Toronto/Beijing:
The parents of a Chinese student murdered in Canada, who was last seen alive on a webcam struggling with a man, left Beijing for Toronto on Wednesday as Canadian police said a 29-year-old man has been charged with the murder.
Brian Dickson was charged on Wednesday with first-degree murder, Toronto police spokesman said.
Police did not release any more details but asked the media not to publish any photos of Dickson, saying it could compromise the investigation.
The body of York University student Liu Qian, 23, of Beijing, was found on Friday in her apartment in Toronto a few hours after her boyfriend 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, and police said on Tuesday they were awaiting toxicology test results.
Liu was chatting with her boyfriend, Meng Xianchao, by webcam at about early Friday when a man knocked on the door, police said.
"The man tried to grab Liu Qian. She was resisting and begging him to leave her. At that time my mind went blank. I was cursing him from my webcam," Meng recalled.
Meng reported seeing a struggle break out between the two before Liu's webcam was shut off. He immediately contacted other friends in Toronto who in turn called the police.
"I was so far away I couldn't reach, her I felt helpless and I couldn't calm down," he said.
The victim's father, Liu Jianhui, said his daughter studied at Beijing City University before moving to Canada, where she met Meng.
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, though investigators were trying to figure out if there was any way they could recover it.
Sex attacks have happened before in and around York's campus which is located near one of Toronto's rougher neighbourhoods.
Dickson is not a student at York, a university spokeswoman said.