Crossbow killer Zhou Fang sentenced to life

Zhou Fang has been sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years for the vicious murder of his father in a packed Toronto library.

In December, 2010, Fang shot Si “William” Cheng, 52, with a crossbow and then crushed his skull with a hammer in the Main Street Library.

The library, located on Main Street near Gerrard Street East, was packed with children and other patrons at the time.

Fang, 25, was charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last July.

He chewed on his fingers and nodded continuously during Tuesday’s sentencing and bowed deeply to the judge as he was led away.

Fang’s lawyer argued Fang was motivated by fear and had suffered a “lifetime” of abuse at the hands of his father.

Cheng would knock his son against the wall and threatened to cut his penis off with a knife, the court heard. At one point, Cheng twisted the head off Fang’s pet bird because it cost too much money.

The court also heard that Fang witnessed ongoing domestic abuse of his mother and was in and out of the Children’s Aid Society for much of his life.

He and his mother were living in hiding in Ottawa at the time of the murder and would wear body armour when they left the house.

Police have confirmed with CityNews that Cheng was twice previously convicted of assaulting his wife in early 2000, serving time in jail for his crimes.

After his wife fled to Ottawa, Cheng lived as a recluse in the family home near Steeles and Bayview.  Six weeks before his death, he was evicted and moved into the Dixon Hall hostel on the Danforth.

Fang’s mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were cited in the sentence.  The judge ordered that Fang get immediate help from a psychologist and that he be housed in a less-than maximum security facility.

In a victim impact statement, Cheng’s father wrote that he wished for $1 million in compensation for his son’s murder.

The family in China could not make arrangements to come to Canada to bury the body.

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