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.

Why I Believe in Capital Punishment

It's been said that capital punishment or state-sanctioned executions are barbaric and it is a shame that countries like the United States still have provisions in many of its States for the use of executions for crimes such as capital murder. This has cropped up in the last year or so with headlines which talk about lethal injections which have gone awry to other "botched executions". While I'm sure you have your opinions, I certainly have mine, and to summarize, I think that society in general (especially the more liberal-leaning segments as of late) put the wrong focus on things. Unfortunately, beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt-found-guilty criminals seem to be a social experiment with the softer segment of our society who somehow believe evil can be rehabilitated. Worse are those who choose to use the Bible to tout the fact that everyone should be given a second chance. While spiritually this is true, and I suppose practically it may be true as well, the fact of the matter is, consequences have actions. This is clearly seen in Scripture with those who choose certain paths reap the consequences of those paths. The cause and effect relationship is quite prevalent here. The thief on the cross may have believed in Christ on his death-bed, but he wasn't spared the punishment for his crime. Despite David being a crucial person in the lineage of Christ, David was still human and David sinned with Bathsheba, and there were tragic consequences as a result. Repentance may make things right with God, but God still allows you to face the result of your actions. There are a number of proverbs which deal with cause and effect. And the old adage "you play with fire, you get burned" is quite accurate.

So, this takes us to the issue of those who have been found by a court of law to be guilty of murder, child rape, etc. Yes, I know, I know, it has been shown (especially in Canada) some cases where people were incarcerated for decades, only to be found innocent later. And society does tend to find people guilty when charged, rather than presume their innocence until proven otherwise. But I'd say that there is less on the line in Canada, since it's not someone living or dying that we're talking about - they just lock them up for "life" (and "life" in Canada is considered about 25 years) , unless you're talking about a case like Paul Bernardo (if you haven't heard of him, look him up on the internet - he was found guilty of truly heinous crimes - and there is videotape proof of his crimes, which thankfully has since been destroyed or locked up somewhere). Bernardo has shown a pattern and tendency to be a predator - I don't believe that he will ever change. Someone is not right in his head. Even if it was psychological, does that make it right that we should just lock him up and pay for his food and such? My, what nice treatment he gets, even if he is confined to a 6 x 8 cell for 23.5 out of 24.0 hours per day, in isolation in Kingston Pen. Too bad his victims, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, both teenagers, were not afforded the same courtesy. And his ex-wife's sister (also a teen) was not given the same basic minimum human treatment. I say, let's fry Paul Bernardo's ass now.

I've also heard the argument that "what if someone is executed who is innocent?" Has that happened in the U.S., the current world champion of capital punishment? Not to my knowledge. And...the case that was closest to this occurring (in Virginia, I think)...after the guy was executed (and he swore up and down that he was innocent right up until the point he was lethally injected or electrocuted, or whatever they did to him), forensic DNA researchers confirmed that yes, he was guilty. This was, of course, after tons of left-leaning organizations petitioned for the commuting of his sentence.

How many more convicted criminals (we're talking murders and rapists here) were released after serving time, only to reoffend? I'm telling you, there is no rehabilitation for these people. You can cut their nuts off, chop their arms off, yank out their legs by their feet, but their hearts will still be wicked, and they'll think of some other way to hurt someone. Now, I know what you will tell me - Jesus can save these people. Absolutely he can. But just like the reckless person who was promiscuous before accepting Christ, and had previously contracted HIV, faith in Christ will not change what consequences you bring forth. The Bible says you sow what you reap. How true is that? Years ago, shortly before I was married, I followed a case on the news of a lady in Texas (I think) - Tanya Faye Tucker, or something like that - she was a convicted murderer, and she gave her life to Christ. While I don't know her heart, I have seen her in interviews and there is something about her which I believe shows a genuine conversion and newfound faith in the Lord. But guess what - they executed her anyway, and in talking with my Christian friends at the time, they were horrified that I thought that the State made the right decision. Recently, there was a guy in Tennessee, I think, who killed a cop back in the early 80s when he was young and stupid. He also became saved, and his life was changed and lots of people attested to this (this was the guy who for his last meal, wanted pizzas delivered to other inmates in other jails). He also was executed. I support that execution, since, as a believer, he is not beyond the laws of the land.

The only executions that I would support is for criminals found guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt in cases of murder or child rape. I would not support, for instance, what Saudi Arabia has as its criteria for executions, or recently in Iran, where you can be put to death for possession of pornography. I think essentially, for me, it comes down to the old eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth scenario, so my philosophy is life for a life. You murder someone in cold blood - off to the gallows with you - I don't care how you try to justify it. The vast majority of people in this world do not commit murder in their lifetime. You victimize a child sexually - off to the gas chamber with you - I don't care how abused you were as a child or how you cannot control yourself. You, my friend, are, as they say, SOL.

Cruel and unusual punishment during executions - botched executions, etc: Well, this is a tougher one. I agree with humane executions - at one point, I favoured letting a death row inmate incur the wrath of the family of the victim (so if they choose to shoot you like you shot their family member, that was fine with me...or strangulation or whatever else). But that just breeds a sense of vengeance, and vengeance is probably not a good reason for the state to execute someone. Executions should be done simply because it is just, and that there are dire consequences for crimes like first degree murder. Still, does it matter if they can't find the vein or if the prisoner suffers somewhat? They'll be dead in a short time anyway, so who cares? Again, they didn't afford any courtesy to their victims, so there ya go.

Other stuff: For those who make the deterrent argument, that it is not a deterrent. I haven't drawn firm conclusions to this point as of yet, but I will say that I believe the "executions are not a deterrent argument" to be a red herring, since I suspect that those who argue against capital punishment would still do so if there was conclusive proof that it was a deterrent, and that more lives can be spared. Similarly, the same people that play the race card, saying that there is a disproportionate amount of crime committed by poor black men is, are, I suspect, putting on a smokescreen, since they would still be against the death penalty if it was 100% white men on death row. Anyway, I am not sure whether there are any deterrent effects in capital punishment, but it doesn't play into my arguments anyway. I am undecided on this point only because I know from experience that severe fines and so forth do have a deterrent effect (ie. speeding tickets, etc.); however, the U.S. has had capital punishment for a while now, and they seem to be as homicidal of a country as ever - but then again, they have a much larger populace than most countries and also have a large number of poor people. But again, deterrence has never been part of my argument, so there's no point in working out my thoughts here on the subject.

This argument can go on forever...but there's my 2 cents.