Passengers sue over beheading on bus

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This article was published 17/02/2011 (5344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TWO women from southern Ontario, who were passengers on a Greyhound bus in which Tim McLean was murdered and beheaded, are suing for the trauma they say they’ve endured since that horrific night in July 2008.

Debra Tucker, of Port Colborne, and Kayli Shaw, of London, filed identical statements of claim at Queen’s Bench on Wednesday, naming Vince Li, Greyhound Canada, the RCMP and the Government of Canada as defendants.

McLean was savagely attacked on the night of July 30, 2008 as he slept on the bus taking him from Edmonton to Winnipeg.

The two women escaped from the bus with the other passengers, but could see Li attacking McLean even after he was dead.

Both Tucker and Shaw claim they suffered severe psychological trauma as a result of watching Li’s horrible acts.

The two women are each seeking $3 million for damages and suffering.

Shaw and Tucker allege Greyhound Canada failed to provide them with safe passage by failing to train its driver properly and failing to have adequate security measures in place.

The women allege the RCMP failed to take any action to remove Li from the bus as soon as possible and allege their delay allowed Li to decapitate McLean and mutilate his body, subjecting both women to emotional distress.

The women allege the Government of Canada had failed to enact measures that would ensure bus passengers travelling between provinces are safe.

The allegations have not been proven in court. No statements of defence have been filed.

Spokesmen for the RCMP and Greyhound Canada said they’ve not seen the court documents and declined to comment.

Both women named Li as a defendant, alleging he should have known his actions would cause Tucker and Shaw to suffer severe psychological trauma and distress.

Tucker and Shaw allege they are now “unable to participate in those recreational, social, household, athletic and employment activities,” as they did before the attack.

Both women claim they are now “permanently disabled and unable to work and will continue to suffer from substantial disability in the future.”

On that fateful night, Li repeatedly stabbed McLean with a large hunting knife as passengers watched.

The bus pulled off the highway about 20 kilometres west of Portage la Prairie, passengers fled the bus and the driver and another passenger locked Li inside.

From the side of the highway, the other 34 passengers could see Li pacing back and forth in the bus and mutilating McLean’s body for several hours, cutting off his head and eating his flesh. The RCMP surrounded the bus but made no attempt to enter. Li was arrested after he jumped out of a broken window.

Li was found not criminally responsible but was committed to a psychiatric institution in Selkirk.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca