CityNews Rewind: The Greyhound Bus Beheading
He heard voices from God, who told him his victim was a ‘demon.’ So the final denouement to the story of the man accused of beheading a fellow passenger on board a bus doesn’t come as any surprise. Vincent Li was found not criminally responsible Thursday for the act on board a Greyhound bus last July, a terrifying crime that played itself out before horrified passengers.
Here’s a look back at one of the most gruesome incidents in Canadian history that made headlines around the world.
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A quiet Greyhound bus ride from Winnipeg to Edmonton is brutally interrupted near Portage La Prairie, Manitoba when one of those onboard suddenly springs on the passenger sitting beside him and begins savagely slashing at him with a knife for no apparent reason. The blade struck numerous times, as the victim issued what one passenger called a ‘blood curdling scream.’
There was no warning and no apparent motive.
The 22-year-old man was one of 37 riders sitting quietly, minding his own business. He was dozing off listening to his MP3 player, when he was shocked back into consciousness by his seatmate. He tried to fight back but his wounds and the ferocity of the attack caused his strength to fail. As a final terrible act, his sunglasses-wearing attacker cut off his head, as stunned passengers fled the vehicle in terror.
“There was no rage or anything,” remembered Garnet Caton, who was making the journey that day. “He was like a robot, stabbing the guy.”
Witnesses say the suspect displayed his deed like a trophy, as riders gather outside, leaving him trapped behind the shut door. “We put our bodies up against the door, waiting for him to come out … and he went back and brought the head to the front and pretty much displayed it … and dropped it on the ground in front of us,” Caton shuddered.
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The RCMP were called and arrived soon after, surveying the grim scene.
July 31:
The word about what happened begins to spread, soon making headlines on the Internet and in newspapers as far away as Australia. The crime sparks Greyhound to issue a statement calling it an ‘isolated incident’ and telling passengers their vehicles are safe.
The world gets its first look at the accused, 40-year-old Vincent Weiguang Li. Cops reveal he had boarded the bus in Edmonton the night before and had sat quietly through most of the trip. But no one knew what caused him to lash out in such a bizarre and violent way.
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The world also learns another name: Tim McLean, the victim in the case. He was the unlucky passenger sitting beside Li when his inexplicable rampage began. He was a carnival worker who was remembered by friends as being easy going and having a great personality. He was on his way home from Edmonton to be with his family but never made it.
As the world continues to wonder about the motives of Vincent Li, his pastor paints a portrait of him that doesn’t gibe with his actions. Tom Castor met Li shortly after he arrived here from China in 2004. He called him a “happy person” who had no apparent anger issues.
Li worked as a custodian for his church, and held a series of other menial jobs, including stints at a fast food restaurant and delivering newspapers.
He had asked for time off, telling his boss he was going for a job interview in Winnipeg. But he told his wife he was going away on a family emergency. The real purpose of his journey was never actually revealed.
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The first public words pronounced by Li are chilling: “please kill me,” he’s heard to say in a soft spoken whisper during a court appearance. A psychiatric evaluation is ordered, and it will play a crucial role in the final disposition of his case. He’ll back in court September 8th.
In an embarrassing and unfortunate example of terrible timing, Greyhound pulls an ad campaign it had been running for a year with a now stomach turning tag line that reads, “There’s a reason you’ve never heard of bus rage.”
“We realize that in light of the recent incident not only is the ad no longer appropriate but it could be offensive,” states company rep Abby Wambaugh.
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In a campaign that outrages many, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, l aunches an ad campaign playing off the tragedy. It compares the killing of McLean to the slaughter of animals for food, drawing outrage from many corners.
“His struggles and cries are ignored,” it reads. “The man with the knife shows no emotion … the victim is slaughtered and his head cut off … his flesh is eaten.”
A spokesperson refused to apologize. “Like human victims, animals in slaughterhouses experience terror when they are attacked by a knife-wielding assailant,” Lindsay Rajt explained in a statement. “We are challenging everyone who is rightly horrified by this crime to look into their hearts and consider leaving violence off their dinner plates.”
Few seemed to agree.
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In another heartbreaking twist in this terrible case, a well known religious group from the U.S. announces plans to protest McLean’s funeral. Pastor Fred Phelps claims the young man’s murder was God’s response to Canada’s policies regarding abortion, homosexuality and adultery. Their threat goes unrealized when they’re turned back at the border.
As family and friends say a tearful farewell to Tim McLean, authorities reveal he may have died a hero. Officials say despite being mortally wounded by his attacker, McLean managed to keep him occupied and fought back long enough for other passengers to escape the carnage.
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After several more violent incidents on board its buses give the company a black eye, Greyhound moves quickly, using hand held metal detectors on its vehicles in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg, with an eye to introducing similar measures in Toronto.
The case winds its way slowly through the system as doctors continue to evaluate Li’s condition. He finally gets his day in court and pleads not guilty. Testimony reveals he apologized to police and asked them to kill him. In the end, Li is declared to have been suffering from severe delusions that left unable to appreciate the nature or wrongfulness of his act – one of the defining criteria for an insanity defence.
“He was out of touch with reality,” Crown lawyer Joyce Dalmyn admitted. “He believed God was telling him to kill the evil force beside him … He could not differentiate between wrong and right.” She said Li became convinced his seatmate was a “demon” who needed to be killed or else he would die himself.
Dr. Jonathan Rootenberg testified that a ray of breaking sunlight through the bus window appeared to have triggered Li’s hallucinations and he acted on them with stunning swiftness.
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“Suddenly the sunshine came in the bus and the voice said. ‘Quick. Hurry up. Kill him and then you’ll be safe,”‘ Li told one of his psychiatrists. “It was so quick, such an angry voice, and I had to do what it said. I was told that if I didn’t listen to the voice. I would die immediately.”
The judge says he will rule on the case the next day.
With overwhelming evidence before him, Justice John Scurfield rules Li suffers from schizophrenia and was not criminally responsible for his actions on board the bus that day. The troubled killer is sent to an institution with a criminal record, but will not go to jail.
The ruling disturbs McLean’s family and friends, who had been hoping he’d face prison time. But they had prepared themselves for the inevitable.
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His mother claims her son didn’t die in vain, because the case points out the flaws in the criminal justice system that need to be corrected.
