Greyhound slaying victim honoured in cyberspace one year later

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This article was published 29/07/2009 (6144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT will be one year ago Thursday when Tim McLean first made headlines around the world after he was decapitated on a Greyhound bus bound for Winnipeg.

But as his family prepares to mark the dark anniversary, McLean continues to be remembered in cyberspace.

In the wake of the tragedy, memorial websites, Facebook groups and even a Wikipedia entry are all online detailing the life and death of the 22-year-old man.

As early as Sunday, comments were still coming in from all over the world on the memorial site set up by his family.

It has registered hundreds of messages from the United States, England, New Zealand and beyond.

"I have a three-year-old son and I couldn’t imagine losing him in such a way," wrote JayLyn from New Mexico Tuesday.

"I want the family to know that even as far away as the southwest united Staes (sic), his story has touched people. I hugged my son a little tighter that day."

Stacey and Dan, an American couple, expressed a mixture of sympathy and anger on the site.

"Our prayers go out to the family of Tim and we are praying for you, for your recovery and healing process," they said after interjecting some of their opinion on the tragedy.

A quick Google search on McLean’s slaying turns up more than 3.5 million websites that mention the tragedy.

That’s more hits than Gary Doer, Sam Katz and Stephen Harper combined.

On Facebook, a massive outpouring of support and sympathy for McLean spills across the popular social-networking website, as more than 130,000 people — most of them strangers — joined McLean’s official memorial group.

A separate group has nearly 30,000 members, where more than 4,000 messages have been posted expressing condolences, sympathy and even outrage.

A dozen other smaller groups still remain active.

McLean’s death earned him an entry on Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia, which briefly pieces together the killing and following trial of Vince Li. The entry has been viewed 8,000 times this month alone.

McLean was repeatedly stabbed and then beheaded in front of nearly three dozen people on a Greyhound bus outside Portage la Prairie last July.

Li was found not criminally responsible for his actions during his trial in March.

Psychiatrist Dr. Stanley Yaren testified that Li was suffering from untreated schizophrenia and psychotic episodes at the time — which included hearing repeated commands from God ordering him to kill McLean, whom he viewed as a demon.

matt.preprost@freepress.mb.ca