On Apr. 23, Queen’s PhD candidate Zijie Wang was denied bail and remanded back into custody. Wang, who faces four criminal charges, is accused of poisoning his former roommate and colleague with dangerous chemicals.

On Apr. 12, Kingston Police arrested Wang after a report found that he used a substance “known to be lethal” to poison his former roommate.

According to a statement, between Wang’s first arrest January and his second in April, he was employed “in the food delivery service.” Police found no evidence to suggest Wang tampered with any other food besides that of the victim.

The statement also indicated that detectives “have established a clear motive linking the accused actions to the victim.”

According to Linkedin, Wang completed his Bachelor’s degree in materials chemistry at Sun Yet-Sen University in Guangdong, China, before entering post graduate studies in Canada. He’s currently a PhD candidate studying polymer chemistry at Queen’s in the Department of Chemistry.

Wang was also one of four PhD candidates in the Liu Group, a research team under Queen’s Professor Guojun Liu. According to its website, the group is focused on the “applications of polymer nanostructured materials.”

Wang’s information, which appeared on the Liu Group’s website before his arrest, has since been deleted.

A Kingston Police statement said Wang’s actions in the poisoning case “were limited to the lab at his workplace.” The statement also indicated that since Wang’s first arrest “the accused has no longer had access to the lab or the chemicals.”

The Journal is waiting for a response from the University about Wang’s use of lab chemicals in the case.

After police were called to campus on Jan. 29, officers arrested Wang and charged him with administering noxious chemical and assault with a weapon. Though police contested his release at the accused’s bail hearing, he was released by the court on his own recognizance.

On the same day as his arrest, video was recorded of Wang “administering a clear substance near the victim’s lunch.”