Latest National News
Search underway for two Manitoba men who disappeared while fishing from...
Aug 29, 17:20 (Hits: 2) |
Alberta government spends $155 million sprucing up universities, college...
Aug 29, 17:19 (Hits: 2) |
One dead, 87 ill, as salmonellosis cases reported across Quebec
Aug 29, 16:28 (Hits: 2) |
Quebec judge gives man 10 years in jail for dangerous driving
Aug 29, 16:26 (Hits: 3) |
Sufferin' succotash! Sylvester the cat survives trek from S.C. to Montre...
Aug 29, 16:25 (Hits: 2) |
Ottawa to spend $120 million to try to keep drugs out of prisons
Aug 29, 16:23 (Hits: 23) |
Abbotsford police apologize after failing to respond to 911 call
Aug 29, 15:30 (Hits: 13) |
Corrections workers want info on jail break tip as province searches fac...
Aug 29, 15:25 (Hits: 3) |
|
| |
|
|
|
Man accused of beheading bus passenger says 'please kill me' in Manitoba court |
|
|
|
Written by Tamara King, THE CANADIAN PRESS
|
|
Tuesday, 05 August 2008 |
Vince Li, the accused in the Greyhound bus beheading of Tim McLean last Wednesday night, appears in a Portage La Prairie court Tuesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
Related Items
No keywords found
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. - 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 22-year-old Tim McLean aboard a Greyhound bus last Wednesday, made the despondent request at a court hearing Tuesday in which he was ordered by a judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Li stared at the floor through much of his brief court appearance.
The 40-year-old responded to questions from Judge Michel Chartier by either nodding or shaking his head.
When Chartier asked him if he wanted to speak to 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.
As part of her submissions to secure the psychiatric evaluation, Crown attorney Joyce Dalmyn revealed disturbing new details about what happened during the five-hour ordeal on the bus.
Witnesses have said that the attack on McLean appeared to be unprovoked - that his seat mate simply stood up and started stabbing him then carving up his body.
When police arrived, the bus passengers had fled and were keeping the attacker inside.
A standoff ensued.
According to a police report Dalmyn read from in court, the accused carried the victim's severed head back and forth on the bus "taunting" officers. Armed with a knife and a pair of scissors, he was also observed "cutting body parts from the victim and eating those body parts," said Dalmyn.
Throughout the ordeal, the only thing police heard from Li was the statement: "I have to stay on the bus forever," Dalmyn told court.
After Li's arrest, officers discovered a plastic bag containing an ear, nose and part of a mouth in the pocket of the accused, she said.
In an interview with police after his arrest, Li declined to speak for the most part, said Dalmyn. On four occasions, however, he did "... in a very low tone of voice indicated that he is guilty."
Police are looking into information that Li may have spent as many as four days in a psychiatric facility prior to the attack, Dalmyn said.
Dalmyn also said that Li's behaviour in the months leading up to last week's incident was "bizarre," noting that Li took bus trips to several Canadian cities, and that there didn't seem to be any reason for the trips.
There was no publication ban in place on details revealed at the hearing.
Li is due back in court Sept. 8.
Throughout Tuesday's court appearance, the judge told Li to get a lawyer.
"This is a serious matter and you should have the opportunity to speak to a lawyer," Chartier said.
Randy Janis, a legal aid lawyer who was asked to represent Li, said the psychiatric assessment will determine whether Li is mentally fit to stand trial and whether he could be found criminally responsible for the allegations.
Technically, Janis is not Li's lawyer. The courts will not automatically assign legal counsel until after the psychiatric evaluation, Janis said.
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 in the automotive department at a Wal-Mart in the city.
Employees at the store where Li worked said he was a man of few words.
"He was just a good worker, and quiet," said one employee who didn't give her name while stocking shelves on Tuesday.
When conversation did arise, it was always work-based, said another employee, who worked in the automotive department.
"Hell, I didn't even know he had a wife," the employee said.
Over the weekend, McDonald's Canada denied previous reports that Li had worked at one of its restaurants in Edmonton, saying it had no record of Li's employment.
While the details of Li's past have slowly trickled out, support for McLean's family has poured in from around the world, with tens of thousand of people joining several Facebook groups in his honour. One group had more than 110,000 members alone as of Tuesday afternoon.
McLean, a travelling carnival worker who was on his way home to Winnipeg from Edmonton when he was attacked, has been remembered by his family as a free spirit who warmed the hearts of those around him with his infectious laugh.
The savage attack has prompted Greyhound to scrap an ad campaign that extolled the peaceful, worry-free upside of bus travel.
The punch line of the ad was "There's a reason you've never heard of 'bus rage'."
Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said the company felt the ad, launched last year, could be offensive and that it was no longer appropriate.
She said the campaign was officially over before the attack, but that some ads were still up.
Wambaugh said Greyhound wants them to be removed as quickly as possible.
 |
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 August 2008 )
|
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed