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I have to stay on the bus forever.
Li

Vincent Weiguang "Vince" Li is a Chinese-Canadian man who, on July 30, 2008, brutally killed and cannibalized a 22-year old Canadian man Timothy Richard "Tim" McLean, Jr.. After being apprehended following a 1-day stand-off, Li was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent six years in a mental hospital before being released in 2015.

Background[]

Li was born on April 30, 1968 in Dandong, China. Little is known about his early life, but he did graduate from the Wuhan Institute of Technology and acquired a job as a computer software engineer. He moved to Canada in 2001 and obtained legal Canadian citizenship in 2006. Li was institutionalized sometime before gaining his citizenship after being found by officers "following the sun", something he claimed God told him to do. Li at some point married a woman named Anna and became a menial worker at Grant Memorial Church, working there for six months despite the language barrier between him and others. He quit his job in 2006 and became a forklift operator. Li then moved to Edmonton without his wife (who later joined him) and he acquired several other jobs. Weeks before the attack, he was fired from his job at Walmart. By all accounts, Li was described as normal.

Killing and Capture[]

On July 29, 2008, Li boarded a bus heading for Winnipeg and arrived in Erickson. There, he spent the night on a bench outside a grocery store. The very next morning, Li sold his laptop to a boy. Tim McLean, who was returning home from work, boarded a Greyhound bus. Li also boarded the bus a short time later. After sitting next to McLean (who fell asleep and barely acknowledged him), Li suddenly withdrew a knife and stabbed McLean to death while numerous passengers looked on in horror. Two of them and the driver attempted to save McLean, but Li chased them away with the knife. He proceeded to dismember, decapitate, and cannibalize McLean's body while everyone else fled the bus and police arrived. After a day-long stand-off, Li finally attempted to escape the bus through a window, but was tasered and arrested. The police recovered most of McLean's remains, some of which were later found in Li's pockets. A witness said that Li showed no sign of rage or any other emotion throughout the entire attack, with his actions being "robotic" in nature and that he seemed oblivious to the presence of others.

Trial, Institutionalization, and Release[]

Li's trial began on March 3, 2009. Li pleaded the insanity defense, with his psychiatrist claiming that God told him McLean was evil. Li was ultimately deemed not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. Throughout the trial, Li only asked to be killed several times. While in the hospital, Li was sued by several of the bus's passengers and that had been present during the attack, as well as McLean's family members. After six years, Li was released in 2015. He legally changed his name to Will Baker and currently lives free. He has still been described as psychotic, but is on medication. One of the officers who responded to the attack suffered from PTSD and later committed suicide.

Modus Operandi[]

Since Li only killed one victim, the term "M.O" is somewhat misused. When he killed Tim McLean, he stabbed him in the neck and chest with a large hunting knife. He then decapitated him and proceeded to mutilate and cannibalize his body, eating his eyes and part of his heart. He also cut off his ear, nose, and tongue. Li later attempted to drive the bus away (but was halted since the driver used the bus's emergency immobilizer system) and then tried to climb out of a window after a day-long stand-off.

Known Victims[]

  • July 30, 2008: The Greyhound Bus attack
    • Timothy Richard Mclean, Jr. (stabbed to death, decapitated, mutilated, and cannibalized post-mortem)
    • The unnamed bus driver (attempted; slashed at)
    • Two unnamed passengers (attempted; slashed at)

On Criminal Minds[]

Sources[]

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