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Toronto: A man accused of beheading and cannibalising another passenger on a Greyhound bus in Canada shook his head and said "please kill me," when a judge asked him if he wanted a lawyer on Tuesday.
A psychiatric evaluation of Vince Weiguang Li was ordered by Manitoba Provincial Court Judge Michel Chartier. Prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn, who argued for the evaluation, revealed new details about the attack, which occurred the night of July 30.
She said Li, 40, had a plastic bag containing his victim's ear, nose and part of a mouth in his pocket when officers arrested him. The only response officers received from him was: "I have to stay on the bus forever," Dalmyn said.
Dalmyn also said the accused carried the victim's severed head back and forth on the bus "taunting" officers. Armed with a knife and a pair of scissors, he was also observed "cutting body parts from the victim and eating those body parts," she said.
In an interview with police after his arrest, Li declined to speak for the most part, said Dalmyn. On four occasions, however, he did indicate in a low voice that he is guilty, she said.
Police are looking into information that Li may have spent as many as four days in a psychiatric facility prior to the attack, Dalmyn said.
Li, who immigrated to Canada from China in 2004, is charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of 22-year-old carnival worker Tim McLean - an attack which witnesses aboard the bus said appeared to be unprovoked. He has yet to enter a plea.
He was scheduled to appear Tuesday in court in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, to determine whether he should undergo psychiatric testing, but the judge adjourned the hearing for a short recess to allow a legal aid attorney to confer with the suspect. Dalmyn said Li refused to work with the lawyer.
Since his arrest, Li has declined to speak to prosecutors and his court-appointed attorney.
When asked by Chartier after the recess if he wanted a lawyer, Li shook his head and then quietly said: "Please kill me."
Dalmyn said many people heard the plea, adding that Li appeared to understand what the judge was asking him.
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