As horrified travelers watched, a Greyhound Canada bus passenger repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated a young man who was sitting and sleeping beside him, a witness said Thursday.
"There was a bloodcurdling scream. I was just reading my book, and all of a sudden, I heard it," Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, said of the Wednesday night incident west of Portage la Prairie in Manitoba.
"It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you could say," Caton said. "I don't think it will leave me for a while."
"What you saw and what you experienced would shake the most seasoned police officer. And yet I'm told that each of you acted swiftly, calmly and bravely," Colwell said. "As a result, no one else was injured."
The bus was traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was about 45 minutes from its destination when the attack occurred, Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said in Dallas, Texas.
Caton said the victim was sleeping with his head leaning against the window when the attack happened. Caton said he shouted at the other passengers, many of whom also were sleeping, to leave.
"Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that," Caton said.
"And when we all got up, we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy's head. ... When he saw us, he came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn't shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us," Caton said.
Caton told the AP that the attacker didn't sit near the victim when he first got on the bus, about an hour before the attack.
"He sat in the front at first; everything was normal," Caton said. "We went to the next stop, and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting. He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal."
Half an hour later, the attack began, Caton told the AP. "There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy."
UPDATE:
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Manitoba -- The man accused of stabbing, beheading and cannibalizing another man on a Greyhound bus has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after asking for someone to "please kill" him in a Canadian court Wednesday.
Vince Li is charged with second-degree murder in last week's slaying of a 22-year-old carnival worker. Witnesses aboard the bus said the attack appeared to be unprovoked. Li has yet to enter a plea.
Since his arrest, Li has declined to speak to prosecutors and his court-appointed attorney.
After a recess in Wednesday's court proceedings to allow a legal aid attorney to confer with him, the judge asked again if he wanted a lawyer.
The Canadian Press reported that Li shook his head and then quietly said "please kill me."
The Greyhound was traveling along a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, when Li allegedly stabbed Tim McLean dozens of times then decapitated him.
"There was a bloodcurdling scream. I was just reading my book, and all of a sudden, I heard it," Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, said of the Wednesday night incident west of Portage la Prairie in Manitoba.
"It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you could say," Caton said. "I don't think it will leave me for a while."
"What you saw and what you experienced would shake the most seasoned police officer. And yet I'm told that each of you acted swiftly, calmly and bravely," Colwell said. "As a result, no one else was injured."
The bus was traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was about 45 minutes from its destination when the attack occurred, Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said in Dallas, Texas.
Caton said the victim was sleeping with his head leaning against the window when the attack happened. Caton said he shouted at the other passengers, many of whom also were sleeping, to leave.
"Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that," Caton said.
"And when we all got up, we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy's head. ... When he saw us, he came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn't shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us," Caton said.
Caton told the AP that the attacker didn't sit near the victim when he first got on the bus, about an hour before the attack.
"He sat in the front at first; everything was normal," Caton said. "We went to the next stop, and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting. He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal."
Half an hour later, the attack began, Caton told the AP. "There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy."
UPDATE:
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Manitoba -- The man accused of stabbing, beheading and cannibalizing another man on a Greyhound bus has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after asking for someone to "please kill" him in a Canadian court Wednesday.
Vince Li is charged with second-degree murder in last week's slaying of a 22-year-old carnival worker. Witnesses aboard the bus said the attack appeared to be unprovoked. Li has yet to enter a plea.
Since his arrest, Li has declined to speak to prosecutors and his court-appointed attorney.
After a recess in Wednesday's court proceedings to allow a legal aid attorney to confer with him, the judge asked again if he wanted a lawyer.
The Canadian Press reported that Li shook his head and then quietly said "please kill me."
The Greyhound was traveling along a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, when Li allegedly stabbed Tim McLean dozens of times then decapitated him.
