Vince Weiguang Li

Case overview

Vince Weiguang Li (simplified Chinese: 李伟光 ; traditional Chinese: 李偉光 ; pinyin: Lǐ Wěiguāng ), born April 30, 1968, killed Tim McLean (October 3, 1985 – July 30, 2008) on the evening of July 30, 2008.

Status

Li was found to be not criminally responsible for the murder and was remanded to a high-security mental health facility where he remains.

Timeline

• July 30, 2008 — Tim McLean was attacked on a Greyhound Canada bus while travelling about 18 miles (29 km) west of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba.
• July 31, 2008 — Li attempted to escape from the bus by breaking through a window; the RCMP arrested him soon afterward.
• March 5, 2009 — Li was found to be not criminally responsible for the murder and was remanded to a high-security mental health facility.
• June 3, 2010 — Li was granted supervised outdoor walks within his mental health facility as voted by the provincial review board.
• February 16, 2011 — Two passengers filed a lawsuit against Vince Li, Greyhound, the RCMP and the Government of Canada.

The offence

On July 30, 2008, Tim McLean was stabbed, beheaded and cannibalized while riding a Greyhound Canada bus about 18 miles (29 km) west of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, travelling the Trans Canada Highway.

McLean, a 22-year-old Canadian man and a carnival worker, was returning home to Manitoba after working at a fair in Alberta. He travelled from Edmonton to Winnipeg via the Yellowhead Highway through Saskatchewan.

At 6:55 p.m., the bus departed from a stop in Erickson, Manitoba with a new passenger, Vince Weiguang Li. Li sat next to McLean following a scheduled rest stop. McLean “barely acknowledged” Li, then fell asleep against the window pane with headphones covering his ears.

Witnesses said that while McLean was sleeping with his headphones on, the man sitting next to him produced a large knife and began stabbing McLean in the neck and chest. The attacker then decapitated McLean and displayed his severed head to other passengers outside who had fled the bus in horror. The driver and two other men attempted to rescue McLean but were chased away by Li, who slashed wildly at them from behind the locked bus doors. Li then went back to the body and began severing other body parts and consuming some of McLean’s flesh.

Li repeatedly stabbed and mutilated the body, and he scattered parts around the bus. Police officers later observed Li eating parts of the body during a standoff.

Victim and background details

Tim McLean

• Tim McLean was born on October 3, 1985 and died on July 30, 2008.
• He was described as 22 years old at the time of the killing.
• He was a carnival worker returning home to Manitoba after working at a fair in Alberta.
• Friends and others described him as well-loved.
• His MySpace page described him as five-foot-five and weighing about 125 pounds.
• His father, Tim McLean Sr., described him as sending a text message around 7:30 p.m. as the bus was leaving Brandon, the last leg of its journey, asking whether he could come home for the night.

Family

McLean’s mother, Carol deDelley, said she wanted the law changed so anyone found not criminally responsible for a crime still serves time behind bars.

Investigation

At 8:30 p.m., the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba received a report of a stabbing on a Greyhound bus west of the city. The RCMP arrived to find the suspect still on board the bus, being prevented from escaping by another passenger, the bus driver, and a truck driver who had provided a crowbar and a hammer as weapons.

The other passengers were huddled at the roadside, with some crying and vomiting. Witnesses had observed the suspect stabbing and cutting McLean’s body, and carrying McLean’s severed head. When the suspect attempted to escape by driving the bus away, the driver engaged the emergency immobilizer system, rendering the vehicle inoperable.

By 9:00 p.m., police were in a standoff with the suspect. Special negotiators and a heavily-armed tactical unit were summoned. The suspect taunted police, alternately pacing the length of the bus and cutting and defiling the corpse. Police observed Li eating parts of the body. Stranded passengers were transported from the scene to be interviewed at the Brandon RCMP detachment.

RCMP officers reportedly heard Li say, "I have to stay on the bus forever."

Arrest and evidence found

At 1:30 a.m. on July 31, 2008, the suspect attempted to escape from the bus by breaking through a window. The RCMP arrested Li soon afterward.

He was tasered twice, handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser.

Parts of the victim’s body, placed in plastic bags, were retrieved from the bus. McLean’s ear, nose and tongue were found in Li’s pockets. The victim’s eyes and a part of his heart were never recovered and were presumed to have been eaten by the accused.

Trial

Charge and pleas

RCMP announced that it had charged Li with second-degree murder.

Li appeared for a hearing at Manitoba provincial court in Portage la Prairie around 10 a.m. CT. He appeared without a lawyer and refused to speak to anyone. The judge asked him twice whether he had a lawyer, and Li nodded when asked whether he was exercising his right to remain silent. The Crown asked for a psychiatric assessment, and the judge directed Li to see legal aid about getting a lawyer. Li was remanded into custody until his next appearance on Tuesday.

Li’s trial commenced on March 3, 2009, with Li pleading not criminally responsible.

Li was described as having no documented history of mental illness before the killing.

Psychiatric evidence and responsibility

A psychiatrist diagnosed Li as having schizophrenia. The psychiatrist said that Li carried out the attack because God’s voice told him McLean was a force of evil and was about to execute him. The presiding judge accepted the diagnosis and ruled that Li was not criminally responsible for the murder.

The psychiatrist said that while Li had not fully emerged from the psychotic phase, he was beginning to realize what he had done, though he could not accept that he cannibalized McLean.

Agreed statement of facts and courtroom statements

An agreed statement of facts was read out in a Winnipeg courtroom.

Li, blood smeared on his face from the attack, apologized to police when he was arrested and pleaded with officers to take his life, saying:

"I'm sorry. I'm guilty. Please kill me."

The statement said Li attacked McLean “for no apparent reason” and ignored other horrified passengers as he repeatedly stabbed the young man, who unsuccessfully fought for his life.

Crown prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn said:

"Tim McLean struggled and tried to escape."

Dalmyn said that McLean could not get away because Li was blocking the aisle.

A witness, Garnet Caton, described the attack and aftermath. Caton said:

"a blood-curdling scream"

Caton said:

"I turned around and the guy sitting right [behind] me was standing up and stabbing another guy with a big Rambo knife.... Right in the throat. Repeatedly."

Caton added:

"I got sick after I saw the head thing. Some people were puking, some people were crying, some people were shocked. [The attacker] just looked at us and dropped the head on the ground, totally calm."

The statement outlined that Li tried numerous times to leave the bus, but he was locked inside and returned to McLean’s body. Police asked him to drop the knife and he said:

"had to stay on this bus forever."

Sentencing and disposition

Li was remanded to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre after the ruling.

On March 5, 2009, Li was found to be not criminally responsible and was remanded to a high-security mental health facility where he remains.

On June 3, 2010, Li was granted supervised outdoor walks within his mental health facility as voted by the provincial review board.

Background on Vince Weiguang Li

Vince Weiguang Li was born in Dandong, China on April 30, 1968.

Li graduated in 1992 from University of Wuhan Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Computers. From 1994-1998, he worked in Beijing as a computer software engineer.

Li immigrated to Canada from China on June 11, 2001 and became a Canadian citizen on November 7, 2006.

Li worked in Winnipeg at menial jobs at Grant Memorial Church for six months to support his wife, Anna. Pastor Tom Castor employed Li and said he seemed happy to have a job and was committed to doing it well, despite a language barrier with other congregation members. Castor told CTV Winnipeg:

"I think he would occasionally feel frustrated with not being able to communicate or understand," Castor told CTV Winnipeg. "But we have a very patient staff and he seemed to respond well."

Castor said Li did not show any signs of anger issues or any other trouble before he quit in the spring of 2005.

Li worked as a forklift operator in Winnipeg while his wife worked as a waitress. Li’s delivery boss, Vincent Augert, described him as reliable, hard-working and not showing any signs of trouble. Augert said Li was fired from Wal-Mart four weeks before the murder following a “disagreement” with other employees. Shortly before the incident, Li asked for time off from his delivery job to go to Winnipeg for a job interview.

Li first moved to Edmonton in 2006, leaving his wife alone in Winnipeg until she joined him later.

His jobs included service at a Wal-Mart, at a fast-food restaurant, and newspaper delivery.

July 29-30, 2008 movements and prior actions

On July 29, 2008, at midnight July 28 in Edmonton, Li boarded a Greyhound bus bound for Winnipeg. Around 6 p.m. on July 29, Li got off the bus in Erickson, Manitoba with at least three pieces of luggage and stayed the night on a bench next to a grocery store.

A witness said Li was seen at 3 a.m. sitting bolt upright with eyes wide open.

On the morning of July 30, while still at the bench, Li sold his new laptop computer to a 15-year-old boy, Darren Beatty, for $60. The laptop was seized by the RCMP as evidence; the boy was subsequently given a new laptop for his honesty by an anonymous businessman.

Shortly before 6 p.m. on July 30, Li boarded the bus heading to Winnipeg carrying Tim McLean and 35 other passengers.

Prior hospital contact

Li was briefly hospitalized in 2003 or 2004 after he was picked up by Ontario Provincial Police, who found him walking along a highway “following the sun” as ordered to by God.

Li’s former wife said he used to be gone for long periods of time, took unexplained bus trips and sometimes rambled. She said he was hospitalized briefly but never sought medical attention.

Note left for his wife

The statement outlined that Li left his wife a note before leaving on his trip:

"I'm gone. Don't look for me. I wish you were happy."

Other people and witness accounts

Garnet Caton

Garnet Caton, a 26-year-old seismic driller who sat one row ahead of McLean, described hearing:

Caton said:

Caton said:

Stephen Allison

Another passenger, Stephen Allison, stated that McLean fought his attacker, providing other passengers with the opportunity to get off the bus.

Police officer and other observations

A police officer at the scene said the attacker cut off parts of the victim’s body and ate them.

Conditions during arrest and courtroom presentation

During the 10 a.m. CT appearance, Li shuffled into the courthouse under the weight of heavy leg shackles, with his eyes focused on the floor. His right hand was heavily bandaged and there was visible bruising on his face.

Aftermath

Greyhound Canada announced it was pulling nationwide ads that included the line, “There's a reason you've never heard of bus rage.”

PETA sent an advertisement to the Portage Daily Graphic comparing the murder of Tim McLean to the killing of animals for food. The ad was rejected by the paper. PETA was harshly criticized for attempting to exploit the incident, but refused to apologize.

Tim McLean’s family brought a lawsuit of $150,000 against Greyhound, the Attorney General of Canada and Weiguang Li.

On February 16, 2011, two passengers—Debra Tucker of Port Colborne, Ont., and Kayli Shaw of London, Ont.—filed a lawsuit against Vince Li, Greyhound, the RCMP and the Government of Canada. They each sought $3 million in damages for being exposed to the beheading.

Names and quotations included in the case record

• Dr. Stanley Yaren testified and said:

"A voice from God told him Mr. McLean was a force of evil and was about to execute him," Yaren, a witness for the Crown, told the judge hearing the case.

• Dr. Stanley Yaren also testified:

"In response to that, in a state of panic and fearful for his life, he carried out the acts that he did."

• Dr. Stanley Yaren said:

"Mr. Li did not understand he was killing an innocent bystander. He did not understand his actions were wrong."

• Dr. Stanley Yaren said:

"It would be in some sense easier if Mr. Li was an anti-social psychopath with a history of malicious behaviour, but he isn't that. He is, as I've come to know him, a decent person. He is as much a victim of this horrendous illness ... as Mr. McLean was a victim."

"Tim McLean struggled and tried to escape," Crown prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn said.

• Li reportedly told RCMP negotiators:

"I have to stay on the bus forever."

• Li said to police when asked about dropping the knife:

• Li apologized and asked to be killed:

• Li’s note to his wife said:

• Grenet Caton said:

• Garnet Caton said:

• Garnet Caton said: