捷克佳/这些日子的多伦多真是不寻常，11月8日是越裔华女涉杀母伤父，12月2日又是华裔儿子在图书馆内用十字弩射杀父亲。今天看到警方的新闻简讯和媒体朋友的通报才知道，自己曾经帮助过这位一直未有谋面的逝者。也是在今天，自己才知道他的中文名字和年龄：程思，52岁。
今年9月下旬的一天，一个读者非常急切地给报社打电话说请求帮助。他说，“你不一定记得我，但我却一直记得你，因为你几年前曾经帮助过我。”
那是在已经记不起确切年份的数年前(5、6年前？)，一位远在中国的读者打国际长途到报社，请求报社帮助寻求他已经失去联系的儿子。老人家知道儿子在多伦多，也知道儿子的地址，但一直无法与儿子取得联系，写的信件也如同石沉大海没有回复，恐遭遇不测，情急之下只好求助媒体。
后来，与一位相熟的多伦多资深华裔警官联系，他亲自前往那个地址，并留下纸条，告知他的家人正在焦急地寻找他。不久后，他在中国的父亲再度致电报社，说父子终于联系上，为此专门致谢。
在报社工作，有意无意间帮助读者的事有很多，比如求医问药，找工作找老乡甚至找对象等，这个寻人的事件因为时间久远，几乎已经在脑海中遗忘。
9月下旬，他再度致电报社求助，因为他遇到了新的麻烦，希望能帮助他找一个免费的法律援助机构，并寻求媒体的介入。
他在电话中自述，不知何故也不知是那个机构的执法人员突然间将他驱赶出他所居住的房屋，并警告他不得靠近这个物业。他说他很多私人的用品都在室内却无法取出，被驱逐时身着单衣且身无分文，最后不得不在栖身在市内一间专为无家可归提供的庇护所，他利用那里的电话才拨通报社求助。
现在回想起来也感觉十分惊奇，他为何能牢记住报社的电话。
一边和他继续通话，一边从网上帮助他寻找免费的法律援助机构，记得当时给他找的是大多区华裔及东南亚社区法律援助中心。曾经在一些记者会上见过这个中心的律师，但并不熟。于是，将搜索到的电话号码给他。
他在电话中断断续续地叙说自己的个人经历，他出国前在云南工作，后来去澳洲，之后移民到加拿大，当年在澳洲因为一次严重的车祸差点丧生。他说事件与妻子有关，是妻子刻意安排的。
他说，他现在住的房屋就是用当年在澳洲车祸的赔偿金购买的，一同移民加拿大的妻子现在已经不知去处。他也无法正确描述他们夫妻二人的婚姻现状，一会儿说是两人已经离婚，一会儿又说没有离婚证明。但他相信妻子在外面肯定另有人。
听他讲的这些往事，当时的直观感觉是十分玄秘离奇，似乎是有选择性地讲述，令人真假难辨，一些情节也与普通人的逻辑相悖。一个简单的疑问是，既然认定澳洲的车祸是妻子策划的，为何后来又一起移民加拿大？
而且，这仅仅是单方面的陈述，无法获得对方的说辞，对于新闻工作者来说，没有平衡的报道特别是涉及与法律相关的案件，处理起来比较棘手。
尽管如此，他孤身无助的境况实在是令人同情。自己当时正在赶一个稿件，无法亲往探视。于是，便推荐给几个日报工作的媒体朋友，听了我的转述，有人觉得中间疑点重重，不是很靠谱，便决定放弃这个新闻线索。
因要与其他媒体沟通，通话暂停。当时，他留下的是庇护所的电话和一个英文名字（自己已经忘记），并没有说出他确切的中文名字。而且，打过去的电话没人转接，但过后不久他又打来报社问媒体联系的结果，并说那个电话容易打出，一般很难打进。自己当时猜测可能是因为庇护所人员成份复杂的缘故。
星岛日报一个与警方关系密切的朋友决定追踪这个事件，除试图帮助他之外，另一个原因是想通过这个事件深入了解一下多伦多庇护所运作的一些细节。
据这个媒体朋友讲，几天后两人取得联系，还专门车载他去当地的警察分局了解被驱赶出住宅的事件经过，但警局并没有相关的纪录，可能是当事警员尚未将出警纪录入档，还有可能是其他的机构执法。令朋友印象深刻的是，他当时确实是单衣裹身，而且身上的味道很大。还有一点是，移民这么多年，他在多伦多竟然没有一个朋友。
朋友说，再次去找他时，已经联系不到，此事便暂时搁置下来。但朋友记住了他的名字–程思。
12月2日图书馆十字弩射杀事件发生后，多伦多警方与媒体陆续公布出涉案者的姓名，并透露嫌犯与亡者是父子关系，这才确认逝者竟然是我们曾经给过少许帮助的程思。
十字弩射杀案是多伦多今年截至目前发生的第59宗凶杀案。
此外，不知何故，程思一直不愿与远在中国的家人联系。数年前自己所在报社曾经帮助过他，但在中国驻多伦多总领馆的网站上，2009年12月24日发布的启事又在寻找程思（见截屏图）。
据这条寻人启事，应中国云南省居民王灼请求，总领馆协助寻找其儿子程思。程思，出国前单位：云南省化工厅，原多伦多住址：116 Mintwood Drive, North York, Ontario, M2M 3A8。请当事人或知情者与领馆领侨组联系（电话：001-416-3246464，传真：001-416-3246468，电子邮件：[email protected])。
以下转载本地英文媒体的相关报道，分别是Toronto Sun，Toronto Star，CBC和CTV，其中一些报道引用12月3日法庭内的文件。
Alleged crossbow killer is victim’s son
By CHRIS DOUCETTE, SAM PAZZANO AND JENNY YUEN, TORONTO SUN
Last Updated: December 3, 2010 4:38pm
The city’s first ever crossbow killing is allegedly a case of patricide. Toronto Police said Friday.
Toronto Police confirmed the 52-year-old man who was shot in the back in a crowded Upper Beaches library Thursday is the father of the alleged killer.
“They are father and son,” Const. Tony Vella said Friday.
The victim, Si Cheng, of Toronto, was inside a public library on Main St., just south of Gerrard St. E., when he was hit in the back by a bolt from a crossbow shortly after 4 p.m., Vella said.
It’s alleged that Zhou Fang, 24, fired the fatal shot as women and children watched in horror.
The Ottawa resident was taken was taken into custody soon after.
Court documents show slain man had two previous domestic violence convictions.
Cheng assaulted his wife of 16 years, Nora Fang, at their Mintwood Dr. home on May 5, 2002 in the presence of the couple’s son Zhou Fang, and Nora’s 84-year-old mother, court documents stated.
A court synopsis of the incident indicated Cheng said: “I am the ruler of this house and everybody has to do what I say.”
He became involved in a physical fight with Nora and the worried mother-in-law intervened to end the conflict. Both Nora and her mom were treated for their minor injuries at Scarborough Grace Hospital and released.
Cheng pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and received one additional day in jail on top of time already served plus three years probation.
The court also ordered that Cheng undergo anger management counselling and had a 10-year weapons prohibition.
Cheng was involved in another domestic dispute in August 1999 and he pleaded guilty to assault in June 2000 and received a suspended sentence and 12 months probation. No details were available on the that incident.
Cheng had other unrelated criminal convictions, including theft and fail to comply with probation.
Meanwhile, Zhou Fang looked solemn as he made a brief appearance at College Park court Friday morning.
He had dark circles under his eyes and wore an orange jail jumpsuit as he stood in the prisoner’s box. He bowed his head as Justice Lynette Stethem ordered him back to police custody until his next video appearance Dec. 8.
“You will be detained in custody until these matters are dealt with,” Stethem said.
Stethem ordered a publication ban on this case.
Anyone with information in the city’s 59th murder of the year is urged to call homicide detctives at 416-808-7400, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/12/03/16414686.html
Crossbow victim was father of suspect
Carys Mills
and Jennifer Yang
Staff Reporters
The man shot dead with a crossbow Thursday afternoon was the father of the man charged with first-degree murder in the same case, police said Friday afternoon.
Si Cheng, 52, of Toronto, was shot inside an east-end library and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The Main St. library, located just south of Gerrard St. E., was bustling with children and their parents when Cheng was shot around 4 p.m.
Zhou Fang, 24, of Ottawa, was arrested shortly after the attack and has been charged with first-degree murder. Cheng is also referred to in court documents as Si William Cheng.
Reached on Friday afternoon, Const. Tony Vella confirmed that the victim and suspect are father and son.
Fang made a brief court appearance Friday morning and was remanded in custody.
According to land registry documents, Si Cheng bought a house on Mintwood Dr., in North York, in October 2000 with someone named Cheng Mei Fang. The property was transferred to Cheng Mei Fang in April this year.
Next-door neighbour Allan Krett said a stocky man named William Cheng lived on the other side of his semi-detached home but was recently evicted.
Krett said Cheng moved in about a decade ago with his wife, who went by Nora, and a son named Peter, who was a teenager at the time. Cheng’s mother-in-law also apparently lived with the family.
But according to Krett, the couple’s marriage fell apart a few years ago. He said Cheng’s wife once told him her husband was violent towards her and had served time in prison. Police officers and prison officials have showed up at Krett’s door on at least a few occasions asking if he had seen Cheng.
“My understanding was that he was violent towards his wife, mother-in-law, and son and because of that, he was prosecuted and he did time,” Krett said. “Then prior to him coming out, they seemed to leave. They were frightened to be in the house and he moved back in.”
Krett said Cheng’s wife got possession of the house but was “frightened to come (home).” Cheng continued to live there alone, however, often coming and going at late hours and keeping mainly to himself, Krett said.
“He was really reclusive,” he said. “The grass wasn’t cut, neighbours were complaining and the place seemed to be unkempt.”
Krett said police came to Cheng’s home a few months ago to enforce his eviction. Cheng’s wife called Krett soon after to ask about the eviction; she has also sent him a few emails. She would not tell Krett where she was now living but the last time he spoke to her, she said she was in China.
At the library where Cheng was killed, staff working during the time of the incident will be off with pay until the branch reopens, Toronto Public Library spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins said Friday. Staff and witnesses have also been offered group and crisis counselling.
Aikins said it is too soon to determine exactly when staff will return to work or when the branch will reopen. She said the police investigation will need to wrap up before cleaning can start.
There were fewer than 10 staff members, including librarians and administrative workers, at the branch at the time, Aikins said.
She said they immediately evacuated staff and the public rather than going into lockdown.
“They got out quickly and safely,” she said.
Aikins would not say whether the branch had security guards or cameras, but said security levels vary by branch size and neighbourhood. She said the branch’s safety protocols will be reviewed.
Vella said police have talked to many witnesses and interviews will continue Friday.
Grief counsellors will likely be sent to the library because of the number of people who witnessed the attack, he said.
“It’s definitely a very unique situation,” said Vella, “a first.”
He said the fact the shooting occurred in such a public place made it of particular concern.
Cheng was killed inside the library in front of a number of witnesses, including children who were there with their parents. No one else was injured.
Emergency medical services said the man had been shot in the back.
Homicide investigators questioned a number of witnesses. The suspect was held at 55 Division overnight and police were looking through surveillance video from the surrounding area.
Vella was unable to confirm rumours Thursday that the victim had been pepper sprayed before being shot.
Linus Smith, who works at a restaurant across the street from the library, said she saw a middle-aged man with black hair and a dark jacket come out of the library with something in his hand and jump into a U-Haul truck just after 4 p.m. He appeared calm and drove away.
An elderly man was running after the suspect, she said, and wrote down the vehicle’s licence plate.
The suspect was arrested in Scarborough because police “quickly received information, they acted on that information,” said Vella.
Area residents expressed shock over the afternoon shooting.
The Main St. branch is Fran Pougnet’s library, her “little, quiet happy place.” She’s lived just down the street for a year and said she feels safe in the neighbourhood.
“At the library of all places!” she said, surveying the scene from the opposite sidewalk.
Tanya Lazarova was on the phone with her worried daughter about an hour after police arrived. Lazarova has been working at a salon across from the library for six years. “Very scary,” she said.
Jeffrey Smith, who lives in the area and works at a coffee shop across from the library, said he always feels safe walking in the neighbourhood.
“It’s usually quiet,” he said. “I’ve been here for four years, never seen anything like this.”
With files from Cynthia Vukets and Tamara Baluja
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/900990–crossbow-victim-was-father-of-suspect?bn=1
Crossbow slaying suspect is victim’s son
Ottawa man faces 1st-degree murder charge after death in library
Last Updated: Friday, December 3, 2010 | 6:28 PM ET
CBC News
Zhou Fang appeared in a Toronto courtroom Friday. He’s accused of killing his father, Si Cheng, with a crossbow. (Andrew Tavshunsky)
The man charged with killing 52-year-old Si Cheng by shooting him with a bolt from a crossbow inside a Toronto library is the victim’s son, CBC News has learned.
Zhou Fang, 24, of Ottawa, was arrested shortly after the slaying Thursday and has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his father, who lived in Toronto.
Police were called to the Toronto Public Library’s Main Street branch near the corner of Main and Gerrard Street East in the city’s east end just after 4 p.m.
Cheng was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses said that they saw a man approach Cheng, who was sitting on a bench in the library, and pepper-spray him. He was then shot, either in the face or the back, witnesses said.
Police officers saw a man run north on Main Street after the shooting. He jumped into a U-Haul rental truck and drove off. Police tracked the truck and arrested the driver.
Although the father-son relationship has been confirmed to CBC News, police have not released any information on a motive.
“It was not a random attack,” said Toronto police spokesman Const. Tony Vella.
The news came as a surprise to Gerard Legault, who lives in the same Ottawa apartment building as Fang. Legault last saw Fang in the elevator about a week ago, but said Fang kept to himself.
“Just a quiet person, doesn’t say hello, doesn’t say much … he’s on his own,” Legault said.
“I don’t know if he has any family there, he’s new in the building.”
It’s believed to be the first time a crossbow has been used in a homicide in Toronto.
Fang appeared in Ontario Court of Justice at College Park on Friday morning and was remanded in custody until Dec. 8.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/12/03/toornto-crossbow-homicide.html#ixzz177yrLdqW
(Zhou Fang is seen in this artist’s rendition during court proceedings in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. (John Mantha for CTV News))
Son charged with murder in father’s crossbow death
Updated: Fri Dec. 03 2010 9:43:31 PM
ctvtoronto.ca
Police have charged the son of a man killed in a bizarre and fatal crossbow shooting at a Toronto library with first-degree murder, authorities confirmed Friday.
The suspect, 24-year-old Zhou Fang of Ottawa, appeared in a Toronto court on Friday morning and was remanded in custody until Dec. 8.
Fang stared straight ahead and spoke softly when asked by the judge whether he understood the proceedings.
The victim in the shooting, 52-year-old Si Cheng, of Toronto, was shot in the back at the Main Street Library in Toronto’s east end. The victim is the father of the accused.
Earlier, police had said the accused and the victim knew each other, adding that it was not a random attack.
The library was filled with afternoon patrons at the time of the attack, many of whom witnessed a man calmly enter the building and fire a crossbow.
“There were a number of people inside and a number of people have been taken to various police stations to be questioned,” Const. Tony Vella said late Thursday.
A witness reportedly got the licence plate number of a vehicle leaving the scene. Fang was arrested a short time after the incident near Phenix Drive and Hollis Avenue, which is southeast of Danforth Avenue and Birchmount Road. That location is about three kilometres east of the crime scene.
There were reports that the shooter may have used pepper spray before firing the crossbow.
Paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
The man’s body was removed from the library on a stretcher overnight. The arrow was still protruding from his body, which was covered with a sheet.
Crossbows are not subject to the same restrictions as guns and can typically be purchased without the license or certificates required for firearms. On its website the RCMP said only crossbows that are less than 50 centimetres in length and can be fired with one hand are prohibited.
It’s not clear which type of crossbow was used in the murder.
At the time of the shooting, area resident Linus Smith was sitting in a restaurant across the street. She saw a man leave the library with something in his hand, get into a U-Haul van and drive off, she said.
“He came out of the library, he was calm, he went into the U-Haul and he drove off,” she said. “He didn’t speed off or anything, he just drove.”
Vella said it was the first time he had been involved in a homicide investigation involving a crossbow.
“You hear about shootings with guns or knives involved, but definitely a crossbow is a unique situation,” Vella said.
Toronto Public Library said the Main Street branch would remain closed on Friday. Support and counselling will be provided to staff and patrons affected by the gruesome incident.
The incident isn’t the first homicide involving a crossbow in Canada. In 2007, a 26-year-old man was accused of murdering his mother with a crossbow in Quebec.
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101203/crossbow-death-arrest-101202/20101203?hub=TorontoNewHome
