Chinese Canadian Beheading Suspect Asks to Be Killed
man accused of stabbing and beheading another passenger on a Greyhound bus in Canada pleaded Tuesday in court for someone to "please kill me," and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn, who argued for the evaluation, revealed new details about the attack Wednesday night. She said Vince Weiguang Li had a plastic bag containing his victim's ear, nose and part of a mouth in his pocket when officers arrested him. The only response officers received from him was: "'I have to stay on the bus forever,'" Dalmyn said.
In an interview with police after his arrest, Li declined to speak for the most part, said Dalmyn. On four occasions, however, he did indicate in a low voice that he is guilty, she said.
Li, who immigrated to Canada from China in 2004, is charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of 22-year-old carnival worker Tim McLean — an attack which witnesses aboard the bus said appeared to be unprovoked. He has yet to enter a plea.
Li was scheduled to appear Tuesday to determine whether he should undergo psychiatric testing, but the judge in Portage La Prairie adjourned the hearing for a short recess to allow a legal aid attorney to confer with him.
Since his arrest, Li has declined to speak to prosecutors and his court-appointed attorney.
When asked again by the judge after the recess if he wanted a lawyer, Li shook his head and then quietly said "please kill me."
Dalmyn said many heard the plea.
"There were some people in the courtroom that were taken aback by it," Dalmyn told The Associated Press. "Those were the only words I heard him utter in the courtroom."
Dalmyn said Li appeared to understand what the judge was asking him.
"He shook his head in response to questions from the judge. Some shakes of his appeared to be in the affirmative. Some of them appeared to be in the negative," Dalmyn said.
He is due back in court Sept. 8.
Thirty-seven passengers were aboard the Greyhound from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, as it traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 12 miles from Portage La Prairie. Some were napping and others watching the movie "The Legend of Zorro" on bus television screens when Li attacked McLean, allegedly stabbing him dozens of times.
As horrified passengers fled the bus, Li severed McLean's head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said.
A police officer at the scene reported seeing the attacker hacking off pieces of the victim's body and eating them, according to a police tape leaked on the Internet.
A church pastor, Tom Castor, who helped hire Li soon after he immigrated in 2004 with his wife, Anna, said the man never showed any sign of anger or emotional problems when he worked there as a custodian. Church officials said they vetted Li by contacting references listed on his application and running a criminal record check.
More than 105,000 people have joined an online memorial group for McLean.
8/5/2008 8:01 PM
By ROB GILLIES
Associated Press Writer
TORONTO
Vince Weiguang Li, accused of stabbing, beheading and cannibalizing another man on a Greyhound bus in Canada ,is brought to a Portage La Prairie court Tuesday, August 5, 2008.
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press,John Woods)
man accused of stabbing and beheading another passenger on a Greyhound bus in Canada pleaded Tuesday in court for someone to "please kill me," and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
