The man accused of beheading his fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus was heard pleading "please kill me" as he was asked by the judge if he wanted a lawyer assigned to him.
Vince Weiguang Li is accused murder after allegedly stabbing a man 50 to 60 times, and then decapitating him with a large knife on a Greyhound bus. There is also an allegation that he may have eaten his victim's flesh.
The story of 22-year-old Tim McLean's death was covered on DigitalJournal.com by
KJ (here) and
Cynthia (here).
Li, 40, is accused of second degree murder and has been ordered by the Canadian court in Manitoba to undergo psychiatric tests.
During court proceedings yesterday, the judge asked Li whether he wanted a lawyer. In response, he was overheard by reporters and court officials as saying "please kill me."
The prosecutor, Joyce Dalmyn, told the courts about the gruesome murder details and requested the judge issue a psychiatric evaluation of the accused.
Li immigrated to Canada from China four years ago. His pastor Tom Castor hired him after he immigrated. Castor was shocked to hear the news about McLean's death, saying Li never showed any sign of anger or emotional problems at work.
Tom Castor told
AP:
"He seemed like a person who was happy to have a job, was committed to doing it well and didn't stand out in any way (in terms of) having anger issues or having any other issues."
Church officials also checked Li's records but didn't find any prior arrests or charges. As on DigitalJournal.com citizen journalist,
Nikki W., has said a number of times, attackers usually like to keep quiet and fly under the radar before blowing up, and investigators need more than a criminal background check to know a person.
Fred Shane, a Manitoba forensic psychiatrist, told Reuters that if the psychiatric evaluation shows that Li was mentally ill and "...did not understand what he was doing, then the criminal charges may not stand up."
The judge ordered Li be sent for psychiatric evaluation before his next scheduled court appearance on Sept. 8.
Greyhound has suffered some damage from this incident even though it is no fault of theirs. However, the company has been using the following slogan for the past year or so:
"There's a reason you've never heard of bus rage."
The company is desperately trying to remove the banners displaying this slogan from billboards and their offices across Canada.
