Bus beheader can go outside: board
By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG - Less than two years after he stabbed and beheaded a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus, Vince Li may get his first small taste of freedom. But there are a couple of hurdles still in the way.
The Criminal Code Review Board of Manitoba approved a plan Thursday to let Li walk around the grounds of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre as long as he is escorted by two staff members.
The decision was a blow to the family of Tim McLean, the young carnival worker killed by Li.
"When you do what he did, you should be locked up for the rest of your natural life, period," Carol DeDelley said from her home in Elie, Man.
"My son's human rights were violated in the most horrific manner, and that's completely disregarded and forgotten, and they're all concerned about Mr. Li's human rights."
Li has been held inside a locked portion of the centre since he was found not criminally responsible for the killing of Tim McLean in July, 2008. The two men had never met and just happened to be sitting next to each other briefly on a bus ride to Winnipeg from Edmonton.
McLean was listening to music on his headphones, with his eyes closed. Suddenly, Li stood up and started stabbing McLean repeatedly as horrified passengers looked on. He carved up the body and scattered it around the bus. Part of McLean's heart and his eyes were never found.
As people scrambled to get off the bus and police surrounded it, witnesses reported seeing Li holding McLean's head in the air, taunting officers.
Li suffered from undiagnosed schizophrenia, his trial was told. He was ordered to stay in the mental hospital pending annual reviews of his treatment. Earlier this week, Li's psychiatrist told the review board Li was responding to treatment and should be allowed short walks outside on the hospital grounds.
The idea has stirred up controversy because the hospital grounds are not fenced in. Manitoba's Opposition Progressive Conservatives want Li shipped out of the province to a more secure hospital.
Attorney General Andrew Swan said Li's walks will only go ahead once the hospital improves security, although he did not say whether that might include a fence, extra staff or other specific measures.
"Our government will make sure that there are appropriate steps taken to protect public safety before Mr. Li is anywhere other than inside that (locked) forensic unit," Swan said.
Swan also said the Crown attorney who argued against Li's walks this week may appeal the review board's decision, which Swan said "seriously undermines public confidence in the Canadian system of justice."
The review board order states that Li's walks will be only 15 minutes long, twice a day at the beginning, gradually increasing to two one-hour long walks. At all times, he is to be accompanied by two staff members — one more than the standard in such cases — who will be equipped with cell phones or two-way radio.
DeDelley feels people are more concerned with Li than with her family and other people affected by Li's crime, including other passengers.
"I would like to be doing a job and enjoying my life again but we haven't had one iota of closure. Each year, Mr. Li is going to begin to receive more and more freedoms, more and more of a life back. And I don't think that he should."
But a schizophrenia support group said allowing Li sunshine and fresh air is both humane and an important part of his treatment.
"The people who take exception to it, unfortunately, have bought into the myth ... about mental illness that pervades our society. They think the person can't get better," Chris Summerville, the group's executive director, said.
"The science is very clear. (Li) can learn to manage his illness."
The Criminal Code Review Board is an independent body whose members are appointed by the Manitoba government, although they are governed by federal criminal laws.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100603/national/bus_beheading