Huntington Hills stabbing suspect accused of using scissors in near-fatal attack on roommates

A pair of scissors is the weapon Qisong Zhou is accused of using in an unprovoked attack on his roommates, Xianne Guan and Yanhong Chen earlier this week, according to court documents.

The 50-year-old made his first appearance in Provincial Court on Thursday, charged with attempted murder, assault with a weapon and two counts of possessing a weapon dangerous to the public.

Zhou, who has only been in Canada for four years, speaks "next to no English," according to Ben Leung who appeared as agent for Zhou as he works out the details of retaining a Mandarin-speaking lawyer.

"It starts at the very basics; he has to understand what he's been charged with and the gravity and the seriousness of the situation that he's dealing with," said Leung outside court.

"Mr. Zhou comes from China their legal system is very different from ours here so some things that we take for granted here isn't always the norm in other countries."

• Huntington Hills stabbing suspect Qisong Zhou says he 'didn't mean to'

Police and EMS were called tothe home in the 200 block of Huntcroft Road N.E. at about 7:45 a.m. Monday, where they found Guan in life-threatening condition and Chen in serious condition.

There were twoother adults and three children in the house at the time of the stabbing. None were injured.

After releasing Zhou's name and photo, a tip from the public led to his arrest late Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, Zhou told a justice of the peace that he"didn't mean to," and said "can I tell my reason?"

The language barrier plus financial woes means Zhou is looking forLegal Aid to fund a defence lawyer.

The organization no longer has on-site translation services so Leung, with the assistance of an interpreter, helped Zhou get the ball rolling on his application.

Zhou will return to court on Monday in hopes Legal Aid will decide to appoint Mandarin-speaking defence lawyer, Edith Thai, and senior defence lawyer, Gloria Froese.

"He's concerned, he's scared obviously given what's going on," said Leung. "What's been helpful is at least there are a couple of lawyers who have been able to communicate with him so he's taking some comfort with that."

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