Family and friends gathered on Saturday for the funeral of a Canadian man who was beheaded and cannibalized by another passenger aboard a Greyhound bus over a week ago.
About 600 mourners packed a church to remember Tim McLean in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the 22-year-old grew up.
Before the service began, John Jorgensen, 19, who lived in the same west Winnipeg neighborhood as McLean, remembered him as an uplifting, positive guy.
“If you were in a bad mood, he would make you in a great mood,” Jorgensen said.
McLean was killed late last month while he was sleeping on a Greyhound bus. Thirty-seven passengers were aboard the Greyhound from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, as it traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 19km from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Witnesses have said that McLean was attacked unprovoked by his seatmate who stabbed him repeatedly.
As horrified passengers fled the bus, Li severed McLean’s head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said.
A police officer at the scene reported seeing the attacker hacking off pieces of the victim’s body and eating them, according to a police report.
Chinese immigrant Vince Weiguang Li, 40, has been charged with second-degree murder. He has been ordered by a judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Friends remembered McLean on Saturday as a lighthearted charmer who loved to meet new people.
He worked as a carnival worker, traveling from city to city and making many friends among those he met.
His uncle, Alex McLean, described him as “a little guy with a heart bigger than you could know.”
“From your first breath you were loved beyond imagination, and although you were taken from us too quickly, we will never say goodbye, but for now see you later,” read his tribute.
Friends have talked about how much he meant to so many people, and tens of thousands of people have joined a Facebook group set up in his memory.
McLean’s mother released a statement on Friday asking for media to respect the family’s privacy “during our time of mourning.”
The story of McLean’s death has captured international attention, appearing extensively in publications worldwide.
Several groups have also sought to use the publicity to shine light on their own causes.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, tried unsuccessfully to run a graphic newspaper ad comparing the beheading to the treatment of animals by the meat industry last week.
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