Timothy Richard “Tim” McLean Jr. was born on October 3, 1985, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was a sociable boy, always surrounded by friends, and led a vibrant nightlife attending parties and bars.
In the summer of 2008, Tim was turning 22 and was about to embark on another adventure. One of his friends had just invited him on a trip with no predefined destination – the idea was for the two to pack only a backpack and see what life had in store for them that week.
They ended up stumbling upon a traveling circus that toured the country putting on shows. What was initially just a “summer job” extended for months, during which Tim traveled across Canada as part of the team.
Time to return home
On July 30, 2008, Tim McLean decided it was time to return home. After a performance in Edmonton, he boarded a bus heading to his hometown, Winnipeg.
The Greyhound bus departed after midnight on July 31, 2008. The journey was expected to last about 24 hours, and Tim was quite accustomed to spending long hours on the road.
He sat at the back, by a window seat. The bus was only at 60% of its passenger capacity, allowing most people to have an empty seat next to them.
After 17 hours on the road, at one of the bus stops, a Chinese man named Vincent Weiguang Li boarded the vehicle, taking a seat toward the front. The bus traveled a few more kilometers and made another stop for passengers to buy food and use the restroom.
Upon returning to the bus, Tim noticed that Vincent Weiguang Li was sitting in the same seat as his, occupying the aisle seat. Tim was good at making friends, and as he got back to his seat, he exchanged a few words with the man, being friendly and kind.
Minutes after Tim had dozed off, passengers were startled by his screams as Vincent was on top of him, stabbing his chest and neck.
“Vince” Li
Vincent Weiguang “Vince” Li was born in Liaoning, China on April 30, 1968. He had a bachelor’s degree in computer science and prior to immigrating to Canada in 2001, he had worked for four years as a software engineer.
Vincent’s idea was to become a Canadian citizen and pursue his profession as a programmer. He was married and needed to support his wife.
Facing this, coupled with difficulties in the English language, Vincent had to accept part-time jobs as a forklift operator, janitor, mechanic, cashier at a Wal-Mart, and newspaper delivery person. This seemed to bother him, as he wished to work in his field of expertise.
Four weeks before the murder, Vince Li was fired from Wal-Mart after a disagreement with another employee. Shortly before the incident, he requested time off to attend a job interview.
By that date, he had already separated from his wife in a sudden decision, where he determined that they should no longer be together and left their home.
At 12:05 PM on July 28 in Edmonton, Li boarded a bus headed for Winnipeg. Witnesses informed the police that they saw Vince sitting on a bench in front of a supermarket with three suitcases.
He had reportedly spent the night there, awake and oblivious to his surroundings. In the morning, he sold his computer to a 15-year-old boy for $60.
Panic on the Bus
After the attack began, the bus driver pulled over to the shoulder, and he and all the other passengers fled the vehicle. Tim attempted to fight back, but Vince Li seemed to be attacking him with an uncontrollable fury.
The bus driver attempted to re-enter the bus several times to engage in dialogue with Vince Li, but he seemed unresponsive as he continued to stab the young man.
The passengers called the police while barricading the bus door. Vince Li was not in his right mind, and even though Tim was inside, it was crucial to ensure that he wouldn’t harm more victims.
Two other drivers joined the group and decided to check if Tim was still alive and if it was possible to save him. One of them, named Chris, entered the vehicle, and before he could utter a word, he realized that the man had already dismembered Tim and was cutting pieces from his neck in an attempt to decapitate him.
From this point on, the drivers determined that it was necessary to disable the bus’s ignition system, preventing Vince Li from attempting to escape with the vehicle. The perpetrator realized he was cornered and briefly attempted to flee through a window, but gave up.
He continued to pace back and forth while progressively dismembering Tim’s body into smaller pieces. Around 8:30 PM, the police arrived at the scene and initiated negotiations with Vince Li.
Cruelty and Cannibalism
While Vince Li provided incoherent responses to the police, he continued to dismember what remained of Tim McLean’s body. At one point, he held the man’s head up to the window for people to see what he had done.
Vince Li placed small pieces of Tim’s body in his mouth and chewed on them, also licking the blood from the boy’s hands. This left the passengers in shock, some fainted, and others experienced intense episodes of vomiting.
The police had to expedite the evacuation of the area. Afterwards, Vince Li began distributing parts of Tim’s body in plastic bags, all the while consuming smaller pieces.
The negotiation continued into the early hours of the morning when Vince Li broke a window and attempted to jump out of the bus. As soon as he hit the ground, he was intercepted by the police.
Tim’s ear, nose, and tongue were found in Vince Li’s pockets. The victim’s eyes and a portion of his heart were never recovered; it’s presumed that Vince Li had eaten them while dissecting the body.
Trial
Vince Li’s trial began on March 3, 2009, with the defendant claiming he was mentally ill. The defense argued that the man suffered from schizophrenia and was not undergoing treatment.
In Vince Li’s mind, Tim McLean was actually a disguised demon that needed to be “destroyed,” to the extent that he felt it was necessary to mutilate his body to prevent him from coming back to life.
He also felt pressured to carry out the attack by divine voices, telling him to kill Tim or he himself would be killed. The prosecution agreed that Vince Li suffered from a severe mental disorder and opted for psychiatric treatment instead of imprisonment.
The presiding judge accepted the diagnosis and ruled that Li was not criminally responsible for the murder.
In February 2016, it was reported that Vince Li had changed his name to Will Lee Baker and was attempting to transition from living in a group home to living independently. He gained the right to live on his own on February 26, with no legal obligations or restrictions related to Vince Li’s independent living.
Psychotic or not he didn’t earn any right to live freely. If he was healed mentally he should have been trotted off to prison. This is nonsensical “justice”
Agreed
he is now defined as being “sane” so he should be tried for 2nd degree murder. He did kill and eat Tim for gawds sake, what the h is wrong with our justice system. What the h is he doing walking around like nothing happened??? Perhaps Trudeau would like to present him with a million dollars and welcome him to his neighborhood?