WINNIPEG — A man who beheaded a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus may soon be allowed off the grounds of a Manitoba mental hospital.
A psychiatrist treating Vince Li is asking a federal review board to let Li take escorted trips into the city of Selkirk, Man.
Dr. Steve Kremer says Li has responded well to his treatment, and understands he has schizophrenia.
Li has been in a mental hospital since he was found not criminally responsible for stabbing and decapitating Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus in July, 2008.
Li was initially kept in a locked ward on the hospital, but began being allowed short walks on the hospital grounds in 2010.
The Criminal Code Review Board is expected to take a few days to decide whether to grant Li’s doctor’s latest request for more freedom.
Last year, the Criminal Code Review Board decided to gradually increase Li’s walks around the hospital grounds to several hours.
The victim’s mother, Carol DeDelley, has opposed granting more freedom to Li, saying he should be kept behind locked doors for the rest of his life.
Li’s trial was told he was an untreated schizophrenic who heard voices telling him to kill McLean, a young carnival worker who Li had never met before. Passengers said Li started stabbing McLean in an unprovoked attack.
After the driver stopped the bus and the passengers exited, Li decapitated McLean and ate pieces of his flesh.