True Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Part VII

The Killing of Tim McLean

On 30 July 2008, Tim McLean, a 22-year-old Canadian man, was stabbed, beheaded, and cannibalized while riding a Greyhound Canada bus along the Trans-Canada Highway, about 30 km (19 mi) west of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. On 5 March 2009, his killer, 40-year-old Vince Li, was found not criminally responsible for murder, after it was determined that he was schizophrenic, and remanded to a high-security mental health facility in Selkirk, Manitoba, where he was detained until his release on 8 May 2015.

Incident

On 30 July 2008, Tim McLean, a carnival barker, was returning home to Winnipeg after working at a fair in Edmonton. He departed Edmonton on board Greyhound bus 1170 to Winnipeg, via the Yellowhead Highway through Saskatchewan. He sat at the rear, one row ahead of the toilet. At 6:55 p.m., the bus departed from a stop in Erickson, Manitoba, with a new passenger, Vince Li. Li, described as a tall man in his 40s, with a shaved head and sunglasses, originally sat near the front of the bus, but moved to sit next to McLean following a scheduled rest stop in Brandon. McLean "barely acknowledged" Li, then fell asleep against the window pane, headphones covering his ears.

According to witnesses, McLean was sleeping with his headphones on when the man sitting next to him suddenly produced a large knife and began stabbing him in the neck and chest. After the attack began, the bus driver pulled to the side of the road, and he and all the other passengers fled the vehicle. The driver and two other men attempted to rescue McLean but were chased away by Li, who slashed at them from behind the locked bus doors. Li ultimately decapitated McLean and displayed his severed head to those standing outside the bus through a window, then returned to McLean's body and began severing other parts and consuming some of McLean's flesh. Witnesses stated that this continued over the next few hours.

At 8:30 p.m., the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Portage la Prairie received a report of a stabbing on a Greyhound bus west of the city. They arrived to find the suspect still on board the bus, being prevented from escaping by another passenger, the bus driver, and a truck driver who had provided a crowbar and a hammer as weapons. The other passengers were huddled at the roadside, some of them crying and vomiting. As the suspect had earlier attempted to escape by driving the bus away, the driver had engaged the emergency immobilizer system, rendering the vehicle inoperable.

By 9:00 p.m., police were in a standoff with the suspect and had summoned special negotiators and a heavily armed tactical unit. The suspect alternately paced the length of the bus and defiled the corpse. Police officers then observed Li eating parts of the body. During this time, RCMP officers reportedly heard Li say, "I have to stay on the bus forever."

On July 31, 2008, at 1:30 a.m., the suspect attempted to escape from the bus by breaking through a window. The RCMP arrested Li soon afterward. He was shot twice with a Taser, handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser. Parts of the victim's body, placed in plastic bags, were retrieved from the bus, while his ear, nose, and tongue were found in Li's pockets. The victim's eyes and a part of his heart were never recovered and, despite his vehement denial, are presumed to have been eaten by Li.

Meanwhile, the stranded passengers were transported from the scene to be interviewed at the Brandon RCMP detachment. On 31 July 2008, 10:00 a.m., Greyhound representatives took the other passengers to a local store to replace their clothes, which remained on the bus. They arrived in Winnipeg at 3:30 p.m. that day, to be reunited with family members and friends.

Witness Garnet Caton said the attacker seemed oblivious to others when the stabbing occurred, adding he was struck by Li's calm demeanor. "There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy," he said.