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OTTAWA - A Chinese immigrant who stabbed, gutted and beheaded a fellow passenger on a bus travelling across Canada last week also cannibalized the victim and pocketed his nose, lips and ear, a court heard Tuesday.
Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton faces a second-degree murder charge in the horrific case.
The victim has been identified by friends as Tim McLean, a young man of 22 years who was returning home to Winnipeg from a job as a carnival worker in Edmonton in Western Canada.
In his second court appearance, Li was overheard saying "please kill me.
"Prosecutors said police observed him eating pieces of his victim when they surrounded the bus on a desolate highway about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Winnipeg immediately following the July 30 attack.
Li had decapitated the victim, sliced off an ear and bits of flesh and was taunting police and bystanders with the head, refusing to leave the bus and screaming "I have to stay on the bus forever," the Crown said.
According to reports, McLean had been asleep, his cheek pressed against the window of the bus when his assailant struck suddenly near dusk, stabbing him repeatedly in the chest with a "big Rambo knife."
The other 34 passengers and the driver were jolted by "blood-curdling screams" and fled, bracing the door on their way out to trap the assailant inside the bus, witness Garnet Caton told public broadcaster CBC.
McLean was stabbed 20-40 times, said prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn.
After a three-hour standoff, Li tossed a knife and scissors out of a broken window of the bus, jumped out and was subdued by police, the court heard.
In his pants pocket, police found several body parts hacked from the victim's face, said Dalmyn.
According to reports, Li worked mostly solitary jobs, including delivering newspapers and as a church custodian, since his arrival in Canada in 2004.
People who knew Li said the accused had showed signs of mental health troubles in the years leading up to the attack, but refused help.
His estranged wife told police he'd once been hospitalized for four days for strange behaviour, the court heard.
Li did not speak in court.
He nodded yes when asked by the judge if he understood the seriousness of the charge and shook his head no when asked if he wanted a lawyer.
"He doesn't seem to want to engage in any discourse," his interim defense lawyer Randy Janis told AFP after meeting with Li to try to convince him to accept legal counsel.
“His few responses are non-verbal, there's very little eye contact. Occasionally, he'll nod or shake his head to answer," he said, describing Li as withdrawn.
The judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation of the accused before his next scheduled court appearance on September 8. - AFP/vm
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