| Winnipeg Free Press |
Friday, August 01, 2008
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PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. - As his accused killer stood shackled at the wrists and ankles to face a charge of second degree murder Friday, the many friends of Tim McLean drew together in a circle of sorrow, trading e-mails and struggling to cope with their grief.
"He was such a sweetheart. I cannot think of anybody who would not miss him," said Mayme Martin, 19. She worked the carnival circuit with the 22-year-old McLean.
"To anybody who knew him, he was that bright, bubbly, happy guy. He was always out for fun. I already miss him."
Vince Weiguang Li, the 40-year-old suspect in the gruesome stabbing and decapitation of McLean aboard a Greyhound bus in Manitoba Wednesday night, appeared in court in Portage la Prairie Friday to face a second-degree murder charge.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
Judge Rocky Pollack asked that Li be held in custody pending a court-ordered psychological evaluation. Pollack indicated he wasn't prepared to make that order until Li has an opportunity to talk to a lawyer.
When asked by Pollack if he wanted a lawyer, Li said nothing, keeping his head down the entire time. However, when the judge asked him if he was exercising his right not to speak, Li reportedly nodded his head.
The Edmonton resident, who appeared in court with bandages on his hand and cuts and bruises to his face, was arrested Wednesday at the scene and charged early Friday with second-degree murder.
RCMP said that, to date, their investigation has found Li has no known criminal record.
Veteran Crown lawyer Larry Hodgson will prosecute in the case. He said the charge of second-degree murder was chosen because of the amount of evidence currently available against Li.
Li is being held in a Winnipeg detention centre and is under constant video surveillance.
Hodgson said Li will have to undergo a psychological assessment to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.
A woman at the Winnipeg family home of the victim said the family would not be making a statement Friday as they deal with their grief.
"It's not a good time right now," she said.
McLean and Martin worked together touring the continent with North American Midway Entertainment. She said she couldn't believe the news when she first heard McLean was dead.
"I was like, I hope to God there's another Tim McLean," she said, sobbing softly.
"He was a sweetheart. He was tiny. We all called him Tiny Tim. He picked on me because I was smaller than him. But it was all in good fun. He'd never even hurt a fly. He wouldn't even kill an ant if it was crawling up his leg.
"He was that guy who all the girls said he was their best friend. And it was true because he was such a sweetheart. You couldn't think of him as anything but a friend. I can't think of anyone that didn't like him."
"There's really nothing to feel other than it shouldn't have been Tim. He did nothing wrong. There was no reason why it should have been Tim."
A report was circulating Friday that Li was a past member of the Canadian Forces. A CF spokeswoman said there's no record of him serving with the Canadian military.
"The name of the accused as it is quoted is not found in our current serving records, nor does it appear or show up in our past serving CF member records, " said Lieut. Isabelle Riche.
RCMP have given few details about the baffling homicide.
Passengers described fleeing in terror from a Greyhound bus outside Portage la Prairie - 85 kilometres west of Winnipeg - as a passenger suddenly stabbed the man sleeping next to him, decapitated him and waved the severed head at horrified witnesses standing outside.
On Friday, friends were remembering the victim as a fun guy who loved tattoos and working out, according to tributes on two social-networking websites.
"He was a great person, he was kind, thoughtful, and he did not deserve this," Jossie Kehleer, the creator of one of the Facebook groups, wrote on the page. "I feel for his parents and sisters and his (little brother).
"All I can remember is good times with Tim, there was never one day it wasn't fun, or he made you smile or cry because you were laughing so hard. He made good memories . . . but he's in all of our hearts, and he's not going anywhere."
On his MySpace profile, McLean, who called himself "Jokawild" described himself as someone who was into having a good time and "getting the most out of life."
He had three tattoos, and said he owned an iguana and loved loud music, motorcycles and working on his physique, which he called "rock hard."
An autopsy on McLean was scheduled for Friday.
The attack Wednesday night left 34 men, women and children stranded on the shoulder of the Trans-Canada Highway about 85 kilometres west of Winnipeg, watching while the bus driver, a passenger and the driver of a passing truck shut the crazed attacker inside the bus with the mangled victim.
"He didn't do anything to provoke the guy," said Garnet Caton, 26, a passenger on the bus, which originated in Edmonton and was bound for Winnipeg. "The guy just took a knife out and stabbed him, started stabbing him like crazy and cut his head off."
"Some people were puking, some people were crying, other people were in shock. . . . Everybody was running, screaming off the bus."
Caton said Li was only on the bus for a brief time, after boarding in western Manitoba.
Another passenger, Cody Olmstead, 21, told reporters he had smoked a cigarette with McLean earlier in the trip.
He said McLean boarded the bus in Edmonton and was going to Winnipeg.
Caton told a TV station the attacker had changed seats to sit next to his victim just before the killing.
He said Li seemed oblivious to others when the stabbing occurred, adding he was struck by how calm the man was.
"There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy," he said.
Caton said he and other passengers prevented the attacker from getting off the blood-soaked bus by threatening him with makeshift weapons - a hammer and a crowbar.
"We were telling him, 'Stay put, stay put, stay there, don't try to come out.' He tried to get the bus working and the bus driver disabled the bus somehow in the back. I'm not sure how he did it, and at that point, I think the police showed up," he said.
After the killing, the passengers were taken to Brandon to be interviewed by police and to stay overnight at a hotel there.
With files from the Brandon Sun
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