40 replies to this topic

[TxQuiltGirl]

http://www.canada.co...f7-1a3cb0c79532

BRANDON, Man. - A 40-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with a gruesome stabbing and decapitation aboard a Greyhound bus in Manitoba Wednesday.

RCMP said Friday that Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court in Portage la Prairie, Man., Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Meantime, friends are remembering the victim, 22-year-old Tim McLean, as a fun guy who loved tattoos and working out, according to tributes on two social networking websites.

A number of groups on the social networking website Facebook are paying tribute to McLean as the victim of a horrific stabbing and decapitation.

"He was a great person, he was kind, thoughtful, and he did not deserve this," Jossie Kehleer, the creator of one of the Facebook groups, wrote on the page. "I feel for his parents and sisters and his (little brother).

"All I can remember is good times with Tim, there was never one day it wasn't fun, or he made you smile or cry because you were laughing so hard. He made good memories ... but he's in all of our hearts, and he's not going anywhere."

On his Myspace profile, McLean, who called himself "Jokawild" described himself as someone who was into having a good time and "getting the most out of life."

He had three tattoos, and said he owned an iguana and loved loud music, motorcycles and working on his physique, which he called "rock hard."

RCMP have given few details about the baffling homicide.

Passengers described fleeing in terror from a Greyhound bus outside Portage la Prairie as a passenger suddenly stabbed the man sleeping next to him, decapitated him and waved the severed head at horrified witnesses standing outside

The unprovoked assault left 34 men, women and children stranded on the shoulder of the Trans-Canada Highway about 85 kilometres west of Winnipeg, watching while the bus driver, a passenger and the driver of a passing truck shut the crazed attacker inside the bus with the mangled victim.

"He didn't do anything to provoke the guy," said Garnet Caton, 26, a passenger on the bus, which originated in Edmonton and was bound for Winnipeg. "The guy just took a knife out and stabbed him, started stabbing him like crazy and cut his head off."

"Some people were puking, some people were crying, other people were in shock. . . . Everybody was running, screaming off the bus."

Caton said Li was only on the bus for a brief time, after boarding in western Manitoba.

Another passenger, Cody Olmstead, 21, told reporters he had smoked a cigarette with McLean earlier in the trip.

He said McLean boarded the bus in Edmonton and was going to Winnipeg.

Caton told a TV station the attacker had changed seats to sit next to his victim just before the killing.

He said Li seemed oblivious to others when the stabbing occurred, adding he was struck by how calm the man was.

"There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy," he said.

Caton said he and other passengers prevented the attacker from getting off the blood-soaked bus by threatening him with makeshift weapons - a hammer and a crowbar.

"We were telling him, 'Stay put, stay put, stay there, don't try to come out.' He tried to get the bus working and the bus driver disabled the bus somehow in the back. I'm not sure how he did it, and at that point, I think the police showed up," he said.

After the killing, the passengers were taken to Brandon to be interviewed by police and to stay overnight at a hotel there.

[brazen]

un real. SO and I were talking about this last night.

I wanna know why anyone didn't try and stop the guy....Odd at best.

[Fallon]

I wanna know why anyone didn't try and stop the guy....

Same reason people wouldn't help/check on a person who's lying on the floor of a public restroom. Just not their problem.

[Lighthouse84]

I read that earlier today.... Very disturbing....

[blackberry74]

I wouldn't have tried to stop it either...are you crazy? This fool just ups and starts stabbing somebody who's sleeping and you think it's a good idea to jump in so two can be sliced & diced instead of just one? No thanks. First reaction is self-preservation, not self-sacrifice.

Yet another reason not to fall asleep on public transportation.

[brazen]

I wanna know why anyone didn't try and stop the guy....

Same reason people wouldn't help/check on a person who's lying on the floor of a public restroom. Just not their problem.

Thats crappy IMO.

Those are the same bung holes, that are outraged, when they don't get help themselves in dire situations......ridiculous.

[TxQuiltGirl]

I read somewhere else that the guy was already dead before anyone realized what was going on. Apparently the attacker aimed for the throat.

This just makes me sick though ... I cannot imagine being on that bus. I suspect that people didn't intervene because they say the guy was cool as a cucumber and showed no emotion ... would YOU approach a guy who's wielding a rather large knife and has shown no emotion for the murder he's just committed? I suspect most people thought he was insane (no argument there) and wanted away from him.

[Nemeweh]

I read somewhere else that the guy was already dead before anyone realized what was going on. Apparently the attacker aimed for the throat.

This just makes me sick though ... I cannot imagine being on that bus. I suspect that people didn't intervene because they say the guy was cool as a cucumber and showed no emotion ... would YOU approach a guy who's wielding a rather large knife and has shown no emotion for the murder he's just committed? I suspect most people thought he was insane (no argument there) and wanted away from him.

Yup and keep in mind families travel by bus and what not. I mean, I'm always putting my kids before anyone else. That said... this is very sad and disturbing.

[tarbaby]

I hope he knew the guy somehow. Maybe they fought at the fair or something. I read that the victim worked at a fair or something. That would be a better ending then he just started killing someone he never even knew. Not that any of it is "better". But you know what I mean.

[dang]

There SERIOUSLY has to be some balance in this 'help think'. And from my experience, those screaming and shouting what they might do in a situation something like this usually are the first ones to either take flight or stand there with thier mouths wide open and become the next victim.


Sure, I'd like to say I'd help, but guess what...I can't...and nope, I CERTAINLY am NOT trying to get myself killed to be called a hero and get some key to a city...no thanks.

[Tigz]

how does one easily cut off someone's head with a knife? I mean...there is a lot of stuff to cut through.

[tarbaby]

a veeeeery sharp knife would do it.

[Islandgal]

how does one easily cut off someone's head with a knife? I mean...there is a lot of stuff to cut through.

he was able to stab him 40-50 times ..that's more than enough than it would take.. the size of the weapon is not described..a machete would have take 3-4 times..

[Islandgal]

There SERIOUSLY has to be some balance in this 'help think'. And from my experience, those screaming and shouting what they might do in a situation something like this usually are the first ones to either take flight or stand there with thier mouths wide open and become the next victim.


Sure, I'd like to say I'd help, but guess what...I can't...and nope, I CERTAINLY am NOT trying to get myself killed to be called a hero and get some key to a city...no thanks.

I wonder how many of the 'would-be helpers" have actually approached a mentally insane person or someone high/crazed on drugs...they tend to have super human strength, and it takes SO much more to subdue them..added to the reactive shock of the situation, other reports state the passengers did what they could, barricaded the person on the bus, until police arrived..I doubt the would have been able to save the victim

Edited by Kiowa, 01 August 2008 - 01:04 PM.

[dang]

There SERIOUSLY has to be some balance in this 'help think'. And from my experience, those screaming and shouting what they might do in a situation something like this usually are the first ones to either take flight or stand there with thier mouths wide open and become the next victim.


Sure, I'd like to say I'd help, but guess what...I can't...and nope, I CERTAINLY am NOT trying to get myself killed to be called a hero and get some key to a city...no thanks.

I wonder how many of the 'would-be helpers" have actually approached a mentally insane person or someone high/crazed on drugs...they tend to have super human strength, and it takes SO much more to subdue them

Yea, it's IMPOSSIBLE to fight a crackhead...shoot, even bullets won't stop them!

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying that there is never a time you might want to get involved with something, but I AM saying I'm not going to give a blanket statement about helping this that and the other...

That's what a phone is for...call the people that make it thier jobs to deal with that madness...

[TxQuiltGirl]

I hope he knew the guy somehow. Maybe they fought at the fair or something. I read that the victim worked at a fair or something. That would be a better ending then he just started killing someone he never even knew. Not that any of it is "better". But you know what I mean.

I dunno ... I read a couple of accounts ... one said that the two had been talking when the bus stopped and they were smoking cigarettes. The guy wasn't upset or anything ... and he hadn't been sitting next to the victim until just before this happened, when he changed seats.

When it comes to backing off someone with a weapon and maybe not going home to MY family, or helping a perfect stranger by pulling an attacker of them and maybe dying, I guess you can say I'm a bad person, because I'm going to choose going home to my family every time. What good am I to the people who matter to me the most if I'm dead because I chose to get involved in a fight that wasn't mine, when I wasn't armed and the other person was?



ETA: And I heard the weapon was the size of a butcher knife, though the account didn't specifically say it was a butcher knife. The whole bus was supposedly bloody though ...

Edited by TxQuiltGirl, 01 August 2008 - 01:07 PM.

[dang]

http://creditboards....s...t&p=3070663

Edited by dang, 01 August 2008 - 01:12 PM.

[TxQuiltGirl]

http://creditboards....s...t&p=3070663

Yep, I would do something ... I would call the cops. I would scream bloody murder. I would NOT approach someone with a weapon. Not happening. But to see someone lying there atf and do NOTHING? Hell no.

They aren't mutually exclusive. I won't step in front of a bullet or a knife, but I'll definitely make the call.

[dang]

I'm confused because in the past only making a call was considered insensitive...

[TxQuiltGirl]

I'm confused because in the past only making a call was considered insensitive...

Whatever. I'm not going to get into it with you over something so stupid. You gave it your best shot, I'm done.

Have a nice weekend.

[dang]

The hell?

[Lighthouse84]

I think it is easy for one to say what they would do in a situation like this. It is really impossible to know how you would react to such an event.

[Uncle Leo]

I think it is easy for one to say what they would do in a situation like this. It is really impossible to know how you would react to such an event.

Bingo!

[blackberry74]

I know exactly what I'd do...haul ass for the nearest safe place and THEN call the police.

[brazen]

Police identify Canadian bus attack suspect By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press Writer
26 minutes ago



TORONTO - A man who witnesses said stabbed and beheaded his seat mate on a Greyhound bus in Canada made his first court appearance Friday, while police offered no motive for the savage attack against a 22-year-old carnival worker.

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Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton, Alberta, has been charged with second-degree murder. He shuffled into the courtroom Friday in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with his head bowed and feet shackled.

He did not reply when the judge asked him whether he was going to get a lawyer, and only nodded slightly when asked whether he was exercising his right not to speak. He was not required to enter a plea.

The prosecutor asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said he wanted to give Li a chance to meet with his lawyer. Li's next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Li has no known criminal record.

Authorities have not released the victim's name but friends identified him as Tim McLean and said he was headed to Winnipeg after working with the carnival in Edmonton.

William Caron, 23, said McLean was quiet, though he liked to socialize with friends. He was small — about 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds — and tended to stay away from a fight, Caron said.

"All the time I've known Tim, he's never been the type of guy to get into a fight with. He always kept to himself when there's strangers around," Caron said.

Friends started a Facebook group called "R.I.P. Tim" after news of the attack.

"He was a great person, he was kind, thoughtful, and he did not deserve this. I feel for his parents and sisters and his lil bro," Jossiee Kehleer wrote on the site.

Passengers said the victim was stabbed dozens of times Wednesday night aboard the bus as it traveled a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 12 miles from Portage La Prairie.

Witnesses described a grisly killing that occurred as some passenger were napping and others watching "The Legend of Zorro" on television screens inside the bus. Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said there were 37 passengers on the bus at the time.

Shortly after passengers reboarded following a break, the suspect — for no apparent reason — stabbed the man sitting next to him several dozen times as others fled in horror, witnesses said. He then severed the man's head, displayed it and began hacking at the body.

Garnet Caton, who was sitting just one seat in front of them, said the suspect had been on the bus about an hour. He initially did not sit near the victim but changed seats after a rest stop. Caton said he did not hear the two speak to each other before the attack.

"We heard this bloodcurdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly," Caton said.

Caton watched in horror as blood sprayed across the back of the bus, he told The Globe & Mail daily.

"He had a Rambo, hunting knife covered in blood and he just kept going at the guy," Caton said. "He was very calmly killing the guy and the other guy was screaming bloody murder," he added.
"There was no rage or anything. He was just like a robot stabbing the guy," Caton said.

Caton said the driver stopped the bus when he became aware of the attack and passengers raced off. A short while later, Caton said he re-boarded along with the bus driver and a trucker who had stopped to see what was happening.

He said the suspect had the victim on the floor of the bus and "was cutting his head off" with a large hunting knife.

The attacker turned toward them and the three men quickly left the bus, blocking the door as the attacker slashed at them through an opening. Caton said the driver disabled the vehicle after the attacker tried to drive it away.

As the three guarded the door with a crow bar and a hammer, the attacker went back to the body and calmly came to the front of the bus to show off the head, Caton said.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day called the attack bizarre and extremely rare.

"The horrific nature of it is probably one-of-a-kind in Canadian history," Day said.

The guy was still alive.