[Nikitka]

CTV News Canada

Victim of beheading on bus was easy-going: friend







Updated Fri. Aug. 1 2008 6:26 AM ET
The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG -- A quiet, easy-going carnival worker who was heading home to Winnipeg has been identified as the victim of an unthinkably horrific and random slaying on a Greyhound bus.

Friends said Tim McLean, 22, was the young man who was stabbed repeatedly and then decapitated by a man sitting next to him, who then carved up his body in front of terrified passengers.

William Caron, 23, of Winnipeg, said that contrary to some reports, McLean was not asleep when the attack happened.

"I was talking to one of his ex-girlfriends not too long ago, and she was texting him the whole way back from Edmonton until 10 minutes before this accident happens," Caron told The Canadian Press.

"He was just sitting there texting her, listening to music on his cellphone."
Manitoba RCMP had few answers Thursday as to what prompted the attack.

Police would only say that a victim was stabbed on the bus that had left Edmonton for Winnipeg, but passengers described a gruesome, unprovoked attack that left them shaken.

"It's not something that happens regularly on a bus," said Staff Sgt. Steve Colwell. "You're sitting there enjoying your trip and then all of a sudden somebody gets stabbed."

Passengers gave a much more graphic account of events.

"We heard this blood-curdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly, like 40 or 50 times," Garnet Caton said from a hotel in Brandon, Man., where he and other passengers had been taken to rest.

"There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy."
Caton said the bus stopped immediately, just west of Portage La Prairie on Wednesday night, and everyone scrambled to get out while the attacker started methodically carving up the victim's body, not paying attention to anyone else.

There have been several media reports that the man was seen to consume some of the victim's flesh.

Caton and the driver shut the bus door from the outside while they waited for police to arrive.

"We put our bodies up against the door, waiting for him to come out ... and he went back and brought the head to the front and pretty much displayed it ... and dropped it on the ground in front of us," Caton said.
"All very calmly. He was wearing sunglasses. It was no big deal to him."
Fellow passenger Cody Olmstead from Kentville, N.S., also recalled the chilling scene.

"The guy came to the front of the door with buddy's head in his hands, decapitated. He dropped the head and went back and started cutting the body back up," Olmstead said.

When police arrived a few minutes later, passengers were taken away and the officers tried to get the attacker to surrender.

The man, described as a 40-year-old from outside the province, eventually tried to flee by breaking a bus window and jumping out, Colwell said.
"He was immediately subdued and arrested without incident."
Both Olmstead and Caton said the attacker and McLean appeared not to know each other.

They said the attacker boarded the bus in Brandon on Wednesday night.

McLean had been on the bus since it left Edmonton.

A Facebook website called "R.I.P. Tim" quickly sprang up.

"I can't believe this is happening," wrote Leah Dryburgh of Winnipeg. "Tim, you were the best guy ever. You didn't deserve this at all."

Caron said he was one of McLean's best friends, having known each other since they were in Grade 7.

"I knew he was coming back ... from the (exhibition)," said Caron, who said his buddy worked a carnival booth at fairs around western Canada.

"My brother was supposed to go meet him at the bus depot and he never showed up."

Caron said his three children all loved McLean, who he described as a quiet, easy-going guy.

"I was completely shocked cuz Tim has never been a roughhousing guy," he said. "He's always been a quiet guy, just kind of socialized with his buddies and that was it."

He said his friend was small, around five-foot-four and weighing maybe 130 pounds.

"From what I hear, this other guy is three times his size," 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."

Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the full weight of the law must be brought to bear on the perpetrator.

"We want to make sure the process is followed as aggressively as possible, the full legal process ...." Day said from Levis, Que., where Conservative MPs are gathered for a summer planning session.

"This particular incident, as horrific as it is, is obviously extremely rare. Certainly the horrific nature of it is probably one-of-a-kind in Canadian history."

Greyhound called the event tragic but isolated.

A company spokeswoman said bus travel is the safest mode of transportation, despite the fact bus stations do not have metal detectors and other security measures used at airports.

"Due to the rural nature of our network, airport-type security is not practical. It's a very different type of system," Abby Wambaugh said from Greyhound's corporate offices in Texas.

Passengers had no explanation either as to what might have prompted the attack. The suspect had been on the bus for only about an hour and didn't even sit near McLean at first.

"He sat in the front at first, everything was normal," Caton said.

"We went to the next stop and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting.

"He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal. About a half an hour later, we heard this blood-curdling scream."

RCMP had not yet talked to the suspect, Colwell said.
</FONT />

[Qutlsilh]

[BEKREUNSEPBERw]

Makes you wish you were sitting behind him with a tire iron.

[erubresen]

Makes you wish you weren't sleeping at all.

[comprar-espana]

Psycho.

[beriarele]

scumonkey summed up my response to this article:

[Aqgkvwzm]

Bus beheading suspect in court


Vince Weiguang Li has been charged
with second-degree murder.

BBC NEWS
August 1, 2008

A man suspected of beheading a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Canada has appeared in court in Manitoba charged with the killing.

Vince Weiguang Li, 40, is accused of second-degree murder. The motive for the attack is not known.

Mr Li said nothing in court but nodded when asked if he was exercising his right to remain silent.

Police have not yet formally identified the victim but friends have named him as 22-year old Tim McLean.

Mr Li, of Edmonton, Alberta, remained silent throughout the hearing in Portage la Prairie.

Police have offered no motive for the attack and prosecutors have requested a psychiatric assessment.

Mr Li will appear in court again on Tuesday after having an opportunity to speak to a lawyer.

Tributes

Eyewitnesses on board the bus, which was travelling through a desolate stretch of Canada's vast prairies, said the attacker stabbed the person sitting next to him 50 or 60 times.

He then severed his head with a large knife, reportedly brandishing the head to terrified passengers.

Friends of Mr McLean have paid tribute to him.

William Caron, whose brother was due to meet Mr McLean from the bus, told the Canadian Press that he had always tried to avoid trouble.

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

One friend told broadcaster CBC that Mr McLean was loved by many and called him a "ladies man".

In an e-mail to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a friend of Mr McLean, Jossie Kehler, told of her sadness.

"He has a lot of friends and they are all very upset he's gone, and they would like to say they miss him and he will always be in their hearts," she wrote.

Newly-established Facebook groups and Mr McLean's Myspace page have filled with messages of support for the victim's family after news of the horrific killing.

On Facebook, news of the killing led to hundreds of friends and well-wishers joining a tribute group.

© BBC MMVIII

[oronozopiy]

This story contains graphic details

Suspect in bus killing was a newspaper delivery man: report

Slain man 'will always be in their hearts,' friends say


(William Caron/Canadian Press)
Tim McLean, seen in an undated handout photo,
with the daughter of his friend William Caron.

CBC News
Friday, August 1, 2008 | 5:41 PM MT

The man accused of stabbing a young Winnipeg man aboard a Greyhound bus delivered newspapers for several Edmonton publications, according to a media report.

Vince Weiguang Li, 40, worked for a contractor delivering the Edmonton Journal, the National Post and the Edmonton Sun, according to an article published on the Journal's website Friday afternoon.

After delivering papers Monday morning, Li "fell off the face of the earth," according to his employer, Vincent Augert, who was quoted in the article.

Li's delivery supervisor described him as a "nice guy," Augert said. The Edmonton man also worked at a McDonald's restaurant, according to Augert.

RCMP announced Friday morning that they had charged Li with second-degree murder. Police said he has no previous criminal record.

Police have not confirmed the identity of the man stabbed to death, and then beheaded according to witnesses, aboard a bus late Wednesday, but court documents name him as Timothy McLean. Friends have also confirmed 22-year-old McLean was the victim, describing him as bubbly and well-loved.


(Rob Swystun/Portage la Prairie Daily
Graphic/Canadian Press)
Vince Weiguang Li leaves provincial court
in Portage la Prairie, Man., on Friday.
He remained silent during his appearance
in court.

Augert said he last spoke to Li three weeks ago, at which time the man said he had a job interview in Winnipeg. When he called Li's cellphone on Friday, he spoke with a woman who said she was Li's wife, Augert said.

"She says to me that 'I don't know where he is. He had to leave town. It was an emergency,' " Augert told the Journal.

Li appeared for a hearing Friday at the Manitoba provincial court in Portage la Prairie around 10 a.m. CT without a lawyer and refused to speak to anyone.

He shuffled into the courthouse under the weight of heavy leg shackles, with his eyes focused on the floor. His right hand was heavily bandaged and there was visible bruising on his face.

The judge asked him twice whether he had a lawyer, but the accused just stared at the ground. When the judge asked whether Li was exercising his right to remain silent, he nodded his head.

The Crown asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said the accused must see legal aid about getting a lawyer before proceeding further. Li was remanded into custody until his next appearance on Tuesday.

"It's early and I think the judge just wants to respect his rights to … speak to counsel, and he's giving him that opportunity," Crown prosecutor Larry Hodgson said outside court. "I don't think it will be very long that they'll allow him to do that."

Hodgson said if Li doesn't get his own lawyer, the court could appoint one or the case could proceed anyway.

Second-degree murder, under the Criminal Code, is generally unpremeditated murder. First-degree murder refers to a killing that is planned and deliberate, but also when death is caused by sexual assault, kidnapping, forcible confinement or hijacking an airplane.

McLean 'missed dearly'

In an e-mail to CBC News, friend Jossie Kehler wrote that McLean was loved by everyone, had a bubbly personality and was a ladies' man.

"He has a lot of friends and they all are very upset he's gone, and they would like to say they miss him and he will always be in their hearts," she wrote.

"People say no one's perfect, but Tim, he was," she wrote. "He did nothing bad to anyone."


Tim McLean, shown in a photograph from
his MySpace page, was described by friends
as a bubbly person loved by everyone.

Thousands of Facebook users flocked Friday to a tribute group titled 'RIP Tim McLean' set up overnight to send their condolences to family and friends as well as express their shock at the grisly story that made international headlines.

"You are loved and you will be missed dearly!" the site description read.
Friends say McLean had taken a job with the Red River Exhibition and then went to work in Edmonton, but had decided to return home.

On McLean's MySpace page, under the name JoKAwiLd, he describes himself as five-foot-five, weighing about 125 pounds.

Witnesses initially described the attacker as a hulking man over six feet tall who appeared to weigh more than 200 pounds — but in court on Friday, Li appeared to be about five-foot-eight or -nine, with a stocky build.

Father trying to reach wife

McLean's father, Tim McLean Sr., told CBC News on Thursday night that he was in the process of trying to get confirmation from the police that his son was, in fact, the victim.

He said he was also trying to reach his wife, who is on an Alaskan cruise until next week.

The father said his son had sent him a text message around 7:30 p.m. as the bus was leaving Brandon, the last leg of its journey, to ask whether he could come home for the night.

McLean Sr. told his son that of course he could come home. That was the last contact they had.


(CBC)
Police officers spent Thursday examining the
Greyhound bus where the attack took place.

The RCMP would not confirm reports the victim was beheaded, saying only that a stabbing took place around 8:30 p.m. CT on an eastbound Greyhound bus on the Trans-Canada Highway about 20 kilometres west of Portage la Prairie.

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, and police were waiting for the results before deciding, with input from the family, whether to make the victim's name public.

"The RCMP are mindful of the range of emotions being experienced by the family of the deceased over the loss of their loved one in such a horrific incident. Our thoughts are with them," the RCMP said in a statement.

Victim sleeping when attack began

Witnesses said the victim got on the bus in Edmonton, while his attacker came aboard in Brandon and sat away from the victim toward the front of the bus, they said. After a short cigarette break, however, the attacker moved his belongings and chose a seat beside the young man.

Garnet Caton, who was sitting in the seat in front of the victim, said the young man was sleeping with his headphones on when he was attacked.

Caton said he heard a "blood-curdling scream" and turned around to see the attacker holding a large hunting knife and repeatedly stabbing the victim.

"He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times," said Caton, who jumped out of his seat when he realized what was happening and began ushering passengers to the front of the bus.

Caton, the driver and a trucker who had stopped at the scene later boarded the vehicle to see whether the victim was still alive. At that point, Caton said, the suspect was beheading the victim.

The attacker ran at them, Caton said, and they ran out of the bus, holding the door shut as he tried to slash at the trio. When the attacker tried to drive the bus away, the driver disabled the vehicle, Caton said.

RCMP crisis negotiators communicated with the suspect for several hours while he was on the bus. Around 1:30 a.m., he attempted to jump from a bus window and was subdued and arrested, RCMP said.

Copyright © CBC 2008

[N9u9ie4p]

I'm horrified. I don't want my family or friends riding Greyhound anymore! No metal detectors? That is just crazy! How hard would it be to at least have a hand held detector at stations, no matter how rural. This is 2008. Anything is better than nothing.

[lE3l6Lgn]

What a horrible story. I am with NH on the tire iron thing. Sorry I know I should be more understanding ant all, but i cannot help it.

[elektikaka]

More "understanding" ^ of who and what?

[mtvlover571]

I'm horrified. I don't want my family or friends riding Greyhound anymore! No metal detectors? That is just crazy! How hard would it be to at least have a hand held detector at stations, no matter how rural. This is 2008. Anything is better than nothing.

I've taken the Greyhound several times, once cross-country, even the small stations in the middle of nowhere have too many people to check everyone(thoroughly). It's a hectic situation that would slow down an already complicated process.

[boxcigsnick]

The more I hear about this, the more I wonder.

What happened with this guy? What pushed him over the edge?

Was this pre-meditated? Did they know each other? Did he plan this on a random person? Drugs? Cults? Family? Mental Illness?

This is more than just "man stabs another"........

[Nutpoode]

Disappear with no notice to boss or adquaintances from one's everyday life. Travel with a big F***ing Knife.

Seems that would qualify as a "concealed weapon" (unless worn within a sheath hanging from his belt).

Something was contemplated, whether defensive or offensive who knows.

[prmwsinfo]

He is said to be a conscientious employee.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a80_1217626659

[gechaheritt]

One minute you are texting and listening to music, the next your head is on a bus floor, oh how life can be so unpredictable sometimes.

[MeatteCen]

One minute you are texting and listening to music, the next your head is on a bus floor, oh how life can be so unpredictable sometimes.

Actually, its more like, one moment you're asleep, another your experiencing the most horrific pain of your life as some monster stabs you over and over again, and then saws your head off.

[BrodiKennedy]

One minute you are texting and listening to music, the next your head is on a bus floor, oh how life can be so unpredictable sometimes.

I don't know why, but this post made me bust out laughing.

[mXr8icOB]

The dangers of texting while being beheaded?

[AALee]

^ doctors advice against it ((