A Toronto man charged in the bizarre death of a York University student last seen alive in a struggle on a webcam lived in the same building and previously studied at the same school as the victim.
Brian Dickson, 29, was charged with first-degree murder of 23-year-old Qian Liu. He was remanded in custody until April 26 during a brief court appearance on Thursday.
Dickson's court appearance came almost a week after Liu was found dead and naked from the waist down in her basement apartment at 27 Aldwinckle Hts.
CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney reported on Thursday that Dickson lived in a first-floor apartment in 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."
He planned at one point to write his Law School Admission Test (LSAT), another profile on the ACC website said.
As part of his membership as a delegate on the York Model UN, he attended conferences in both the United States and Canada.
He was also elected as vice-president of the Undergraduate Political Science Council at McLaughlin College with the York Federation of Students.
Dickson was also involved with a Pakistani aid agency called Development in Literacy, which helps rural people in that country.
On Thursday, police combed through Dickson's family home on Austin Avenue in Toronto's Riverdale neighbourhood, seizing computers and searching through garbage while neighbours looked on.
Following the court appearance, police retracted a previous request for media not to publish a photo of the man they charged in Liu's death.
Dave Perry, a former Toronto police homicide detective, told CTV's Canada AM that police may have made the request to not publish the image because it could have compromised the case.
Perry said that although he didn't want to speculate on the investigation, a first-degree murder charge means that police believe there was forethought.
In an exclusive interview CTV News conducted in China earlier this week, Liu's boyfriend, who asked to keep his identity concealed, said he witnessed somebody walk into her room and and try to hug Liu before assaulting her.
Perry said the boyfriend's account has likely helped detectives with their investigation.
"At least it gave police some kind of information right from the start," he said. "Whenever you look at any investigation you are looking for quick breaks and early information in order to hopefully accelerate things to the point where you can make a quick arrest. It would appear that's what happened on this one."
Police are waiting the results of toxicology tests after an autopsy failed to show the cause of Liu's death.
Meanwhile, a student organization at York will be hosting a forum on Thursday to discuss ways to improve safety on campus.
With files from the Canadian Press
