Greyhound beheader says voice of God told him to kill Timothy McLean

At the trial of Vince Weiguang Li, where he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity (does that mean he goes free if psychiatrists determine he’s no longer insane?), the full extent of his mutilation of Timothy McLean’s dead body have been told for the first time:

Three dozen passengers were aboard the bus as it traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway in western Canada. Witnesses said [Vince] Li attacked [Timothy] McLean unprovoked, stabbing him dozens of times.

As horrified passengers fled the bus, Li severed McLean’s head and displayed it to some of the passengers outside, witnesses said.

A police report said an officer at the scene saw the attacker hacking off pieces of the body and eating them.

The statement of facts read in court said Li attacked Tim McLean “for no apparent reason” and McLean fought to escape before he died.

The statement said Li tried numerous times to leave the bus, but he was locked inside, and he returned to McLean’s body and cut it up further. Li eventually escaped through a window and was arrested.

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. The victim’s ear, nose and tongue were found in Li’s pocket.

McLean’s family and friends, many wearing T-shirts with his picture, wept as the details were read.

Li did not understand his actions were wrong, psychiatrist Stanley Yaren told the court.

“A voice from God told him Mr. McLean was the force of evil and was about to execute him,” he said. Li believed he had to act quickly to protect himself.

The victim’s mother, Carol deDelley, said she wants the law changed so anyone found not criminally responsible for a crime still serves prison time.

Li, who came to Canada in 2001, pleaded at an earlier hearing in August for someone to “please kill me.”

Canada does not have the death penalty.

A court-ordered psychiatric evaluation had declared him fit to stand trial.

His former wife said Li, who became a Canadian citizen in 2005, took unexplained bus trips and sometimes rambled. He was hospitalized briefly but never sought medical attention.

Before he left on the bus trip, he left his wife a note: “I’m gone. Don’t look for me. I wish you were happy.”

VFR’s articles on this case can be found here.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 05, 2009 09:32 AM | Send