He didn't have many friends and was divorced in 2006 although he continued to live with his ex-wife. He became a citizen in 2005 and graduated from a business college, but never got a job in his field. Li was born in China in 1968 and came to Canada in 2001, according to the agreed statement of facts. Li sat in a suit surrounded by heavy security with his back to court spectators Tuesday and appeared calm as testimony was given. McLean's family and friends, many wearing T-shirts with his picture on them, wept as the grisly details were read out in court. The trial is expected to hear from one other witness Wednesday - a forensic psychiatrist for the defence. Passengers have said he was sleeping near the back of the bus and listening to music on his earphones when he was attacked. McLean, a carnival worker, had been returning home to Manitoba after working at a fair in Alberta. The victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Li's pocket. He has denied that, but "there is no other possible location for those items," said Dalmyn. Police said McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, although part of his heart and both eyes were never found and were presumed eaten by Li. He eventually tried to escape out a window and was taken into custody. Police arriving on scene asked him to drop the knife and he said he "had to stay on this bus forever." But he was locked inside and, according to the statement, returned to McLean's body and methodically carved it up further. It was then that Li tried numerous times to leave the bus. Passengers fled the bus and stood outside. When the bus pulled over near Portage la Prairie, Li was engrossed with stabbing and mutilating McLean's body. "He was unsuccessful and eventually either fell or was thrown to the floor of the bus." "Tim McLean struggled and tried to escape, as evidenced by a number of defensive wounds," Crown prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn said. 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. Li's case shows the law must be changed so that anyone found not criminally responsible still serves time in prison, she said.Īn agreed statement of facts read out in a Winnipeg courtroom said Li, blood smeared on his face from the attack, had to be Tasered twice when he first escaped from the bus, which had pulled over by the side of a Manitoba highway.Īfter that, Li politely apologized to police and pleaded with officers to take his life. Does that mean that I forgive the act that the man perpetrated? No, no I don't." "I'm having a very difficult time having any sort of sympathy (with Li). "At some point, my son's biggest mistake was going, 'how's it going?' And for that his head was cut off and his insides were splayed all over the inside of that bus," said Carol deDelley, McLean's mother. McLean's family, many of whom came face-to-face the killer for the first time Tuesday, found the suggestion repugnant. He is as much a victim of this horrendous illness. He is, as I've come to know him, a decent person. Li was an anti-social psychopath with a history of malicious behaviour, but he isn't that. He did not understand his actions were wrong," said Yaren, adding Li is a humble, respectful person. Li did not understand he was killing an innocent bystander. He continues to have hallucinations and hear voices, but is on strong anti-psychotic medication. Li is still psychotic and believes it's just a matter of time before God kills him, Yaren said. His lawyers are arguing he is not criminally responsible because he is mentally ill. Li, whom Yaren diagnosed as schizophrenic, believed 22-year-old McLean was still capable of coming back to life, so he continued to mutilate the body and scattered the parts around the bus, the psychiatrist testified.Īlthough he admitted his guilt to officers that night, Li pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Killing McLean wasn't enough, Yaren said. In response to that, in a state of panic and fearful for his life, he carried out the acts that he did." McLean was a force of evil and was about to execute him," Yaren told the judge hearing the case. Li chose to sit next to Tim McLean because McLean made a "friendly gesture" to him, Yaren said.Īs the bus neared Portage La Prairie, Man., around 8:30 p.m., 40-year-old Li started hearing voices. Stanley Yaren said on the first day of Li's trial. The voice told Li to use an assumed name and get on the bus travelling from Edmonton to Thunder Bay, Ont., last July, Dr. WINNIPEG - The man who beheaded a passenger on a Greyhound bus was a victim himself, tormented by the voice of God telling him to do it, a forensic psychiatrist told Vince Li's second-degree murder trial Tuesday.
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