A man who witnesses said stabbed and beheaded his seat mate on a Greyhound bus in Canada made his first court appearance on Friday, while police offered no motive for the savage attack against a 22-year-old carnival worker.
Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton, Alberta, was charged with second-degree murder, an indication police don’t think the attack was premeditated. He shuffled into the courtroom on Friday in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with his head bowed and feet shackled.
Li, whose face was bruised and one hand bandaged, did not reply when the judge asked him whether he was going to get a lawyer, and only nodded slightly when asked whether he was exercising his right not to speak. He was not required to enter a plea.
The prosecutor asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said he wanted to give Li a chance to meet his lawyer. Li’s next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Li, who worked as a newspaper carrier in Edmonton, has no known criminal record.
Li’s employer, Vincent Augert, told the Edmonton Journal that Li had delivered papers until Monday. He said that Li told him recently that he had a job interview in Winnipeg.
“I just had shivers,” Augert told reporters. “And I still do.”
“I cannot believe this. He’s a nice guy,” he said.
Authorities have not released the victim’s name but friends identified him as Tim McLean and said he was headed to Winnipeg after working with the carnival in Edmonton.
William Caron, 23, said McLean was quiet, though he liked to socialize with friends. He was small — about 1.6m and 59kg and tended to stay away from a fight, Caron said.
“All the time I’ve known Tim, he’s never been the type of guy to get into a fight with. He always kept to himself,” Caron said.
Friends started a Facebook group to remember him.
“He was a great person, he was kind, thoughtful and he did not deserve this. I feel for his parents and sisters and his lil [little] bro,” Jossiee Kehleer wrote on the site.
Passengers said the victim was stabbed dozens of times on Wednesday night aboard the bus as it traveled a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 19km from Portage La Prairie.
Witnesses described the killing that occurred as some passenger were napping and others watching The Legend of Zorro on TV screens inside the bus. Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said there were 37 passengers.
Shortly after passengers reboarded following a break, the suspect — for no apparent reason — stabbed the man sitting next to him several dozen times as others fled in horror, witnesses said. He then severed the man’s head, displayed it and began hacking at the body.
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