Suspect In Bus Beheading Pleads ‘Please Kill Me’ In Court
Posted August 5, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The first public words Vince Weiguang Li uttered since being charged in a gruesome beheading that has made headlines around the world were a quiet, almost inaudible, plea to be killed.
Li, who is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tim McLean aboard a Greyhound Bus last Wednesday, stared at the floor through much of his brief appearance in court Tuesday.
Court heard how, since his arrest, the 40-year-old has declined to speak with justice officials and a legal aid lawyer assigned to his case.
When the judge asked him if he wanted a lawyer, Li shook his head no and then quietly said “please kill me.”
Li’s remark was heard by reporters and confirmed by court clerks but was not acknowledged by the judge.
The judge did order a psychiatric evaluation for Li.
He is due back in court Sept. 8.
As part of her submissions to secure the psychiatric evaluation, the Crown attorney in the case, Joyce Dalmyn, revealed disturbing new details about what happened that night on the bus.
According to a police report read by the Crown, officers discovered a plastic bag containing an ear, nose and part of a mouth in the pocket of the accused.
The night of the deadly attack, Dalmyn said the only response officers received from Li: “I have to stay on the bus forever”.
Witnesses have described what they call an uprovoked attack in which McLean was savagely stabbed in front of horrified passengers, and then decapitated.
Li, who recently immigrated to Canada from China, lived with his wife in Edmonton prior to the attack. He worked as a newspaper delivery man as well as at a Wal-Mart in the city.
Support for McLean’s family has poured in from around the world, with tens of thousand of people having joined Facebook groups in his honour.
McLean, a carnival worker, has been remembered by his family as a free spirit who warmed the hearts of those around him with his infectious laugh.
