Vince Li - Lock Him Up For Life and Give Tim McLean Some Justice

There's not a whole else that burns me as much as our Canadian dysfunctional so-called justice system. For years, many people have indicated that the criminal justice system is like a revolving door in Canada. Criminals roam free, excused for their actions by any variety of bleeding heart liberal justifications for their behaviour. If you've ever watched the movie Primal Fear, it raises the issue that mental competency (or lack thereof) can easily be feigned. Plus, with a good enough (read: sleazy) lawyer, the blame for anyone's criminal actions can be easily shifted elsewhere, resulting in the bad guy getting a lesser sentence, despite damning evidence. Paul Bernardo is one of these pieces of sh-- (I'll just abbreviate it to POS from hereon in), who, while convicted on clear unrefutable evidence that he savagely raped and killed two teenage girls as well as his teenage sister-in-law, due to Canada not having a death penalty, this scum bag how has his living expenses, meals and lodging (albeit in a prison) covered by the Canadian taxpayer. In the U.S., depending on the state, he would have been six feet under by now.

Enter Vince Li, another POS who savagely killed and gruesomely mutiliated a fellow passenger aboard a Greyhound bus last year in Manitoba. Tim McLean did not provoke the attack, nor did anything that warranted such an awful death at such a young age. Police say that Li not only savagely killed him with a knife, but started to eat his body parts, putting some parts in his pocket or scattering them throughout the bus. Thankfully, passengers locked him in the bus while authorities arrived, so he was apprehended by the police.

At the recent conclusion of his trial, it was deemed that he was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness so rather than locking him up in prison for the rest of his life, he is now going to be "treated" at a psychiatric hospital of some sort. Li claims that "God made him do it.". Oh brother.

Now, I know I am going to get flamed by people who say that I am devoid of compassion and understanding. Perhaps I am, but you know, Mr. McLean's family is right - whatever the cause of his actions, he still acted. I don't buy the argument that psychologists and psychiatrists like to maintain, that there are times where one does not have even a semblance of control over their actions. The overwhelming vast majority of the population does not go around murdering people, much less doing it in such a way that is, I think it's safe to say, universally considered grotesque and all out wrong. We're not talking self-defence here. We're not talking mob killings here where it may be argued that the target deserves what he/she gets. We're talking about an innocent person here, who was minding his own business when out of nowhere, some looney bin starts to stab him repeatedly. People should not have to fear riding buses (though I have not taken public transit for years due to the increasing depravity of some public transit riders).

The fact is, a guy like Li, even if I would concede has mental problems, should be locked up in a prison for the rest of his life. Canada does not offer the death penalty, so the most severe punishment is life in prison (which in Canada means 25 years without parole, I believe). He can get treated in jail, if the system wants to work on his issues. But he should not be released to a mental hospital where security is not as tight, and where, given the right behavioural stimuli and playing his good behaviour cards right, "experts" may deem him fit for release to the general public at a future date.

Now, for those who think it's better to rehabiliate than to lock up a murderer (which is what this guy is, no matter what the courts say), let me ask you - would you be willing to let him be released in your residential area? Would you be OK with him as a neighbour, knowing he butchered an innocent person on a bus? Anyone who does this to another human being without provocation has forfeited his / her right to peaceful existence amongst the general populace.

I have talked about this before, and will mention it again. It is easy to claim to be a friend of the behavioural sciences and afford grace to those who are mentally unstable, but until you have an experience where you see the fallacy of the system, you will continue to dream idealistically that everyone, regardless of their societal threat levels, should be given a second chance. If you read this blog for a while, you'll know a few years back, a lady showed up at my door on a warm Saturday night in August. Neither my wife and I knew who she was, but she started to knock on my door, and that gravitated to trying to kick down my door. When this happens to you, the fear in your heart is tremendous. I made several mistakes that night, the first of which was confronting her. My initial assessment of her was that she was drunk, but there was no alcohol on her breath. She claimed that we kidnapped her child and that she wants into the house. I stood in the doorway and refused entry, while my wife called the police. All this happened, while my 2-year-old was sleeping upstairs.

Once I refused her entry, I can see that she started to seethe. She started cursing me, hurling racial epithets at me, saying stuff like "You f***ing Chinese people come to this country and kidnap our children" and worse, and started to move close to me (I was neither armed nor knew what to do in that case at the time). I just stood my ground and prayed quickly to God that He would protect me. Thankfully she backed away once my wife said that the cops were coming. Now, the cops later revealed that she had a mental condition and was obviously off her medication. My question to the officer was, "well, what the hell was she doing roaming the streets, driving a car?" Apparently officers check in on her "periodically". But in my view, that's not good enough. Vince Li could be that woman in a number of years...one event can trigger him to do the unthinkable. It's foolish to expect people like this to take their meds and hope that they do, without any form of consistent supervision. I mean, if that woman was armed and killed me or my wife, what would the socialists say then? Sorry, I'm not offering my life for some social experiment. Next time a crazy comes to my door, I will be fully armed with my Remington 870 stoked with 00 buckshot and regardless of their mental disposition, if they try to attack me, I will hit back and chances are, they will not get back up. You see, I am an equal opportunity defender, when it comes to my home and my family.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Mr. McLean's family now has to attend annual reviews for Li to ensure that he remains in custody. It's bad enough they lost a son to this killer; now, the system puts the onus on them to ensure that they participate in his annual reviews to ensure he continues to be institutionalized. It is conceivable (especially given the Canadian system of judicial dispensation) that down the line, this guy can be released, and without a criminal record, he can go where he wants, live where he wants, and do what he wants. Dare I say it, for people like this, these events are not a one-time occurrence. I found out later that the lady who was at my door who claimed that we kidnapped her children trashed a donut shop previously. Again, I ask, why is she allowed to roam amongst the general community? I would ask the same of Vince Li, who obviously by his actions demonstrated that he is a threat to the general public. As a result, he should be locked up indefinitely, not given another chance due to the justice system shifting the blame.