WARNING: THIS REPORT CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS

A man who walked into a busy Toronto public library and fired a crossbow bolt into his father’s back, then crushed his skull in with a hammer, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Zhou Fang, now 26, was charged with first-degree murder of Si Cheng, 52, after the shocking afternoon incident on Dec. 2, 2010, inside the Main Street branch.

But the prosecution accepted a plea to the lesser offence after considering that Fang was the subject of “long term and horrible abuse at the hands of his father,” Crown attorney Mike Callaghan told Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday.

That’s not to suggest the Crown finds the abuse “in any way justifies the murder or the unlawfulness of it,” Callaghan said, adding the seriousness of Fang’s conduct is reflected in the mandatory life sentence he faces.

From the time he was a baby, “Fang was the victim of deprivation, beatings and what can only be described as psychological torture,” Crown attorney Jessica Smith-Joy said, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

He also witnessed “ongoing and severe instances of domestic violence committed by his father against his mother, Nora Fang,” she said. Cheng was convicted of abuse against the pair on numerous occasions, and there is a significant history of police and Children’s Aid Society intervention.

SI CHENG’S HISTORY OF ABUSE AND THE COURTS

A senior forensic psychiatrist who assessed Fang described the abuse as “one of the worst and most chronic child abuse (and spousal abuse) scenarios” he had encountered. He concluded that Fang suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Cheng’s reign of terror included molesting and urinating on his son. He choked Fang when he tried to protect his mother from being sexually abused.

Cheng also killed Fang’s pet birds, forced him to eat his own vomit, and subjected him to relentless threats if the abuse was revealed.

Even though the physical abuse ceased in 2002, and Fang and his mother relocated to Ottawa, the pair constantly lived in fear that Cheng would find and kill them, the prosecutor said.

“Mr. Fang at times thought he saw his father in Ottawa,” Smith-Joy said.

Whether Cheng was ever in Ottawa isn’t known, but the two alleged sightings “undoubtedly felt very real to him,” his lawyer, Mark Sandler, told court.

Fang and his mother wore bullet-proof jackets and Kevlar SWAT fire hoods at home, fearing Cheng might set fire to their residence. He hired private investigators, wrote to the Queen and Governor General for help, and acquired weapons, including the crossbow.

Fang’s fear peaked in late 2010, when he travelled by bus from Ottawa to Toronto, rented a U-Haul van, and entered the Main Street library with a crossbow, pepper spray and hammer.

“By the time the crossbow was purchased, he had considered using it offensively and not just defensively,” wrote the psychiatrist who assessed Fang.

In a handwritten apology that Sandler read to court, Fang stated he was “totally convinced” that his “lifelong tormenter” was “bent on killing me and my mother.”

Wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit, beard and glasses, Fang sat expressionless through most of the proceeding, but was alert and responded clearly and politely when the judge asked if the agreed facts were correct.

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One of three witnesses who submitted a victim impact statement wrote he had also been raised in an abusive family and plagued with psychological issues, some of the “demons” returning as a result of seeing the violent event occur.

In spite of this, he asked that mercy be shown to Fang, something Sandler said “showed a largeness of spirit” and appreciation of the “larger context.”

The Crown and defence are asking the judge to impose a parole ineligibility period of 10 years. The maximum is 25 years.