Canadian Maniac Decapitates Fellow Passenger

[Winston]

Originally posted by Asher

The bystander effect is well documented and studied in the field of Psychology. I took social psych courses that covered it back in university also.

The real question is how do we get rid of idiots who reject anything on Wikipedia even when it is amply sourced and a well regarded theory in academia and the real world?

Way to miss the point. Twice!

[Asher]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Now that I know that most of the passengers were asleep I don't blame them for not helping. Most probably had no clue what was going on until after they got off the bus.

Asher, I thought you said similar sized US cities?

Considering the list of cities in his original post was from ~100,000 up to ~2.5million people, not sure what your problem is.

Why don't you post something with substance for once. If you have a problem, identify and source it. I'm tired of your rhetoric.

[ramseya]

Winnipeg is the deadliest Canadian city at 3.6 murders/100,000? Wow. compare that to Detriot's 47.3 or Baltimore's 43.3.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Patroklos

Asher, I thought you said similar sized US cities?

It's not a perfect contrast, but LA is the only city on that list that's much bigger than any of the Canadian cities. Toronto is about half way between Chicago and Houston, Montreal is bigger than Dallas and Ottawa and Calgary [edit: Ottawa is slightly smaller than Detroit - my bad] are larger than Detroit with Edmonton not far behind. Washington DC is about the size of Vancouver, while Winnipeg is larger than both.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Winston


Way to miss the point. Twice!

Your point was either a driveby shooting at the credibility of Wikipedia or a demonstration of the tremendous stupidity of Danish people. I'm going to assume it's the former, but feel free to argue in favour of the latter.

[Winston]

You're assuming I'm willing to enter into any kind of debate with you. Well, any kind of one-way heckling session, to be precise.

No, I've had quite enough of that a while ago, but thanks for the offering.

[Ben Kenobi]

Bystander effect?

Has asher never ridden a greyhound bus before? It's cramped and enclosed and you have a big 200 pound man with a knife.

You get the hell off the bus as soon as possible and lock the nutjob in the bus.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
Bystander effect?

Has asher never ridden a greyhound bus before? It's cramped and enclosed and you have a big 200 pound man with a knife.

You get the hell off the bus as soon as possible and lock the nutjob in the bus.

What the hell are you talking about?

I've explicitly said the passengers did the right thing here, several times.

Your stupidity truly enrages me.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Winston
You're assuming I'm willing to enter into any kind of debate with you.

You wouldn't stand a chance in a debate with me. That's precisely why you're avoiding it.

A cowardly Dane, what a surprise.

[Winston]

Whatever.

You're also a piss-poor baiter..

[Asher]

You keep biting, you just don't have any teeth.

[Hercules]

What I think needs commented on, very positively, was the reaction of Garnet Caton, the driver and the unidenified trucker.


Very well done to all three.

[Asher]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.wbus-victim01/BNStory/National/home

How a madman's blade cut Tim McLean's reunion short

JOE FRIESEN

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

August 1, 2008 at 10:16 PM EDT

WINNIPEG — In his last phone calls and text messages, slain bus passenger Tim McLean was eagerly looking forward to seeing his friends and family, talked about how much he was enjoying himself, and made no mention of the peculiar passenger now charged with his murder.

Alexandra Storey, Mr. McLean's ex-girlfriend, said he sent her dozens of texts as the Greyhound he was riding made its way east to Winnipeg from Edmonton Wednesday night. The 22-year-old Winnipegger was coming home after seven weeks working on a carnival tour of Western Canada.

He told her some of the other passengers were taking ecstasy, a party drug with stimulant properties, and that he was counting down the hours by sending a new text at every town he passed.

It was from Brandon, Man., some time before 8 p.m. that he sent the longest flurry of texts, she said. He planned to go see his father, collect his pet iguana from a friend and wanted to visit Ms. Storey later that night. After their relationship ended, he became like a brother to her, she said, and he was particularly devoted to her daughter, April. In his last message, Mr. McLean said his phone was dying and he was going to charge it when he got to Portage la Prairie.

Ten minutes later, his accused killer, 40-year-old Vincent Li, changed seats, making his way to the last row of the bus and sitting next to Mr. McLean. Witnesses said the younger man, barely 5 foot 5 and 125 pounds, had fallen asleep with his headphones on, his cheek resting against the window, while Zorro played on the bus's television screen.

Without warning, witnesses said, a man stood up and stabbed Mr. McLean several times in the throat and torso, sending passengers scrambling off the bus. Afterward, the killer severed his victim's head, hacked at his body with a large knife and a pair of scissors, and, according to reports from the scene, ate some of the body parts.

Derek Caron, Mr. McLean's closest friend, was waiting at the Winnipeg bus station that night, anticipating a 9:45 p.m. arrival. He hung around patiently as Greyhound officials told him the bus was delayed, but as the hours passed they never explained what had happened. He left only when they closed the terminal after 1 a.m.

Although police didn't release his name, the description of the victim passed on by witnesses – a small, aboriginal man of 18-20 years – seemed to fit Mr. McLean, who wasn't aboriginal but looked it, Mr. McLean's friends said. As the day wore on, and they received no word from him, a small group gathered outside the home of his father, also named Tim McLean. When the older man arrived home from work, he greeted them cheerfully, asking if they were waiting for his son.

They sat down with him at his computer as he watched the news for the first time. He put his hands over his mouth and said, “No, no, no. My God, no,” according to a woman who was there. He tried to contact the RCMP to confirm his worst fear. His son's friends said an uncle had spoken to the RCMP already, and was told his nephew wasn't a passenger on the bus. But later that night, Mr. McLean had to identify his son's body.

As they struggled with their grief Friday, friends described the young man as a warm, fun-loving free spirit who attracted people to him with his energy and joie de vivre. He had never been in a fight in his life, said his friend Will Caron, who had known him for 10 years.

“There is no way he could have provoked that guy. No way. He's just not like that,” said Colleen Yestrau, who had allowed Mr. McLean to stay with her for three months before he left on the carnival circuit. They also said Mr. McLean had asked his father, in a text message sent Wednesday evening, if it would be all right if a girl named Stacey stayed with them once he arrived in Winnipeg.

Mr. McLean dropped out of Oak Park High School before completing Grade 11 because he had other priorities, his friends said. He would spend the summer months touring Western Canada, starting with the Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg, and travelling to the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver. He ran booths and games at the fairs, which he referenced in his latest tattoo, a cursive script across his stomach saying “Wanna Play.” He sent a photo of it to Ms. Storey, which, in a ghostly twist, she received several hours after he was killed.

He was also proud of his other tattoos, including cartoon character Marvin the Martian, a spider and skull, and one that said “Joker Wild.”

He hadn't had a fixed address for several years, his friends said, but would often stay with one of them for three months at a stretch, and then move on. In the winters he worked at various jobs, cleaning and repairing street lights, manufacturing brake shoes, pumping gas and managing a fast-food restaurant.

Will Caron said he last saw his friend in mid-June, when a group gathered for a massive weekend-long board game of Risk. As his wife Jodi broke down in tears over the loss of their friend, and his three-year-old daughter talked about how her father had been crying too, Mr. Caron just shook his head in disbelief. Why didn't anyone fight back? he asked. Surely the three dozen passengers could have overpowered a lone man with a knife.

“Only in movies would you think something like this would happen. Not in real life. Not on a bus,” he said.

Derek Caron said he and Mr. McLean were planning to move to B.C. together in the fall. Mr. McLean loved the outdoors, he said, and they were going to set out with a tent and find whatever work they could.

The gruesome details of their friend's killing, the beheading and dismemberment, are rarely mentioned, referred to only in whispers, but their presence lingers in every conversation.

“I'm hoping it was quick,” Ms. Storey said. “I hope he didn't suffer through it.”

[Asher]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.wbus-suspect02/BNStory/National

Suspect called friendly, reliable employee

JOSH WINGROVE

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

August 1, 2008 at 10:33 PM EDT

It was last summer when Vince Weiguang Li first gave Vincent Augert a call.

Mr. Li was responding to an advertisement for Vinco Newspaper Distribution, a company contracted to deliver newspapers in Edmonton. He was looking for part-time work to supplement his income from another job at a local McDonald's restaurant.He got the job, delivering to homes in the city's northeast end.

Mr. Li was a “quiet” man who spoke quickly, often making his English difficult to understand, Mr. Augert, 42, remembered. But he was friendly and a reliable employee.

Mr. Li, 40, showed up dutifully in the wee hours each morning for 13 months.

“He just came, picked up his papers, didn't talk to anybody. Picked up his papers, and did his things,” Mr. Augert said.

In early July, he asked Mr. Augert for a day off at the end of the month, for a job interview.

“ …He indicated he'd need a day off at the end of the month, and he had to go to Winnipeg for an interview, and he would get back to me when he knew the day.”

He didn't get back to Mr. Augert. Then came Monday, the last day Mr. Li showed up for work. On Tuesday, wondering where his trustworthy employee had disappeared to, Mr. Augert called his cellphone. A woman called back saying she was Mr. Li's wife.

“Monday morning he picked up his newspapers, and that was it. He picked up his newspapers, and fell off the face of the earth,” Mr. Augert said.

Mr. Li didn't show up Wednesday or Thursday, the same day reports of a gruesome attack aboard an eastbound Edmonton-to-Winnipeg Greyhound bus began to surface. Thursday evening, Mr. Augert spoke again with the woman he believed to be Mrs. Li. “She basically just said that she didn't know where he was, and that he had told her he'd left out of town on an emergency,” Mr. Augert said.

Throughout Thursday, the bus investigation progressed. A man was thought to have stabbed another man dozens of times.

Mr. Augert and his fellow newspaper distributors recognized the name and photo of the alleged killer the next day, and couldn't believe it was the Mr. Li they'dworked with.

“It was just a total shock. I would have never thought this would ever happen,” Mr. Augert said. “There was nothing to believe or suggest that he would have it in him to do something like this.”

Mr. Li appeared in court Friday, his feet shackled, not uttering a word. His wife couldn't be reached for comment.

[Kuciwalker]

"Suspect" seems a kind of odd word to use to describe him.