Police said McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, and the victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Li's pocket.Ī psychiatrist called by the prosecution Wednesday testified that Li cut up McLean's body because he believed that he would come back to life and take revenge. Li then apologized and pleaded with police to kill him. Finding himself locked inside the bus, Li finally escaped through a window and was arrested. Witnesses said Li attacked McLean unprovoked as their bus traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway.Īn agreed statement of facts between the prosecution and defense detailed how passengers stood outside the bus as Li stabbed McLean dozens of times and beheaded and mutilated his body. Li has admitted he killed McLean but pleaded not guilty. That Li killed the 22-year-old carnival worker was never in question at the trial. Li's trial barely lasted two days and only heard from two witnesses, both psychiatrists, who testified he is mentally ill. He will be institutionalized without a criminal record and will be reassessed every year by a mental health review board to determine if he is fit for release into the community.ĭeDelley said a yearly hearing is ridiculous, and that Li should be locked up for the rest of his life. He believed he was acting in self-defense," Scurfield said.īoth the prosecution and the defense argued Li can't be held responsible because Li was suffering from schizophrenia and believed God wanted him to kill McLean because the young man was a force of evil. "He did not appreciate the actions he committed were morally wrong. Justice John Scurfield said Li's attack was "grotesque" and "barbaric" but "strongly suggestive of a mental disorder." The judge said Li should not be held criminally accountable for stabbing McLean dozens of times last July and dismembering his body while horrified passengers fled. "There was nobody else on that bus holding a knife, slicing up my child." "A crime was still committed here, a murder still occurred," said Carol deDelley, McLean's mother. The family of victim Tim McLean dismissed the trial as a "rubber stamp" that allows Li to get away with murder. The decision means Chinese immigrant Vince Li will be treated in a mental institution instead of going to prison. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 1999 that a review board must order an absolute discharge if a person doesn’t pose a significant threat to public safety.WINNIPEG, Manitoba - A Canadian judge ruled Thursday that a man accused of beheading and cannibalizing a fellow Greyhound bus passenger is not criminally responsible due to mental illness. He severed McLean’s head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said. As passengers fled the bus, Baker continued stabbing and mutilating the body before he was arrested. He repeatedly stabbed McLean while the young man fought for his life. Baker emigrated to Canada from China in 2001 and became a Canadian citizen four yearsīaker sat next to the 22-year-old McLean on the bus after the young man smiled at him and asked how he was doing.īaker said he heard the voice of God telling him to kill the young carnival worker or “die immediately.” He is on the waiting list for a post-secondary training program and plans on establishing a career in the city. Waldman said Baker plans to visit his native China if released but would live in Winnipeg for the next two to three years. Baker poses a significant threat to the safety of the public.” In a written decision, the review board said it “is of the opinion that the weight of evidence does not substantiate that Mr. Waldman testified that Baker knows it’s the medication that keeps his illness at bay. Baker’s doctor, Jeffrey Waldman, told the board earlier this week that he is confident Baker will remain on his medication and will continue to work with his treatment team if released.
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