Xianchao, by webcam at about 1am Friday when a man knocked on the door, police said.

Meng reported seeing a struggle break out between the two before Liu's webcam was shut off. Meng contacted other friends in Toronto who in turn called police.

Liu Qian's laptop computer, webcam and mobile phone were taken from the apartment the night of the attack, police said. Police said the online chat was on a live streaming camera and was not recorded.