Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Greyhound Bus Beheader Vince Li Allowed Off Institute Grounds Already


key2thecup

Recommended Posts

Instead of all the bickering, why don't we trust the medical experts who came to this decision? They clearly know much more than any of us, and unless anyone here is an expert, we should trust their decision. Yes, we are all entitled to opinions, but lets put our trust in experts who are certified to come to these decisions. If they feel he is in good enough mental shape to be released slowly, then so be it.

It was a horrible and gruesome incident. But seriously, how often does this happen? We are acting like it happens all the time. The people involved in the case obviously know of the risks that can arise from releasing Mr. Li. But with that in mind, they came to a decision because of his progression that they are much more intimate with than we are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the medical experts and the law were trustworthy he wouldn't have been out in the streets sans meds before he decided to decapitate and then begin to eat his fellow bus traveller.

Heck, if the medical experts and the law were doing anything reasonable about mental illness the population of the DTES would be cut in half.

Back in the day they used to put people with mental illness into mental hospitals as a default practice. Now they do the "compassionate" thing and let them instead enjoy life down on the DTES where they can see your mental illness and raise you a drug addiction.

Perhaps the reason we don't trust the medical experts is that their expertise hasn't exactly done all that much for the severly mentally ill or the rest of the public.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the medical experts and the law were trustworthy he wouldn't have been out in the streets sans meds before he decided to decapitate and then begin to eat his fellow bus traveller.

Heck, if the medical experts and the law were doing anything reasonable about mental illness the population of the DTES would be cut in half.

Back in the day they used to put people with mental illness into mental hospitals as a default practice. Now they do the "compassionate" thing and let them instead enjoy life down on the DTES where they can see your mental illness and raise you a drug addiction.

Perhaps the reason we don't trust the medical experts is that their expertise hasn't exactly done all that much for the severly mentally ill or the rest of the public.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The medical experts and law enforcement all (pretty much) agree that most of the DTES should be in treatment in a mental facility. It's not their recommendation that they be on the street. It's a matter of a government stepping up and providing the funding to treat them.

And you don't know someone's a danger until it is too late in most cases.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"He has 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."

I am very skeptical of statements like this, but then, I am very skeptical of psychiatry/psychology 'experts' in general.

I understand that he was ruled not criminally responsible for his actions that day. But if there is even a remote possibility of this man escaping/reoffending, he should be kept away from the public for good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who's going to pay for new hospitals to take the mentally ill and make sure they are supervised? That costs money.

Of course the Conservatives and BC Lieberals would rather waste your tax money, than put it to good use.

Maybe politicians fear if we have a good mental health system they'd be discovered that they are the ones that ought to be locked up.

As the song Daymare by The Engimas goes:

"They are sickly, crude and bent, and they sit in Parliament!"

"They've got limited vision, but they're making your decisions!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who's going to pay for new hospitals to take the mentally ill and make sure they are supervised? That costs money.

Of course the Conservatives and BC Lieberals would rather waste your tax money, than put it to good use.

Maybe politicians fear if we have a good mental health system they'd be discovered that they are the ones that ought to be locked up.

As the song Daymare by The Engimas goes:

"They are sickly, crude and bent, and they sit in Parliament!"

"They've got limited vision, but they're making your decisions!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'I don't hear voices' Vince Li says

By: Gordon Sinclair Jr.

Posted: 1:00 AM | Comments: 253 (including replies) | Last Modified: 11:12 AM | Updates

4091582.jpg

Enlarge Image

Vince Li says he believed Tim McLean was an alien when he killed him on a Greyhound bus near Portage la Prairie in 2008.

Vince Li understands why people are still afraid of him.

He remembers what happened on a Greyhound bus bound for Winnipeg during that midsummer's nightmare in 2008.

But now that he is medicated for his illness, the aliens he was afraid of have disappeared, the voices he heard are silent, and he is aware of why it happened on a different level.

Painfully aware.

"I try to forget it... I feel nervous. I feel painful. I am embarrassed. It was wrong."

Li spoke those words last weekend when, for the first time in the nearly four years since he made international headlines for the horrifying psychosis-induced beheading of fellow Greyhound passenger Tim McLean, Li granted an interviewfor release to the media.

Li also said he feels sorry for what he did and what it has done to McLean's family.

"I would do anything for their family. I would ask forgiveness, but I know it would be hard to accept."

The interview was conducted Sunday at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre by Chris Summerville, CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, who said he has spoken with Li once every two months, on average, since Li's confinement began nearly four years ago. Li will remain in Selkirk until a review board judges him fit to be released. He was granted temporary passes last week by a review board to take supervised walks in Selkirk.

The interview was held in the foyer of Selkirk's forensics unit. Summerville and Li separately had to go through two sets of locked doors to meet in the foyer.

The contents of the interview were supplied exclusively Monday to the Free Press. Read it below.

With Li's written permission, Summerville released the "formal" portion of the 45-minute interview because, the Winnipeg-based mental-health executive said, he feels "Mr. Li's story needs to be told."

"What we have here," Summerville added in an email that accompanied the interview, "are two victims and two families who are victims of untreated, uncontrolled psychosis."

Summerville further explained why he had decided Li's story should be part of the broader conversation on the not-criminally-responsible debate being driven, in part, by McLean's mother, Carol de Delley, who is championing the so-called Tim's Law, which would keep people judged not criminally responsible for a homicide confined for life.

"There are no easy answers to the many-faceted questions that bombard both families and the media," Summerville said.

"However, I think the media have been more favourable to the McLean family, probably because public sentiment is on their side and we as a country have entered a period of 'tough on crime,' with little attention paid to restorative justice, rehabilitation, recovery and redemption, or the influence and role of mental illness in this particular most unfortunate incident."

Summerville also added this:

"Before I do any interview regarding the Greyhound bus tragedy, I always ask myself, 'What if it had been my 25-year-old daughter?'

"My sympathy to Ms. de Delley and her family is real. And yet, I also ask, 'What if it had been my son who had killed Tim McLean in such a ghastly and grotesque fashion?' I hope that such self-questioning softens my response to the many questions I have been asked about my personal and professional knowledge of Mr. Li."

Summerville brought Li a Chinese meal, which they shared prior to the formal portion of the interview.

"Mr. Li was soft-spoken, using simple English as English is not his first language," Summerville said. "His answers were rather direct and succinct, revealing a person who has given much contemplation to this tragedy and his guilt."

This is the interview conducted, edited and supplied by Summerville:

Summerville: Tell me about your background.

Li: I am a 44 years old and grew up in northeastern China in the province of Liaoning.

My mother and father are still living. I have an older brother who is a businessman and a younger sister who is a secretary. They know about the Greyhound bus situation, but my mother and father do not.

My wife and I immigrated to Winnipeg, Canada, in June 2001. I had studied as a computer engineer for four years in China. But I could not find a job in Canada. I worked at McDonald's, Meatland Foods and at Grant Memorial Baptist Church.

Do you have a spirituality?

I believe in Jesus Christ. He is my saviour. I try to follow God.

When did you begin to experience schizophrenia?

In 2004. I didn't know what it was. I now know what it is. I began to hear voices that normal people do not hear. I thought I heard the voice of God telling me to write down my journey. The voice told me that I was the third story of the Bible. That I was like the second coming of Jesus. I was to save people from a space-alien attack. That is why I travelled around the country. I am not sure of all the places I went to. I now know that it was schizophrenia I was suffering from.

Why did you do what you did on the bus?

I bought a knife at Canadian Tire. I bought it for any emergency for the journey to protect myself from the aliens. I was really scared... I believed he was an alien. The voices told me to kill him. That he would kill me or others. I do not believe this now. It was totally wrong. It was my fault. I sinned. But it was the schizophrenia.

What else do you remember about the incident?

I try to forget it. I try to stay busy here. It is painful to think about.

How do you feel about what happened?

I feel nervous. I feel painful. I am embarrassed. It was wrong.

Do you understand why people are scared of you?

Yes. I don't think I will ever do it again. I didn't know at that time I had schizophrenia. Now I do.

What would you say to Ms. de Delley and Tim McLean's family?

I am really sorry for what I did. If I could talk to her directly, I would do anything for their family. I would ask forgiveness, but I know it would be hard to accept.

How has the time been at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre?

I know that I suffer from schizophrenia. The treatment team gives me a chance to recover, to be normal. I am glad to be taking the medication.

Do you think you are getting better?

Yes. My thinking is becoming normal. I don't think weird things. I take my medication, Olanzapine, every day. I am glad to take it. I don't have any weird voices anymore.

How do we know you will take your medication when you get out on your own?

I would be glad to be under a treatment order, because medication helps me. It is very important. I don't want to do what I did ever again.

How does it make you feel that most people do not think you should get a pass to walk around in Selkirk? Do you understand their fear?

I understand people are scared because of my behaviour on the Greyhound bus. I am not at risk for anybody. I don't believe in aliens. I don't hear voices. I would call my doctor if I heard voices again. Yes, I understand their fear.

Some say the RCMP should have killed you that night.

I should have been killed at that time. I still believe that. But I am thankful that the RCMP didn't.

What is schizophrenia? What are you learning?

It is hearing voices or having delusions. You don't know what is real. I need to take medication on time. I also have to have meaningful activity, something to do. I have to learn how to handle stress.

What helps you deal with stress?

Taking my medication. Exercising and doing Bible study with the chaplain here.

Do you have side-effects from the medication?

Yes. I sleep too much. I feel tired a lot and I have gained some weight.

Do you believe you should be under a treatment order?

I should be here. I should be under a treatment order.

If you ever got out of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, what would you do?

I hope to leave one day, but I have to make sure it wouldn't happen again. That there would be no voices. I would change my name to be anonymous. But I would still be in touch with my doctor.

What do you think of Tim's Law, that any mentally insane person who kills someone would never be released?

I don't think so, that that should happen. Mental illness is an illness. It is treatable. My schizophrenia is not the real me, but it is an illness.

How would you know you were getting sick again?

Hearing voices, stopping my medication and starting to believe in aliens. God would not tell me to do something bad.

How do you feel about what you are reading in the newspapers?

I don't read the papers because I don't want to be reminded of what happened on the Greyhound bus because it was so bad and wrong.

Are you happy?

No.

Will you ever be happy?

No. I can never forget the Greyhound bus.

Any final words?

I would like to say to Tim McLean's mother: 'I am sorry for killing your son. I am sorry for the pain I have caused. I wished I could reduce that pain.'

Summerville added this as a postscript:

As we ended the interview, I could see the moisture in Mr. Li's eyes. It is remarkable the insight Mr. Li has. It is even more remarkable the positive effects of the medication. Up to 25 per cent of people who will have a psychotic break with reality will never experience another psychotic episode. Up to 65 per cent will experience a degree of recovery in order to live a meaningful life. Ten per cent will take their life by suicide due to the losses associated with schizophrenia.

Of the 300,000 people in Canada who live with some form of schizophrenia, the vast majority lead quiet, law-abiding lives hoping for some quality of life. People living with schizophrenia are more likely to be victims of violence rather than being perpetrators of violence. Schizophrenia is treatable. Recovery is possible.

<a href="mailto:gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca" style="outline: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; ">gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 22, 2012 B1

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/i-dont-hear-voices-152470665.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This whole mental health issue is a complete load of bs. I feel bad that he has these issues but that doesn't change the fact this guy is an extreme danger to society. If at any moment he can snap and attack someone who is sleeping in such a brutal manner. In my opinion he should be put down like a dog. Not because he deserves it but because he's too much of a threat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This whole mental health issue is a complete load of bs. I feel bad that he has these issues but that doesn't change the fact this guy is an extreme danger to society. If at any moment he can snap and attack someone who is sleeping in such a brutal manner. In my opinion he should be put down like a dog. Not because he deserves it but because he's too much of a threat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Deep down i almost feel bad for the man.I haven't had the disease nor am I close to anyone who has, so I shouldn't be commenting, but just from his description of what he went through in that time is disturbing.

The fact that he admitted that this even could happen again publically, and it could be a different victim at the hands of him tells me he's at least knowledgeable of his condition, but under no circumstance should be let out into the public without some sort of security.

On a side note, other than this incident, how are Greyhounds in general? safe? comfortable? would you reccomend it for a 12 hour trip?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He will live with what he did for the rest of his life.

I've known people who have suffered with one form of mental illness or another.

One guy told me about himself, about the voices he heard and the terrible things they kept telling him to do.

Lucky for him his sister was taking nursing and recognized some of his symptoms from classes she was taking - lucky that she convinced him to seek help - which he did - and now leads a fairly normal life.

Vince Li didn't have that.

He's needs forgiveness. He needs a second chance.

Like I said - he will live with what he did for the rest of his life.

Yes, some people will have doubts - like maybe he's faking his illness - time will tell...

Remember, he is human, and we humans need to have compassion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...