Monday, March 9, 2009

Greyhound bus murderer avoids jail time

Canwest News Service, March 4, 2009

Full story here

WINNIPEG - The man who beheaded a passenger on a Greyhound bus in one of the most gruesome crimes in Canadian history has been found not guilty of second-degree murder.
Queen's Bench Justice John Scurfield ruled Thursday morning that Vincent Li was not criminally responsible for his nightmarish actions of July 30, 2008, when he killed 22-year-old Tim McLean near Portage la Prairie, Man.

Details of the crime - which made news around the globe - emerged this week at a trial marked by tight security and fears that vigilantes might try to harm the 40-year-old Li.

Li was hearing voices in his head - which he believed came from God - telling him to eliminate ``the force of evil'' by attacking the sleeping McLean, psychiatrists said.

Li stabbed the carnival worker to death, then beheaded and cannibalized the body.