Saturday, August 2, 2008

Canadian Man, Tim McLean, Beheaded on a Greyhound Bus

Tim McLean, 22, from his Facebook page.


Late in the evening on Wednesday, July 30th, approximately three dozen passengers watched, screaming in horror as Vince Weiguang Li, 40, suddenly started stabbing a sleeping man beside him 40 to 60 times, decapitating him then waiving the head at fellow bus travelers. After the driver pulled over, the bus driver, a passenger and the driver of a truck trapped Li inside the bus as passengers fled the bloody scene. At this time LE does not believe the victim, Tim McLean, 22 and his assailant knew each other. The random attack appeared to be unprovoked according to several witnesses.

The Greyhound bus had made it's last stop in Brandon, Manitoba on a long journey that originated in Edmonton, Alberta and headed for Winnipeg. The attack occurred approximately 12 miles west of Portage La Prairie, on a desolate plains stretch of the Trans Canada Highway. Men, women and children who witnessed the attack were in shock, crying, some becoming physically ill as they waited by the roadside for several hours while police tried to get Li to exit the bus. He was finally apprehended at 1:28 am after Li tried to break out of a bus window.

From Canada.com:
"He didn't do anything to provoke the guy. The guy just took a knife out and stabbed him, started stabbing him like crazy and cut his head off," said Garnet Caton, 26, a passenger on the Edmonton-to- Winnipeg bus.
From BBC:
"He calmly walks up to the front [of the bus] with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stares at us and drops the head right in front of us," Mr Caton said.

"There was no rage in him... It was just like he was a robot or something," he added.

The attack appeared to be unprovoked and it is thought the killer did not know his victim.

The passengers, many of whom were badly shaken by what they witnessed, were taken to a hotel in Brandon, Manitoba, and were given crisis counselling.

Canton also indicated that right before the attack, Li had just changed seats to sit next to his victim. Tim McLean, who had boarded the bus in Edmonton, was a summer carnival worker for the past three years at Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition.

On Friday, a bruised and bandaged Li appeared in court in Portage La Prairie, where he was charged with second degree murder. Li said few words and nodded his head when Judge Rocky Pollack asked him if he was exercising his right not to speak. Pollack ordered a psychological evaluation of Li pending Li having the opportunity to speak to an attorney. Li worked for a MacDonald's in Edmonton as well as delivering newspapers for a distribution firm. His delivery employer, Vincent Augert said,

"I believe he was having some marital problems." When he met with Li to hire him back as a newspaper distributor, he said, "you could almost read between the lines" from the way Li was talking "that there was something not right there."

Just as the bus was leaving Brandon, McLean sent a text message to his father, asking if he could come home for a night, Tim McLean, Sr., told CBS news. That was his last communication with his son. Friends of McLean bonded together to grieve for a man described as a "sweet man," a "ladies man," a "bright and bubbly guy who who was always out for fun." One friend, who traveled with him had nicknamed McLean "Tiny Tim."

I can't imagine the terror that these passengers went through, having to witness this horrific event. Please leave a condolence message for the family of Tim McLean, here, who's bright life ended so tragically.

Canada.com

Other Greyhound Bus Incidents

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

My most sincere condolences, thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of all involved.

Http://blog.psychic-wisdom.net

Anonymous said...

So sorry for Tim McLean, my heart and prayers goes out to him, family and friends.

ME

mel said...

I am so sick of hearing people say why didn't anyone help Tim. Have you ever heard of shock, fear for your own life and your kids, etc.
Get a life and hopefully you won't ever be in that position because I'm sure you wouldn't help either.
My heart goes out to Tim and his friends and family. As for the killer, he needs to have the same thing happen to him.

Anonymous said...

people are saying that others should have helped Tim????
come on people!! -- after one or two stabbings he was already gone. someone coming to the rescue would have just put themselves into great danger.
RIP Tim -- how horrifically sad!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't know how anyone could help but wonder what happened to the rest of the passengers while a fellow passenger is being stabbed to death? Mel is sick of hearing about it & said to get a life to those of us wondering. No Mel, it sounds like you wouldn't help. Put yourself in Tim and his family's shoes--& attempting to save a life might have saved this family. Imagine Mel being stabbed to death while 3 dozen people do NOTHING. It's not as if you're stranded on a dark alley Mel...I can't even imagine not trying to do something, no matter how minor. This is a really sad comment on our selfish, me first mentality. It really disgusts me and keeps me awake at night.

Anonymous said...

Shame on hose passengers who may have been physically able to help - but didn't!

Three dozen passengers watched and exited the bus while Li continued to stab Mclean. In fact, I am surprised that not even ONE person attempted to intervene!

Some things are just worth risking your own life for... I wonder how many regret not helping now?!

Anonymous said...

There is no way that you would help. So don't pretend to be the admirable one here. The man had a hunting knife, and those things can be as large as 12 inches long. after the second or third stab, Tim was gone. It's not like those people just sat there and watched,
they ran off of the bus, fearing for their own lives. If someone tried to help, they likely would've died too. Its tragic, and horrible, but what if the people sitting in the seats accross from Tim were a mother and a young child? Would you want that mother to risk her life for someone who was already to far gone, while her child is defenseless? There's a world of possibilities, and "if's" and "but's" but you cant say that if someone was stabbing the person next to you, that you would stand up, and put throw yourself into the face of certain death. It's natural to value your own life over someone else's, thats just the way the human mind is. The first reaction to something like that, is to get out of the way of danger. What is really disgusting is that you have no sympathy for these people. Along with Tims family, these people will be traumatized for life. The children on the bus will likely have issues later on, because of the horrible thing's they've witnessed. It's incredibly arrogant and sickening for you to just look down on these people.