WINNIPEG — The family of a man who was beheaded on a Greyhound bus says his killer is "getting away with murder," but the judge who found him not criminally responsible for the "barbaric" slaying says the law doesn't unnecessarily punish the mentally ill.
Vince Li's attack on Tim McLean in Manitoba last summer was "grotesque" and "appalling," said Justice John Scurfield.
"However, the acts themselves and the context in which they were committed are strongly suggestive of a mental disorder," the judge said Thursday. "He did not appreciate the act he committed was morally wrong. He believed he was acting in self-defence and that he had been commanded by God to do so."
McLean's loved ones said the verdict has robbed them of closure and they feel the responsibility now falls to them to attend his yearly assessments to try to ensure Li is never released.
"He is getting away with murder," said McLean's older sister, Vana Smart. "He'll never have a criminal record. After the review board decides that he can be medically managed in the community, he can get a job in a daycare. He can cross the border.
"He'll never have this stigma attached to him ... He will be able to pursue his life as he pleases."
Both Crown and defence psychiatrists had testified at Li's trial that he was suffering from schizophrenia and believed the voice of God ordered him to kill McLean because the young man was a force of evil.
Li, 40, was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded not guilty. His DNA will be put on file but he won't have a criminal record.
He is to appear before a criminal review board within 90 days to determine how he will be institutionalized. His mental health will be reviewed every year by the same board to determine if he can be released into the community.
"That does not mean that he should go free," Scurfield said in his decision. "People who are found not criminally responsible but who continue to pose a danger to the community may be kept in a locked institution for the rest of their lives."
That was cold comfort to McLean's mother, Carol deDelley, who said Li may be mentally ill, but he still killed her 22-year-old son in the most brutal possible way.
"Whether he was in his right frame of mind or not, he still did the act," she said. "There was nobody else on that bus holding a knife slicing up my child. Nobody else did that. Just one individual did that."
DeDelley said the law needs to be changed so someone can be found not psychologically accountable but still criminally responsible for a crime.
"It's ridiculous that we've not only had to endure this procedure, but we get to endure it every year again for the rest of Mr. Li's natural life and our lives," she said. "A major illness took my son's life and he was never sick."
"Knowing that killer might get out some time soon is very hard," added Tim McLean Sr., who has his son's face tattooed on his chest above his heart with the words: "Tim McLean Forever Loved."
"This isn't the right result. We'll do what we can to ensure nobody gets hurt again."
But lawyers on both sides said justice was done. The Crown had no choice but to argue Li was not criminally responsible, said prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn.
"The evidence was so overwhelming," Dalmyn said. "I had an obligation to bring that to the court's attention and the family understand and respect that."
The review board will do its job "properly" in determining if Li is ever fit for release, she added.
Such boards look at police reports and transcripts of previous judicial hearings and also hear evidence from treating psychiatrists, who testify about a patient's current mental condition, treatment and prognosis. Crown and defence lawyers get the opportunity to ask questions.
The board must carefully consider whether a patient could function in society or would pose a risk to the public. Members take into account a patient's insight into the illness, as well as into what happened.
"Mr. Li will get help," said his lawyer, Alan Libman. "The Canadian public can be assured that the review board will take into consideration the protection of the public. Mr. Li advised me after court that he's going to work with his treatment team because it's his desire to get better."
Scurfield's decision brings an end to a trial that lasted barely two days and only heard from the two psychiatrists.
That Li killed the carnival worker - brutally stabbing him dozens of times, beheading him and then mutilating his body - was never in question at the trial.
An agreed statement of facts read in court detailed how Li sat next to McLean when the young man gave him a smile and asked how he was doing. It was after McLean closed his eyes to listen to music on his headphones that Li thought he heard the voice of God.
"Suddenly the sunshine came in the bus and the voice said, 'Quick. Hurry up. Kill him and then you'll be safe,"' Li told one of his psychiatrists. "It was so quick, such an angry voice, and I had to do what it said. I was told that if I didn't listen to the voice, I would die immediately."
Li ignored other horrified passengers as he repeatedly stabbed the young man, who unsuccessfully fought for his life.
When the bus pulled over near Portage la Prairie, Man., Li was engrossed with stabbing and mutilating McLean's body. Passengers fled the bus and stood outside.
Li tried numerous times to leave the bus but was locked inside and continued methodically carving up McLean's body. Police said body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, although part of his heart and both eyes were never found and were presumed to have been eaten by Li.
The victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Li's pocket.
God told him to cut up McLean and scatter his body parts around the bus, Li said.
"God told me to do it. Otherwise it would come back to life very quick and kill me. So I cut it up to make sure he couldn't come back to life ... God told me to cut off his head, so I did."
Li tried to escape from the bus through a window and was taken into custody.
After that, with blood smeared on his face from the attack, he politely apologized to police and pleaded with officers to take his life.
