Mike on Crime (26 page)

“This is as close to beyond a reasonable doubt as you can get. There's no contradictory evidence here,” Li's lawyer, Alan Libman, told Queen's Bench Justice John Scurfield during a brief closing argument.

Prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn said her department had a duty to raise the issue of criminal responsibility even though it is controversial with the public. “Almost every member of the public has said ‘That guy is crazy, he needs to be locked up,'” she said. “The Crown can't ask this court to convict Li of second-degree murder when all evidence points to him being not criminally responsible. He was not able to appreciate the nature of his actions due to his delusional thinking. He was not able to determine right from wrong.”

Dalmyn said it was also obvious Li was not close to being ready for release back into the community. “It's clear from the evidence called... Mr. Li, at this point and time, does pose a risk to the public and himself,” she said.

Dr. Jonathan Rootenberg, a forensic psychiatrist who met with Li at the request of his lawyers, told court that he believed Li didn't know what he was doing on board the Greyhound bus. “He certainly didn't know it was wrong. He was quite psychotic during that time period,” Rootenberg said. He said Li likely didn't view McLean as a human being as he attacked him. “He viewed the unfortunate victim as a demon. He believes it wasn't his hands doing that, but it was God's hands, through him.”

He called Li a good candidate for treatment because he didn't have any history of substance abuse or anti-social disorders, which were often psychotic triggers for people who have schizophrenia. Rootenberg added that Li had responded well to medical treatment and therapy but would always have to be watched closely to protect against a relapse. “He is in the very early stages of being treated. He definitely represents a significant risk at this point,” he said.

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2009

Some had called for the return of the death penalty. Others had advocated something even worse. But in the end, a Manitoba judge said there was only one outcome to the tragic Greyhound murder case.

“Clearly there is a logical reason for the law, and indeed for society, to distinguish between persons who are sane and those who are not,” Justice John Scurfield said as he found Vince Li not criminally responsible. “Persons who are profoundly ill do not have the mental capacity to intentionally commit a crime. The goal of criminal law is to punish criminals, not persons who have a severe mental illness,” he said.

Li showed no emotion at the verdict and was quietly led away by sheriff's officers.

“These grotesque acts are appalling. However, the acts themselves and the context in which they were committed are strongly suggestive of a mental disorder. He did not appreciate the actions he committed were morally wrong. He believed he was acting in self-defence,” said Scurfield. The judge said he believed Li still posed a “significant” risk to reoffend if he were to be quickly released or stop taking his medication. “No doubt that factor, together with Mr. Li's history of extreme violence, will weigh heavily on any future application for release from a secure institution,” he said. Li would now be housed in a secure mental health facility indefinitely to continue treatment for schizophrenia.

“He is getting away with murder,” McLean's older sister, Vana Smart, told said outside court. “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.”

The victim's father, Tim McLean Sr., proudly showed off a tattoo on his chest of his son's face and the words “Tim McLean Forever Loved.” “Knowing that the killer might get out sometime soon is very hard. This isn't the right result. We'll do what we can to ensure nobody gets hurt again,” he said.

Vince Li claimed it was inner turmoil that triggered him to briefly get off a Greyhound bus in western Manitoba only to resume his journey 24 hours later and brutally kill an innocent passenger he believed was an “evil force.” Now, the young man who encountered the mentally ill Li in the community of Erickson was again thankful he escaped unharmed.

Darren Beatty, 15, said he was stunned by the evidence that emerged during Li's trial. “Now that I look back... that's pretty scary,” said Beatty.

Li claimed God began commanding him to burn and sell many of his possessions—including a laptop computer he was carrying.

“I thought he was just hard up for money. I didn't realize he wanted to get rid of all his things,” Beatty said.

Beatty first spotted Li during the evening of July 29 as he bicycled by, then again on the morning of July 30 on his way to work as a gas jockey at a local gas station. During his coffee break, Beatty eyed the computer lying out for sale. Li had placed it on the sidewalk with a sign saying $600 O.B.O. Beatty proposed paying just $100 for the laptop, then $50. Li said he wanted at least $70, but then dropped his price down to $60.

“Now that I look back, he was changing his mind really fast, from $600 down to $60,” said Beatty, who went to a local bank, withdrew cash and returned to Li to buy the computer. Li shook his hand, and the deal was done. Li also tried to sell him a computer bag for $35, but ultimately gave it to him for free when the teen said he didn't have any more money. Beatty went home and realized he didn't have the password to open the computer. He returned to the bench and got it from Li, who told him if he had any other problems to come back and talk to him. Beatty learned of the crime the following day when RCMP officers who were retracing Li's steps found out about the computer sale and seized it from him.

Beatty said the computer contained resumes with the name Vince Weiguang Li at the top. There were also photos of fighter jets and female Chinese models, he said. The laptop contained school schedules, job resumes, emails written in Chinese and innocuous nature photos. Beatty was surprised to hear in court that Li had the murder weapon on him the entire time after purchasing it from a Canadian Tire store in Edmonton, apparently under God's orders. Beatty never saw the knife and said he's tried to not ponder what could have been. “I don't really want to think about it too much,” he said.

MONDAY JUNE 1, 2009

It was the first step on his journey back into society. But fears that Vince Li could taste freedom almost immediately were quickly put to rest at his first annual review board hearing. Dr. Stanley Yaren told the provincial panel Li was still a risk to the public, and himself, and should be locked up indefinitely at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. “I'm advocating the highest level of security possible,” Yaren said in the much-anticipated placement hearing to determine Li's immediate future. “Not because I see him as an imminent risk, but because he hasn't been tested in a less-restrictive environment. He has been functioning in an extremely controlled and regimented environment.” Yaren was the only witness called to testify.

The review board on his case had three options—immediately release Li into the community with no conditions, grant him a conditional discharge or keep him in a secured mental health facility.

Yaren said that Li had not had any “active psychotic symptoms” for the past 12 weeks. He was also willingly taking his medication and had shown some remorse for his crime, especially after hearing victim impact statements read aloud by his lawyers. “He was quite affected. We spent time with him over the weekend to ensure he was coping,” said Yaren. “Now his thought processes are organized. He is no longer tormented by voices and he is beginning to understand what his illness is all about.”

He said Li's typical day included plenty of quiet reading in his room, including a Chinese Bible he requested shortly after he was admitted. Li also enjoyed playing cards and watching movies. Yaren warned board members that Li would always be at risk for a relapse, regardless of treatment. And he said a psychotic episode “could be” as severe as the one he experienced while killing McLean.

McLean's mother, Carol deDelley, struggled to keep her composure as she read her statement aloud. “My heart completely shattered and I ached to the core of my soul,” deDelley said about her son's death. She constantly thinks of the gory details and how “my son's lifeless head with vacant eyes was being tossed around that bus” by Li. Other family members, including McLean's stepmother and uncle, described a “waking nightmare” and ongoing trauma they were experiencing.

The Greyhound bus driver, Bruce Martin, filed a statement that was read aloud by his lawyer. He had not returned to work and said he constantly thinks about the horror he witnessed and the impact on McLean's family. “Sometimes I feel gut-wrenching pain,” he wrote.

MONDAY MAY 30, 2011

It was two years later. And Vince Li was being described as a model patient making such rapid progress that his treatment team was recommending extended privileges that would eventually include escorted leaves outside the Selkirk Mental Health Centre.

“The treatment team has had absolutely no difficulties,” Dr. Steven Kremer said at the third annual review board hearing. He said Li knows that going off his meds would “make him vulnerable to the deterioration of his schizophrenia.”

There had been no breaches by Li with the previous year's ruling that saw him receiving outdoor passes twice daily from his locked forensic unit to walk on hospital grounds, provided there was a 3:1 ratio of supervision.

The decision was not without controversy and had prompted the provincial government to make several security upgrades, including designating 11 of the mental health centre's security people as special constables following 40 hours of special training and other requirements. Two special constables and a health centre staffer were required to accompany Li on his walks. The centre also had installed $400,000 in security equipment upgrades, including more video surveillance and access controls throughout the property. Kremer was now suggesting a 2:1 ration of supervision, which would gradually give way to 1:1. Kremer said Li would then be allowed to participate in group outings on the grounds of Selkirk in which one staff member would supervise three patients at a time. The next step would be escorted passes out of the facility.

MONDAY MAY 14, 2012

Forget the short, supervised strolls on hospital grounds. Vince Li was about to take his biggest leap yet as he made his fourth annual appearance before the Criminal Code review board. His treatment team was now making two major recommendations, neither of which the Crown opposed.

The first proposal involved giving Li extended privileges within the Selkirk facility, based on the rapid progress he was making while receiving medical care. In the past year, he had been allowed passes out of his locked forensic unit to walk on hospital grounds under the direct supervision of a peace officer. Now, doctors say he was doing so well with the daily 60-to-90-minute walks, he should be allowed general supervision like any other patient at the hospital.

The second proposal involved allowing Li to take 30-minute excursions within Selkirk away from the hospital, provided he was accompanied at all times by a peace officer and a nurse. His doctors said those passes could be extended by up to 15 minutes a week, provided there were no incidents and he continued to make great strides. The community would not be given any notice about where or when he would be let out. In fact, his doctors suggested the accompanying peace officers be allowed to wear ordinary clothes to avoid drawing attention to Li.

DeDelley attended this latest hearing wearing a white T-shirt bearing her slain son's photo. She said it now seemed inevitable Li would regain his full freedom in the near future and called it “ironic and ridiculous” that the mental health system that failed to properly protect society from Li was now recommending he slowly be reintegrated into society. “Letting him go puts the rest of the public at risk,” she said.

Li's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Steven Kremer, told the review board Li was still on medication and experiencing no symptoms or hallucinations. He had been diagnosed as having a 0.8 per cent chance of violently reoffending in the next seven years, according to risk assessments done on him. “The privileges being asked for... would not place the public at high risk,” Kremer told the board. “He has done very well. He has been a robust responder. He understands if he were not to take his medication, he would experience a deterioration.”

Li had improved his English and taken several occupational therapy programs, including job training and meal preparation. Crown attorney Susan Helenchilde said she had no grounds to oppose the recommendations.

“The Crown may not be opposed, but I certainly am,” deDelley said.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Another year—and another major step. It was time to loosen the reins. That was the opinion of Vince Li's treatment team at his sixth annual review board hearing. Three key recommendations were made, and ultimately accepted by the panel. Li would now be allowed unescorted passes into the city of Selkirk, on an incremental basis. Currently, Li had allowed off-site only while escorted. He had taken more than 100 such leaves into Selkirk without incident, the court heard. Li would be allowed more relaxed escorted passes into Winnipeg. Currently, Li must be given one-to-one supervision. Dr. Steven Kremer recommended Li be placed under “general supervision,” which would be one worker for every three patients. Li would be moved from a locked facility at Selkirk into a more relaxed, unlocked facility.

As usual, the Crown wasn't objecting to the recommendations. “Mr. Li has done everything that's been asked of him,” prosecutor Susan Helenchilde told court. She conceded her department is in a difficult position given it represents the public and Li's actions were so brutal. “This is one of the most ghoulish tragedies in Canadian history,” she said. However, Helenchilde conceded Li's best interests must be considered following his not-criminally responsible finding in court.