Truemors
It has been revealed today that Greyhound Bus Killer Vince Lee, "is a Paranoid Schizophrenic", say his friends. Vince Li, 40, arrived in Canada from China four years ago and is notorious for the infamous Greyhound bus beheading in Manitoba of 22 year old Tim McLean. .
They say Li was clearly battling mental illness, but refused repeated offers to see a doctor and get help.
"I think, in their culture, (the issue of mental illness) is kind of frowned upon," the woman said. She works in the mental health field and said it was obvious Li was struggling.
"He was definitely schizophrenic, probably paranoid schizophrenic," she said. "He needed help but he just wouldn't get it."
There was the constant paranoia, a feeling that he was always being watched and that others might be out to get him.
There were his bizarre, rambling stories that seemed to come out of nowhere.
And there were the unannounced bus trips that would catch his wife by surprise -- such as the time he hopped on a Greyhound headed to The Pas, later explaining that he wanted to look at some land he was thinking about buying.
"I don't think he actually had any money. This was probably just a symptom of his disease," the woman said.
She recalls an unusual conversation with Li shortly after he got a red-light ticket in Winnipeg. "He started talking about how 'they were after me, there was nothing there,' " the woman said.
Li's illness soon began taking a toll on his marriage.
He and his wife Anna found a home in the Osborne Village area of Winnipeg shortly after coming to Canada.
He got hired as a forklift driver with Midland Foods on Nairn Avenue, while she began working several waitressing jobs at Chinese-food restaurants in the city.
The couple began occasionally attending church services at the Grant Memorial Baptist Church, which opened the door to other social opportunities.
Li worked at the church and its attached schoolhouse as a night custodian for a time.
The woman who spoke with the Free Press said her father and stepmother took a liking to the couple and began having them over for dinner and, eventually, for visits to their Whiteshell cottage.
"He was always a little bit quiet, kind of reserved. I think that's because he was self-conscious about his English," she said.
However, Li eventually warmed up to the family.
"We'd play cards together, dominoes, games like that," she said.
However, things took a turn about two years ago when Li suddenly left his wife and went to Edmonton. The woman said it's clear Li's wife was frustrated by her husband's erratic behaviour.
She stayed behind in Winnipeg -- continuing to work various jobs -- but recently moved to Edmonton where Li had apparently found work delivering newspapers and flyers.
Members of Grant Memorial church had recently spoken with Li, apparently concerned about how he and his wife were doing.
However, nobody predicted things would reach such a crisis point and climax in one of the country's grisliest murder cases.
The woman predicts Li will finally now get the help he needs -- far too late for the victim and everyone else impacted by the crime.
"There's no way he's going behind bars. He's going to end up in a mental health facility," she predicted.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (25)
at 14:45 on January 27th, 2009
i was on the first greyhound bus ! Thanks for scaring my life ! now its happend for the 3rd time like come on ppl ! THINK !
at 19:06 on March 5th, 2009
WHAAAAAAAAT?? How is this right?? Good excuse.
No criminal record? Let him go free....and kill 50 others until your eyes will open!
at 06:08 on May 14th, 2009
dude he has a mental disorder and he cant help himself so how dare you, i know he killed someone but its not his fault you communist.
at 18:11 on June 4th, 2009
You're absolutely moronic. He had his medication, and he chose not to take it. Therfore HE chose to kill not his "mental illness."
at 10:04 on July 12th, 2009
The guy was sick but it was his choice not to get the help he needed. and then he got worse to the point he killed someone. well what if it was your brother friend cousin ect.
you would be up for revenge, yes you would. you sure wouldnt be saying its not the killers fault oh no .
dumb ass
at 01:16 on June 14th, 2009
What happened is obviously incredibly tragic. What people _need_ to understand, however, is that the nature of this disease alters thinking. It changes the way those affected see the world, and the people in it. This is no more fault of those afflicted as it is of the people who are potentially harmed. I understand that in a case like this vengeance is desired for the family of the young man who died. It isn't fair. But it is no less unfair for Vince Lee to have his life claimed by this disease. This wasn't a choice he made, this was an illness he was inflicted with, and cannot escape. You might say "he should have sought treatment" but 99% of the time a schizophrenic is the last person to _know_ that there is something wrong with themselves, because of the _nature_ of the disease and the way that it alters thinking. My thoughts go out to the people, and families involved. They are all victims, on both side.
at 20:58 on March 5th, 2009
This is absolutly outragous!!! There is no excuse for such a criminal act!!! He should suffer the same punishment that their family is suffering...the loss of their INNOCENT son's life!!! We send our love to his parents and siblings!!!
Li's acts are only defined as cowardness and stupididy!!!
Let's remember the true acts of crime , dictated by the witness' who were present!
An inicent boy, on his way home, visiting his family, beheaed by a " Paranoid skitafrenic" . REALLY??? He get's off clainming that "god" told him too??!! First of all... following the religinon where there is a god,.. such as christianity, according to the bible, which Li used as an escape for punishment, using ACTUAL folloewrs of the testament...say god told him to kill.... pardon my language, but thius is bullshit! Anyone that knows anthing will vouch knowing that one of the ten commandments says thow shall not kill. Who in their right of mind will pardon such a being. To my knowledge, when someone goes to court , dont they have to swear on the bible saying,
I SWEAR ON THE BIBLE TO TELL THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH SO HELP ME GOD??!!....Who was judging this????
Li is a sick individual who is using our open Canadian justice system to his benifit. Claearly his family has enough money to pay off the criminal justice system and lawyers, because anyone following this story, finding out the virdict is clearly sick to their stomach like we are here tonight after watching the news. this is absolutly the most outrageous verdict we've ever heard of. Hopefully other Canadians that read this blog tonight will have the same opinion as us and will speak out helping us bringing Li to the the punishment that he deserves.
tells his follewers not to kill, and to treat others as they wouuld have them treat themselves. i believe that is one of the ten commandments...
That's no excuse to take an innocent life! He deserves nothing... except the same penalty!
at 12:41 on March 12th, 2009
a mental institute is worse then a prison
they watch you take a dump
watch t2 to see how mental places look like
at 12:17 on March 30th, 2009
First off, "thou shalt not kill" not "thow shall not kill." You also misspelled a lot of otherstuff that makes you look like an idiot.
Second, he's clinically insane. He doesn't know what he's doing most of the time, or at least doesn't really know why. He think's he's being watched and that people are out to get him. A guy like him shouldn't go to jail because he killed someone, he just needs to be looked after. A mental facility will keep him away from the rest of the world and he will be properly taken care of, and they might fix him up a bit if possible. He can't be held responsible for his own actions in such a state, and he's like that all the time because his brain doesn't function properly.
at 11:05 on April 7th, 2009
For The dumb and ignorant it is not (thou shall kill) It is and always will be (Thou shall not commit murder) this guy should put to death with his entire family. There is nothing wrong with killing other wise you would not eat or have a right to defend your self or you family If anyone struggles with any of this then they should be killed as well!!!!!!!!
at 10:34 on April 2nd, 2009
Listen, you can insult and be "sickened" by the judgment all you want, the right sentence was given. And by and by, you can't use religion in the court room. He clearly was not completely sane. He did not buy out a judge. If I was the judge, I would have gave out the same sentence, and he didn't pay me off. In your view, all schizophrenics should be put in a jail or establishment to not kill anyone. I have friends who are schizophrenic and, o and behold, they haven't killed me yet. You don't like Canada? There is the border. But just a warning, the US would have had the same verdict.
at 10:15 on July 12th, 2009
The guy is sick thats for sure. but lets just say someone comes up to you and punches you in your face. it hurts like hell. what do you do.you feel anger and fight back.
So if someone kills an inosent person. in return you dont care what the condition of the person doing the killing is in. you want justice an eye for an eye.
But if your christian or reborn then gods law does say to forgive or there is no way into heaven.
so bye Gods law and only Gods law .Its a mortal sin. unless you repent and forgive him.
So as i am trying to change my life and become reborn again . I must say dont judge let God judge and forget about the pain he has caused and pray for him and your self
So there you have it for those who dont care about Gods law then ofcourse your going to hate him.
at 02:03 on March 6th, 2009
This is a sick,terrible case, I too think he should deserve life in jail or even death.. but what everyone has to understand is , he is not sane and just using (god told him to)"schizophrenic" as an excuse.
schizophrenic is a really dangerous sickness which the person really believes the voices in their head is real. Now dont get me wrong, Iam not deffending him one bit! I think he should die and go to hell too, but I just think its a really tough and complicated case with a fine line !!!
at 10:38 on April 2nd, 2009
You can't say that he is not sane and that he is hiding behind schizophrenia as an excuse in the same point. Google Mens Rea.
at 18:57 on March 6th, 2009
i think this is totally outrageus i mean why would the judgr let him off while the other sickos roast in hell for what they did
at 10:27 on April 2nd, 2009
Because those other "sickos" were not mentally ill. Serial killers and murders know what they are doing. Vince thought he was killing a demon or something of the sort. Pick up a law book and take a look through it.
at 20:30 on March 6th, 2009
Clearly, Vince should go to a mental facility. No offence, but it's his fault for rejecting help, so we shouldn't let him go about the streets.
at 01:58 on March 8th, 2009
Li should go to a mental hospital, then jail for life!!!
yes he is sick but he still did a crime! .. a SICK grisly crime!
at 01:13 on March 11th, 2009
The way this case has been handled from the start is sickening. It says disgusting things about our society that our "justice" system is more concerned about helping Li get the "treatement he needs" rather than holding him accountable for his INEXCUSABLE actions and punishing him accordingly. There is absolutely no reason for Vince Li to continue to exist. I don't care how many gods told him to kill Tim Mclean, or how many mental disorders Li has (legitimate or not, it is irrelevent). Vince Li is who he is, mental disorder(s) and all. Why in the world should we spend our money and resources trying to "cure" him? So basically, next time one of the passengers present when Tim's Mclean's life was needlessly, tragically, and sadistically ended, see Vince on the greyhound, they should give him a pat on the back, and some strong words of encouragment to help him overcome his tragic mental ilness??? "Hey Vince, how ya doin'? Have those bad voices in your head stopped telling you to murder people yet? I wish you all the best in a speedy recovery." Does that notion, and more importantly the attitude behind it, make anyone else want to vomit? Obviously not enough people in this country feel the same way, and that thoroughly depresses me.
at 17:06 on March 12th, 2009
He should first be tarred and feathered, then publicly humiliated, then water boarded, then electro shocked, poisoned, then drawn and quartered, over the course of one month. A mental hospital is way too humane.
at 09:40 on April 2nd, 2009
Vince Lee is a paranoid schizophrenic. That should explain it to some of you people claiming he is "cowardly" or just hiding behind a plea. To trial some one you need Mens Rea and Actus Reas. Basically you need to break the law and know you what you are doing is breaking the law but doing it anyways. He thought this man was a demon. He was not in a normal state of mind. "Go out and kill 50 more people"? Not likely. He is disturbed and is not accountable for his actions. The Actus Reas was there but not the Mens Rea. He got the right sentence.
at 12:26 on April 8th, 2009
This guy's FUCKED.. heheh
at 13:57 on June 1st, 2009
Wouldn't someone who has a mental disorder be the kind of person who would commit such an act against someone else. A person who has his or her sanity intact would come to their senses and realize you don't go killing people. Why do we keep letting criminals who act out and hurt others use the insanity plea. ONLY PEOPLE WITH LONG TERM OR SHORT TERM MENTAL PROBLEMS HURT OTHERS OR THEMSELVES. If someone hurts someone else intentionally, the should be punished. What make him better than a drunk driver who kills someone. A person who is intoxicated has impaired their ability to think properly, therefore, they had a short term mental issue, and because of their stupidity, they pay the price. This Lee guy has Long Term mental issues, therefore, get him off the streets before he hears another person or hears another voice in his brain telling him his next order of business. HE KILLED SOMEONE, I DON"T CARE WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM, HE DESERVES TO PAY THE TIME THAT FITS THE CRIME.
at 19:29 on July 30th, 2009
Stone the Bastard!!!
at 14:25 on August 18th, 2009
If McLean did something to stress Lee, Lee would have been grievously bodily harmed or have reason to think he would be.
Check out the new science. People with schizophrenia have an abnormal immune reaction to stress. They experience a surge in their white blood cells when stressed. This immune reaction damages their brain which is the explanation for their symptoms.
Assuming Lee could do nothing else to get out the situation and he was stressed, he is justified in defending himself from a wave of brain damage. At least if McLean was breaking the law in stressing him.
Considering the violence of the crime I can only think Lee was innocent not guilty. His brain was threatened.
The media and court probably didn't know or ignored this reality. So Lee is just a victim of bias as lots of the comments here show. Someone should place a another call to Amnesty to get the government to work on Canada's track record of rights abuse of the mentally ill.