More freedom for Greyhound killer?

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Tim McLean’s mother, Carol de Delley,right, is consoled by her sister, Linda Lamirande, after speaking outside Manitoba Law Courts on Monday afternoon. (JOE BRYKSA/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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   • Li may get passes to visit Selkirk community

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Tim McLean. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

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Vince Li (CP)

He's gone from languishing in a secure locked ward to taking short, supervised strolls on the hospital grounds. Now, Vince Li appears on the verge of making the biggest leap yet in his bid to return to the community.

Li, 44, was found not criminally responsible for the dismemberment killing of Tim McLean on board a Greyhound bus. McLean, 22, was randomly attacked as he slept on the bus near Portage la Prairie in July 2008. A judge ruled Li was suffering hallucinations from untreated schizophrenia at the time of the unprovoked attack.

As the four-year anniversary of the killing approaches, Li is likely days away from receiving temporary passes that will allow him to walk out of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre for visits in the community. He appeared in court Monday afternoon for his annual review board hearing. His treatment team made two major recommendations, neither of which the Crown opposed. The review board will give a written decision later this week.

The first proposal involves giving Li extended privileges within the Selkirk facility, based on the rapid progress he is making while receiving medical care. Since last summer, he has 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 is 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 involves allowing Li to take 30-minute excursions within Selkirk away from the hospital, provided he is accompanied at all times by a peace officer and a nurse. His doctors say those passes can be extended by up to 15 minutes a week, provided there are no incidents and he continues to make great strides. There's no indication the community would 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.

McLean's mother, Carol de Delley, attended Monday's hearing wearing a white T-shirt bearing her slain son's photo. She said it now seems inevitable Li will 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 is now recommending he slowly be reintegrated into society.

"Letting him go puts the rest of the public at risk," she said. De Delley has long been advocating for mentally ill killers such as Li to be held indefinitely in a hospital, regardless of any progress they may show.

Li's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Steven Kremer, told the review board Li is on medication and experiencing no symptoms or hallucinations. 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.

"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."

Kremer and another psychiatrist described Li as a model patient who has had no incidents with staff or other patients and has shown great insight into what he's done. Li has 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," de Delley said.

Chris Summerville, chief executive officer of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, also attended Monday's hearing and has met with Li several times in the hospital. He spoke outside court and said he understands the public's concerns but doesn't believe they are at risk.

"His risk of reoffending is very low. Vince is not a criminal, he's a patient. Patients get better, and Vince has been an ideal patient," he said.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 15, 2012 A5