The image below looks innocent enough. Just a regular bus stopped in middle of a road, what could be so wrong? Why is there a lady in a white suit (autopsy investigator) walking past, and what’s that blood stain on the step of the bus?
Underneath that rolled up cloth of the step is a decapitated head of Timothy McLean ― a 22-year-old Canadian man who was stabbed, beheaded, and cannibalized while riding a Greyhound bus along the Trans-Canada Highway, on route to Winnipeg, Edmonton, Canada.
The gruesome murder of Timothy McLean
Timothy McLean was only 22 years old, just had his own kid and worked at the carnival. He was a nice average person, but poor Tim had landed in the worst circumstances at the worst time. It was July 30th of 2008 in Alberta Canada, just an ordinary day for Canadians, many who were taking the Greyhound charter bus to go home. Around 12 pm, Timothy McLean boarded the bus after a carnival fair near Edmonton and shortly after.
At 6:55 pm, Vincent Weiguang Li, a tall 6 foot chinese man got on the bus and at first sat at the front of the bus and looked a little agitated, but for the most part looked normal. After 30 minutes, he went outside for a cigarette break during a rest stop, according to passangers, Li was looking very agitated at this point and upset over something. As he came back to the bus, he glared for a new seat on the bus.
Li was looking for a victim and he needed to find a convenient and easy victim to find. He noticed Tim McLean sitting in the back, one row ahead of the bathroom. The row behind him was vacant and made for an easy target.
Li decided to sit by Tim’s row, Tim acknowledged Li and gave him a grin and hand, gesturing him to sit by his row. He had his headphones in and fell asleep. For the first few minutes, passengers heard Li saying Chinese chants in a low deep voice constantly again and again.
McLean was sleeping with his head slouched by the window pane, headphones in, and barely acknowledged Li who sat right next to him. The bus went on to drive and the sun had began to set.
After about 10 minutes a blood curdling scream was heard from the back of the bus, witnesses turned their heads to see a horrible scene, Li was continously slashing and stabbing McLean on the neck and chest!
One witness recalled that Li stabbed the victim in an emotionless-like manner, he stabbed McLean at least 12 times in a robotic styled fashion. McLean kept screaming in agony and blood was splattering around the nearby bus seats.
At this point, a passenger alerted the bus driver and ordered him to stop and evacuate everyone from the bus, this had happened shortly after. Li, aware of the evacuation, attempted to run out of the bus with his large hunting knife but was locked inside by the bus driver. He attempted to break through the main bus door but was not successful. He was constantly pounding the bus door glass to no avail.
Two passengers alongside the driver of the bus tried to check up on McLean and possibly save him from the monstrous killer. The three men bravely reboarded the bus in a bid to quickly retrieve McLean, but upon arrival McLean was covered all over in blood and was clearly dead. They were then chased away by Li with his knife, thus the Driver of the bus initiated the emergency lock down of the bus, rendering the bus inoperable and locked out.
Vincent Li now began decapitating the dead body of McLean, and was observed cutting off his legs and arms. He was observed defiling McLean’s corpse and ripped apart his entrails, removed his eyes, cut off his ears, toungue and other parts. This is where things get bizarrely scary, he began consuming McLean’s flesh including his both eyes and part of his heart!
When the police came
At 8:00 pm, the Canadian royal mounted police heard reports of the stabbing on the bus and headed to the crime scene. Li was seen pacing back and forth in the bus holding up the severed head of McLean in a parade like fashion. It was one of the most bizarre murder scenes and scariest moments at the same time.
Negotiators and Swat team attempted to get Li out of the bus but he refused. Eventually, after two hours, he attempted escape by breaking the side window and sprinting out of the bus but was quickly arrested and tased by authorities.
When the forensics teams arrived
When forensics teams entered the bus they were struck with nightmares of the badly cut up and mangled body of Timothy McLean. Upon searching Li’s pockets, McLean’s nose and ears were found! His eyes and heart were missing, likely digested in the stomach contents.
What happened to Vincent Li afterwards?
As gruesome as the case was, Vincent Weiguang Li, the killer of Timothy McLean, was sent to court and because he was diagnosed with mental schizophrenia, he was not liable for the crime and sent to mental treatment facilitiy in 2009. In an interview in 2012, Li spoke for the first time, saying that he began hearing “the voice of God” in 2004 and that he wanted to save the people from an alien attack.
In 2013, he was allowed to leave the facilitiy for short periods of time in the public (world) and given medication. In February 2017, he was permanently released from the mental facility and changed his name to Will Baker.
What was going on in Vincent Li’s life before the murder?
Vincent Li was living in Edmonton where he had first moved in 2006, abruptly leaving his wife alone in Winnipeg, though she joined him later. His jobs included service at a Wal-Mart, at a fast-food restaurant, and newspaper delivery. His delivery boss, Vincent Augert, described Li as reliable, hard-working and not showing any signs of trouble.
Four weeks before the killing, Li was fired from Wal-Mart following a “disagreement” with other employees. Shortly before the incident, Li asked for time off from his delivery job to go to Winnipeg for a job interview.
Whatever Happened That Day, It Shattered The Lives Of Many
Because of the Greyhound bus incident, many passengers were mentally scared for their life. A mother’s daughter was sent to child protection services because she was diagnosed with PTSD after the traumatic incident she witnessed. Another passenger on the bus committed suicide in 2015, after the incident put him in an external depression. Even forensics and detectives cleaning up the body reported nightmares.