The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Canada bus killer says he believed the victim was alien

By 윤민식

Published : May 23, 2012 - 17:10

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A Chinese immigrant who beheaded and cannibalized a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in western Canada four years ago thought he was attacking an alien, according to a mental health advocate who interviewed him.

Vince Weiguang Li (second from left) Vince Weiguang Li (second from left)


In 2009, Vince Li was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness for the death of Tim McLean, a 22-year-old carnival worker who was sitting next to him on a bus traveling near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. McLean had his eyes closed and was listening to music on his headphones when Li suddenly stood up and started stabbing him. As the bus stopped and horrified passengers fled, Li carved up McLean's body, ate portions of it, and displayed the victim's head to some passengers outside the bus.

After the judge's ruling, Li was placed in a locked wing of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. Initially, he was not allowed outside, but over the years he has gained more freedom. Last week, a Criminal Code review board decided that Li can start having escorted trips off the hospital grounds and into the nearby city of Selkirk.

The ruling sparked renewed outrage from some members of the public, prompting Chris Summerville, head of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society, to conduct a 45-minute interview with Li last weekend with the hope of shedding light on his progress. Summerville has met with Li roughly every two months over the last four years.

``(Li feels) remorse, a degree of humility _ I know a lot of people won't believe that _ regret and a sense of torment,'' Summerville said Tuesday. ``He understands now that schizophrenia is a mental illness which plays tricks on the brain. He knows that the medication works to keep the voices away.'' (AP)

<관련 한글 기사>


버스승객을 '외계인'으로 착각해 살해!


4년전에 버스에 앉아있다가 옆자리의 승객을 살해해 이슈가 되었던 캐나다인이 살해동기를 ‘피해자가 외계인인줄 알았기 때문’이라고 밝혀 화제가 되고 있다.

2008년 캐나다를 경악시켰던 이 사건의 범인 빈스 웨이광 리 (43)는 캐나다 정신분열증 학회와의 인터뷰에서 피해자인 팀 멕린 씨 (사건 당시 22세)가 우주 외계인이라고 믿었으며 그를 살해하라는 ‘신의 목소리’를 들었다고 말했다.

리는 망상형정신분열증 진단을 받고 정신병원에서 치료를 받고 있다.

“그 목소리는 제가 성경의 세번째 이야기이며 예수의 재림 같은 것이라고 말해주었고…. 제가 그 (피해자)를 살해하지 않으면 그가 다른 사람들을 몰살시킬 것이라고 말했습니다,”라고 리는 말했다.

그는 더 이상 ‘신의 목소리’를 믿지 않는다며 범행에 대해 “정말 죄송하다”고 말했다.

피해자의 부모와 가족에게 할 말이 없느냐는 질문에 그는 “용서를 구하겠지만 (그들이) 받아들이기 힘들 것이란 것을 안다”고 밝혔다.

리는 사건에 대한 재판 직전에 열린 청문회에서 “제발 죽여달라”고 간청한 것으로 알려졌다.