Tim McLean was described by all who knew him as the friendliest person you could ever meet. His parents were Carol de Delley and Timothy McLean Sr.
He grew up in the farming community of Elie, Manitoba, outside Winnipeg. Even as a child, he was eager to interact with everyone around him. Family members would also describe him as someone with a strong connection to family and friends, given that he grew up in an environment of family gatherings and similar activities.
He also reportedly enjoyed pulling pranks on everyone. Despite a cheeky streak as a boy, relatives emphasised that Tim had a natural ability to make people feel comfortable around him.
As he grew into adulthood, McLean began exploring job opportunities. He frequently took work that allowed him to earn money while experiencing new things. He fit quite well with travelling carnivals. In his role as a baker, he also attracted people to the rides.
During his young adult years, McLean began a relationship with Colleen Yestrau. The couple was expecting a child when he was tragically killed. Family members later said Tim was excited about becoming a father and talked about their plans for the future.
A Random Moment of Extreme Violence
Tim McLean boarded bus 1170 to Winnipeg at about 12.01 pm on 30 July 2008. He had been working in Alberta and was exhausted after a night out. It was a 22-hour ride home, so Tim brought some headphones and a playlist to keep him busy.
Later that day at 6.55 pm, the bus stopped at Erickson, Manitoba. A 40-year-old immigrant named Vince Li boarded the bus. At about 8 pm, the bus pulled into a rest stop, where Vince Li got out to have a smoke.
When he reboarded, he changed seats, heading back toward Tim McLean. Tim was sitting in the second row from the back, in the window seat. The seat to his left was empty. When Vince made eye contact with him, Tim flashed him a smile and gestured for him to feel free to sit.
Tim then rested his head against the window, trying to snooze for the remainder of the journey while listening to music on his headphones. Up until then, Vince’s behaviour was nothing out of the ordinary. He appeared to everyone around him as largely non-threatening.
Then someone across the aisle later said that he began fidgeting and muttering under his breath. It sounded like a Chinese chant. Almost like a prayer. Nothing alarming.
Then it erupted all at once as Vince pulled a large Bowie knife from his backpack and stabbed Tim in the neck. Tim screamed awake from the blow and tried to fight off the attack.
Vince Li continued stabbing him relentlessly like a man possessed. Passengers screamed for the driver to stop the bus. They rushed for the front door in a frenzy as an oblivious Vince pulled Tim to the floor and continued to stab him.
The bus screamed to a halt, and passengers frantically got out. The driver and two others tried to rescue Tim, but Vince brandished the blade at them, slashing in their direction. Fearing for their lives, they, too, got off the bus.
As the more than 30 passengers of Greyhound bus 1170 stood on the TransCanada highway, an hour west of Winnipeg, they watched in horror as Vince Li decapitated Tim McLean with the Bowie knife.
Vince then stood looking at the passengers in the street with the bowie knife in one hand and the severed head in the other.
People fainted, others vomited, while some teens tried to get video footage of the macabre sight with their phones. Trucker Chris Alguire was driving through the area and stopped to help. He supplied crowbars and hammers to help defend the passengers from the madman on the bus.
Vince began making his way to the front, but the driver, Chris, and another bus passenger acted fast to secure the door so he couldn’t get out and start hurting the passengers on the highway.
As the door slammed shut, Vince was able to put his hand through the slit, slashing wildly at the three men. After ensuring the door was shut, the men put some distance between themselves and the bus. Police were en route, but the men had no way of knowing how long it would take them to get there.
Vince then paraded Tim’s head up and down the aisle of the bus, showing it to the passengers outside. He then took the knife and began cutting into Tim’s chest. Vince took out his heart, lungs, and liver before ripping out his intestines.
He strung them out all over the bus, while the other passengers watched helplessly. In full view of the passengers, he also ate Tim’s eyes and some of his heart.
Vince had also brought plastic bags with him. These were to store the organs that he had previously laid out in the bus. It was as if he had planned to take some of the organs to go.
At 9 pm, law enforcement arrived on the scene. They contained the scene and tried to negotiate with Vince. He refused, claiming he had to remain on that bus forever, before continuing to dissect the already desecrated body.
At 1.30 am, after hours of reasoning with him, Vince made a break for it after smashing one of the windows. He was quickly tased and subdued.
The police found Tim’s ears, nose, and tongue in Vince’s pockets. Vince, who had injured himself during the entire incident, was taken to the hospital. The bus passengers were also interviewed. Even their clothes were taken and replaced because everything on the bus leading up to the violent incident was considered evidence.
Carol was then informed about what happened to her son. She was devastated.
Who was Vince Li
The severe violence triggered questions about the identity of the madman on the bus. Vince was born in Dangdong, China, on 30 April 1968
He was the secondborn of three children. Though his parents’ names are not available from public records, his mother was a maths teacher, and his father was a custodian.
Vince encountered many challenges from childbirth, as he was born one month premature. He was also sickly for most of his childhood. Records suggest that he exhibited developmental delays, which made him start elementary school late.
He caught up, and Vince began studying automotive engineering at the Wuhan Institute. He graduated with a degree in computing in 1992.
Vince met a woman named Anna while working in a factory in Beijing. He married her in June 1995. His wife indicated that he displayed no signs of mental illness for the entirety of their life together.
He immigrated to Canada in 2001 under the Federal Skilled Program. At one point, he worked at Grant Memorial Church doing odd jobs to support himself and his wife. Vince even became a Christian and got baptised.
Tom Castor, the church’s pastor, said he had no problems with Vince. He did note a language barrier. “I think he would occasionally feel frustrated with not being able to communicate or understand.”
His court psychiatrist, Stanley Yaren, would later reveal that Vince said he became a Christian and was baptised after he heard the ‘voice of God’, instructing him to do so. The voice said he was the third story of the Bible and the second coming of Jesus Christ, sent to save them from an alien invasion.
He quit his job at the church in early spring 2005. It was amicable. Vince then became a forklift driver while his wife took a job as a waitress. He had no problems at this job, but he also quit it the same year.
Vince’s marriage then deteriorated, and he separated from Anna. Though the cause is not known. He then started working for Wal-Mart in 2006 while also delivering newspapers to supplement his income.
Four weeks before the fateful bus ride, he was terminated from his position at Walmart due to issues with another employee.
He went to Winnipeg on July 28 for a job interview. The next day, Vince got off the bus in Erickson. Witnesses say that he had three pieces of luggage. He spent the night on a bench, staring up at the sky for hours. The next day, he sold his computer to a child for only $60.
Police would later confiscate the same laptop as evidence and offer the boy a replacement for his honesty.
Medical examiners determined that Vince Li was an undiagnosed schizophrenic who did not have access to the right medication for his condition.
The Trial
Vince Li’s trial began on March 3, 2009, and he was only brought on charges of second-degree murder. Vince pleaded that he was not criminally responsible for the death of Tim McLean because of mental instability.
When the judge asked if he wanted a lawyer, Vince shook his head and then said, ‘Please kill me.’
Following a psychological assessment, Stanley indicated that his state of mind during the attack rendered him incapable of being criminally responsible. Vince told Stanley he believed Tim was a demon or an alien who needed to be vanquished. That was why he felt it was necessary to dismember the body and prevent it from ever animating.
He said he felt pressure to attack Tim McLean. Voices that he thought were from God. Both the defence and the prosecution agreed on the psychiatrist’s assessment.
John Scurfield, the judge, accepted this diagnosis and determined that Vince be remanded to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre for an indefinite period.
Neither the family nor the bus passengers were called to the stand as witnesses for either the defence or the prosecution.
Aftermath
After spending seven years being treated at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, Vince was allowed to move to Winnipeg to be treated at the Health Sciences Centre. He also changed his name to Will Lee Baker.
Baker was also permitted to enter independent living, but only on the condition of abiding by certain regulations. These included taking medication and attending therapy sessions.
Chris Summerville, the CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, expressed confidence that Baker would be able to successfully re-integrate into the society.
“We’ve seen — and I’ve seen — face-to-face, person-to-person, heart-to-heart, his ability to recover, that is, to learn to live beyond the limitations of his mental illness, with a sense of purpose and hope.”
There were dissenting views, of course. Matt Logan, who is a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, believed that Baker’s complete discharge would not be in the interest of the public. He preferred a conditional discharge that entailed requirements for further surveillance.
He emphasised, “I am concerned about a relapse. I’m concerned about a lack of insight in the taking of medications.”
Will Lee Baker was given an absolute discharge on February 10, 2017. This was approved by the Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board in Winnipeg. It meant no legal restrictions or monitoring of his whereabouts. He was also not required to report to doctors under the justice system.
Carol De Delley said she thought it was the worst thing that could happen after everything, “Vince Li committed one of the most horrific murders in Canadian history, and has faded back into society. My son is still dead.”
