Hearing date set for accused student murderer

A preliminary hearing for the man accused of murdering a 23 year old York University exchange student has been set for the end of January.

29 year old Brian Dickson appeared briefly in court via video link early Tuesday.

He was arrested in April after police found the partially clad body of Qian Liu in her apartment.

She had been chatting by webcam with her boyfriend in China when he saw her open the door and start struggling with a man who later turned off the computer.

Dickson’s lawyer says the post-mortem report that could reveal exactly how Liu died has still not been released.

He also says his client plans to plead not guilty to the first degree murder charge.