Warning ⚠️ this case is very hard to read, even for myself. Proceed at your own risk.
The murder of Tim McLean, also known as the Greyhound Bus Beheading, occurred on July 30, 2008 in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.
Tim McLean was born in British Columbia, Canada on October 30, 1985. He grew up around the Winnipeg and Elie areas of Manitoba. Many family and friends described Tim as kind, sociable, and outgoing. At the time of his death, Tim was working as a carnival barker, a person who’s job is to attract customers to entertainment events, like the carnival or circus. Tim was only 22 years old at the time of his murder.
On July 30, 2008, Tim was headed back to his hometown of Winnipeg from Edmonton after working at a fair in Alberta. The bus departed at around 12:00 p.m. At about 6:55 p.m. the bus departed from a stop in Erickson, Manitoba, where another passenger, Vince Li, got on.
Vince Li was born on April 30, 1968 in Dandong, China, and immigrated to Canada on June 11, 2001 and became an official Canadian citizen in 2006. Eyewitnesses at the incident described Vince as, “ a tall man in his 40s, with a shaved head and sunglasses.” Vince Li had a history of mental health issues and had been hospitalized between 2003 and 2004 for an incident involving the Ontario Provincial Police. He was also married, but there is not much information about his relationship. It is said that a lot of his frustrations stemmed from his difficulty communicating and understand others. It was found that he apparently suffered from schizophrenia.
When Vince got on the bus, he originally sat at the front of the bus, but after a scheduled rest stop, he moved to the back of the bus and sat in the aisle seat right next to Tim McLean, who was sitting next to a window. Tim didn’t acknowledge Vince much when he sat next to him and continued to listen to music on his headphones and eventually fell asleep.
WARNING ⚠️ this gets VERY graphic
While Tim slept, Vince suddenly pulled out a huge knife and began stabbing Tim in the neck and back! A man sitting in the seats right in front of Tim and Vince alerted the bus driver and commanded everyone to get off the bus. The bus driver pulled over and all the passengers frantically ran out while Vince just proceeded to stab Tim. Tim obviously woke up and began screaming for help. The driver, passenger, and a trucker who had stopped to help attempted to save Tim, but Vince chased them away by trying to slash them too. The passenger said they went back one more time to try to save Tim, and that’s when they seen Vince cutting his head off and he knew there was unfortunately nothing they could do to save Tim. As the others ran to safety, Vince proceeded to decapitate Tim. The bus driver locked Vince inside of the bus, and he, the passenger, and the trucker all stayed by the bus door with weapons just in case Vince attempt to escape.
After he completely severed off Tim’s head, Vince walked towards the front of the bus with Tim’s head in his hand, looked them dead in the eyes, and dropped it on the ground. The passenger recalls this, saying that Vince seemed absolutely calm while everyone else freaked out. He then went back to Tim’s body and began cutting off pieces of his flesh and eating it. There were people crying and vomiting because of what they had just witnessed.
Vince then made several attempts to escape. First he attempted to start the bus to get away, but the bus driver engaged the emergency immobiliser system, preventing the bus from starting. The RCMP arrived at about 8:30 p.m. after receiving a report of the stabbing. The police engaged in a standoff with Vince at around 9:00 p.m. Heavily armed tactical units and special negotiators were called to the scene to help capture Vince. During this, Vince continued eating parts of Tim’s body and one officer recalled hearing him say, “I have to stay on the bus forever.”
Finally, at 1:30 a.m. on July 31, 2008, Vince attempted to make an escape by breaking through a window. Officers shot him with a taser and handcuffed him, placing him in the police car. Officers found parts of Tim’s body in plastic bags, while his ear, nose, and tongue were found in Vince’s pockets. Tim’s eyes and heart were never recovered, assumed to have been eaten by Vince.
At about 10:00 a.m. Greyhound representatives took the remaining passengers to get replacement clothing for what was left on the bus. They finally arrived in Winnipeg at around 3:30 p.m. that day, reuniting with family and friends after the traumatic event.
Vince Li’s trial began on March 3, 2009. Vince pleaded not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Vince’s psychiatrist said that he committed the murder because “God’s voice told him McLean was a force of evil and was about to execute him.” The judge accepted this statement and ruled that Vince was not criminally responsible for the murder! Vince was then sent to stay at Selkirk Mental Health Centre.
Following the brutal murder, many citizens started petitions demanding increased security on intercity buses. Greyhound also chose to remove multiple advertisements, which included the slogan, “There’s a reason you’ve never heard of bus rage.” Ironic. The organization PETA attempted to run an ad that compared Tim’s murder to the consumption of animals, which was obviously refused to be published. In February of 2011, two passengers sued Vince Li, Greyhound, the RCMP, and the Government of Canada for being exposed to the murder, but later dropped their lawsuits. Another passenger actually lost custody of her young daughter because she became so unstable after witnessing the horrible incident. One of the first officers at the scene, Corporal Ken Baker of the RCMP, committed suicide in July 2014, his family reporting that he suffered from PTSD after the incident.
The family of Tim McLean filed a lawsuit $150,000 against Greyhound, the Attorney General of Canada, and Vince Li.
Vince began getting psychiatric help, and on June 3, 2010, Vince was given supervised outdoor walks within the mental health facility he stayed at. These privileges have grown over the years. On May 30, 2011, CBC stated that Vince was getting better from the treatment and the doctor recommended he receive more privileges. On May 17, 2012, it was reported that Vince had been granted temporary passes that would allow him to visit the town of Selkirk, supervised by a nurse and peace officer.
These privileges grew more and more, and finally, the Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board ordered for Vince to be released. Vince Li now lives freely under a new name with no legal obligations or restrictions as of February 10, 2017.
This case honestly bothers me so much. The fact that a person can be attacked, decapitated, and partially eaten in front of so many witnesses and the killer be able to walk freely is absolutely ridiculous. Obviously Vince Li suffered from issues, but he should not be free whether he supposedly got better or not. A lot of people commit horrible crimes but are able to get off freely because they claim “mental instability”, but if that’s the case, they should be sent to get help, and not for just a few years, especially for something as horrific as beheading and cannibalizing someone. Murdering someone is not a mistake that can just be easily pushed aside. Tim McClean’s mother Carol de Delley stated that Vince Li’s discharge is a “great injustice.”In my honest opinion, Vince should have never been released. Tim McLean deserved better than what the justice system did for him. It saddens me how this case ended.
Resources-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Tim_McLean
TRUE CRIME REPORT 