Democracy of Hypocrisy
Ways with words and words with ways
Ways with words and words with ways
Greyhound bus killer deemed "not criminally responsible"
On July 30, 2008, the world was shocked when Vince Li murdered fellow Greyhound passenger Timothy McLean on a bus headed to Winnipeg.
Li appalled the community he lived in, as well as the rest of Canada, and it was made clear by reports appearing prior to the event, that Li was suffering from a mental illness.
The Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Judge, John Scurfield, deemed Li not criminally responsible for the crime due to this mental illness.
Li pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder when the trial began on March 3.
Psychiatric evidence, provided by both the defence and the crown, suggest he suffers from schizophrenia and that last July, when he fatally stabbed, beheaded and cannibalized McLean, he was experiencing a major psychotic episode.
Of course the victims family isn't happy about the outcome and I for one do not blame them. Now, although I am a psychology student and have some experience studying things like schizophrenia et al, it still leaves one to wonder what more can be done? Yes this guy obviously has a mental illness, what "normal" person would do such a thing?
Follow up:
Tim McLean's family is lobbying for a change to the criminal code that would prohibit mentally ill criminals from ever being released back into society. But here is where it can get kind of blurry, is he or any other mentally ill person still considered a criminal if they have been found not criminally responsible? I'm no lawyer so I won't get into that.
I know that Li will be put on anti psychotic medication to "treat" his schizophrenia and perhaps if they deem him rehabilitated in the future he will be released. Well that IS a scary thought because many people suffering from schizophrenia and other mental impairments typically stop taking their medication and that is when things can get dangerous. It is seen all to often in the mental health field.
All I know is that this is another tragic case of how the mental healthy system failed yet again, along with our immigration system. Family, friends and even doctors all noticed his abnormal behaviour at various times along his five-year plunge into schizophrenia yet they failed to act. The immigration system failed because any immigrant should have to undergo a battery of psychological testing before they can ever step foot on our soil and of course this does not happen. Anyone who wishes to become a police officer must undergo psychological testing so why is it that immigrant applicants do not? Manpower, time,what?
The system failed and I for one do not wish to see things like this happen again.
| Print article | This entry was posted by zerodivision on 03/10/09 at 03:51:17 pm . Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. |
03/10/09 @ 08:48:43 pm
Quoting: "The system failed and I for one do not wish to
see things like this happen again."
This is why people are promoting Tim's Law!
But timlaw.ca also advocates that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... and much less painful and tragic..
03/11/09 @ 01:26:33 am
thank you for posting, I will be sure to sign the petition
03/25/09 @ 01:45:00 pm
I cannot agree with you more. Thank you so much for your posting.
Tims auntie Paulette