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.
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.