The Nightmare on Bus 1170
27:15 Share

The nightmare on bus 1170. Tim McLean, a 22-year-old Canadian man, boarded bus 1170, a Greyhound intercity service traveling the Trans-Canada Highway. He was heading home to his family in Winnipeg after spending the summer working at a carnival in Edmonton. Along with the 34 other passengers, he expected the 13 and a half hour long ride to be slow, dull, and quiet.

But a stop to pick up the 36th passenger in Erickson, Manitoba, changed the course of hundreds of lives forever.

including that of Tim McLean. The events that unfolded on the evening of July 30th, 2008, aboard bus 1170 ended with passengers and passerby screaming, crying, and throwing up on the side of the highway. This unexpected and indescribable incident altered the course of many lives.

But the violent act was more than a random act of malice. The circumstances leading up to and following this savage occurrence still divide, confuse, and shock the community. Part 1: The Unassuming Vince Lee

Vincent Weiguang Li, born April 30, 1969, in Dandong, China, became a Canadian citizen in 2007 after emigrating to the country in 2001. After achieving a bachelor's degree in computing, he left a high-status software engineering job in his home country to emigrate across the world, leaving his family behind.

In Canada, Vincent worked various low-wage jobs, including at Walmart, fast food restaurants, and newspaper delivery, to support him and his wife. His former employers and coworkers described Lee as reliable, hardworking, and with no signs of trouble. He often struggled with language barriers, but maintained a high work ethic and remained positive.

Despite this, Vince Lee was hiding something. A bizarre incident in 2004 found Lee hospitalized after being picked up by the Ontario Provincial Police. He was walking a busy highway, saying God had ordered him to follow the sun. His then wife and would-be ex-wife would later tell police that Vince would be gone for long periods, took unexplained bus trips, and often rambled incoherently.

Part Two: Bizarre Behavior Vince Lee's stellar work history ended abruptly in June 2008, when he was fired from his Walmart job after an unexplained disagreement. Details of said disagreement cannot be found, and no Walmart employees have come forward. Before leaving, he had organized some time off to travel to Winnipeg for a job interview. This trip went ahead as planned,

Mr. Lee boarded a bus under the false name Wong Pent. Darren Beatty, a 15-year-old boy working at a convenience store in Erickson, watched Lee, donned with sunglasses, exit the bus at 6:00 PM on July 29th, awkwardly carrying three large pieces of luggage. Unbeknownst to him, one of the bags contained a large hunting knife.

Darren described Lee as a well-put-together businessman as he watched him circle the aisles of his store, leaving shortly after without purchasing anything. Darren's feelings soon became one of confusion after he watched Lee sit upright, unmoving, on the bench outside the store for three straight hours. Darren passed him as he clocked off and headed home.

At 9:00 p.m., Lee arose and entered another nearby grocery store, perusing the aisles slowly. He eventually left as another customer entered the store. The young man behind the counter had grown increasingly uneasy by Lee's odd loitering, so much so that when his shift was over, he called his husband to come and pick him up instead of walking home like usual.

On the drive home, he told his husband there was something about Lee that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. With no direction or meaning, Lee had spent the evening lingering around the same block in Erickson, aimlessly walking through stores and inhabiting park benches. The next bus to Winnipeg was not until 6:00 p.m. the next day. As night fell over the summer day in small town Erickson,

Vince Lee fell asleep on a nearby bench. In Edmonton, Lee's home city, his ex-wife arrived home to find a note signed by Vince. It read, "I'm gone. Don't look for me. I wish you were happy." Darren Beatty awoke the next morning on July 30th and decided to join his friends in riding their bikes around the neighborhood. When passing by his work at the convenience store, he noticed Lee still on the same park bench.

In front of Lee was a handwritten sign offering up his laptop for sale. Darren, in the market for a bargain, skidded to a halt in front of Lee. Bartering against the original price of $600, Darren easily persuaded Lee to take a mere $60 for his brand new laptop. "I just thought he was a guy having a hard time," Darren would later say of Lee. "He seemed lost." When questioned by police in later days,

Darren would say he originally thought Mr. Lee was the victim of the attack, not the violent perpetrator. Part Three: Tim McClain's Grizzly End Tim McClain boarded bus 1170 in Edmonton, Alberta, prepared for an almost 14-hour, 800-mile trip across the Yellowhead Highway to reunite with his family in Winnipeg. After a few months of working hard, he was excited to see his family, particularly his nephews and nieces.

The journey was long and slow. Tim was settled near the back of the vehicle, just one row before the toilet. His headphones tucked over his ears as he slouched against the window, dozing the trip away, getting off at every rest stop to drag on a cigarette. Almost 11 hours into the trip, with the destination drawing closer, the bus made a scheduled stop to pick up a passenger in Erickson, Manitoba.

Vincent Lee, described as a tall man in his 40s with a shaved head, boarded the bus suspiciously donning dark sunglasses despite it being 7:00 p.m. in the evening. He quietly sat in the first available seat near the front of the bus. When he reboarded the bus after a rest stop, Lee passed his original seat, walking slowly down the aisle. Another passenger noted he looked at every person on his way to the back of the bus, making him feel uneasy.

Tim was the only passenger who returned the eye contact while offering up a warm smile and a polite acknowledgement. Lee took this as an invitation to sit next to him. They sat quietly next to each other as the bus continued down the highway. Tim settled back into his slumber, music buzzing through his headphones.

Not long after, 19 miles from Portage-le-Prairie, the passenger seated in front of the two men was abruptly awoken by sounds of what he first thought was a fight breaking out. He turned to see Lee leaning over Tim, brandishing a large knife. He began plunging it into Tim's neck and chest. He screamed to the driver to stop the bus that someone was getting stabbed and that everyone needed to get the hell off. Other passengers later described the blood-curdling screams as animalistic.

They watched Tim struggle against Lee, but he failed to escape to the aisle. The bus erupted into hysterics, with passengers fumbling forward to evacuate. One man turned to confront Lee, but saw Tim's lifeless body and knew it was too late. Another man returned to carry his wife out, who was frozen in her seat with fear and shock. Passengers later described Lee's behavior as robotic and calm.

The attack was unprovoked with no interactions leading up to the stabbing. With the majority of the passengers tumbling to the side of the highway in panic and fear, the driver and two other passengers attempted to intervene only for Lee to slash his knife menacingly in their direction. Retreating, the men barricaded the bus door to prevent Lee's escape and ensure his capture upon the police's arrival. Fighting the terror that rolled through their bodies, they stood their ground

A passing truck pulled over to address the commotion and provided crowbars and hammers for the men to yield on their defensive crusade. They were fully prepared to stand against the man and protect the women and children sobbing behind them. Lee's focus was not on leaving the bus, nor was it on the other passengers. Instead, Lee focused his attention squarely on Tim McClain's now lifeless body.

As horrified passengers, men, women, children, and elderly watched from outside the bus, Lee plunged his knife repeatedly and endlessly into Tim. He then took his knife and crudely decapitated the victim, lifting his head into the air and displaying it to the frozen spectators. He paraded it up and down the aisle before abandoning it on the floor and returning to the body.

At 8:30 p.m., the Royal Mountain Canadian Police arrived at the scene to find Lee wildly slashing away parts of the body and attempting to consume them. He pulled out entrails, stringing them carelessly around the bus. Later, authorities found Mr. McClain's ear, nose, and tongue in Lee's pockets wrapped neatly in a plastic bag.

The arrival of the police seemed to bring Lee's uncontrolled focus back to his surroundings and out of his trance-like state. He attempted to escape by commandeering the bus, which the driver quickly immobilized with an emergency system. Police entered a standoff with Lee, calling in special negotiations and an armed tactical unit. Lee proclaimed he must stay on the bus forever and continue to defile Tim's body.

After hours of failed negotiations, Lee blatantly ignored all interactions and attempts to communicate. He eventually tried to exit the bus through a window at 1:30 a.m. The police promptly incapacitated him with a taser, securing him with handcuffs. Scene examination never found the victim's eyes or part of his heart.

These, along with a substantial amount of flesh, are presumed to have been eaten during the hours Vincent Lee was alone with Tim's body. While police unsuccessfully tried to talk the man down from the side of the road, Vincent Lee never took off his sunglasses. Part 4. The Endless Victims

Vince Lee's trial was held on the 3rd of March, 2009. The eight months of pretrial must have allowed Lee to reflect and readjust as he seemed harrowingly aware of his actions as he pleaded to the court to kill him. He admitted his guilt, apologized profusely and seemed to show real remorse. As the prosecution recounted the details of the killing to the court, Vince stood silent, staring at the floor.

He wrung his clenched hands together and swayed precariously from side to side. Lee's defense enters a plea of not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder. The psychiatrist who performed the assessment diagnosed Lee with schizophrenia, claiming the attack was motivated by the voice of God. This voice told him that Tim McClain was a demon in disguise and was a threat to all around him.

The voice willed Lee to destroy the demon or risk being destroyed himself. His act was to protect not only his own life, but the lives of the other bus passengers who the demon plotted to attack. He felt like he had no choice but to follow the orders of God. The psychiatrist expressed her empathy for Mr. Lee, calling him a victim of a horrendous illness, even comparing his victim status to Mr. McClain himself.

His years of untreated schizophrenia all boiled to a point on the evening of July 30th, 2008, displayed by his erratic behavior in the days preceding. With no history of violent or malicious behavior and solid evidence of mental illness and a desire to minimize the effects of a drawn-out trial on the McClain family, the judge accepted the defense's plea. Lee was reprimanded to the Selkirk Mental Health Center.

They say there is no such thing as a victimless crime, but is there such a thing as a blameless crime? If Vince Lee is not responsible for his actions, who is to blame for the brutal and premature death of Tim McClain? Is it the hospital that housed Vince Lee for four days in 2004, who offered no diagnosis, no treatment, and no ongoing support?

Is it the Greyhound Bus Company that accepted a fraudulent passenger's name and let a weapon aboard an intercity service? Or is this just an unfortunate and tragic failure of the Canadian Immigrant Support and Mental Health Services? One week after the attack, Greyhound pulled a series of advertisements promoting the peace of their services. The slogan, "There's a reason you've never heard of bus rage," was erased from billboard and magazine ads.

But apart from this act, there is radio silence from Greyhound.

Tim's family filed a lawsuit against Greyhound and Mr. Lee himself. Tim's mother led the charge. Right from day one, we received the condolences and thank yous and so sorries from everybody. From Transport Canada, from the RCMP, from the media, everyone except Greyhound acknowledged their condolences. And to this day, Greyhound still has not acknowledged any condolences or anything or done right by our son.

She also wants a law change that sees even those declared not criminally responsible to still serve time behind bars. The McClain family sees nothing but injustice as they suffered the terrible loss of their son, Tim, and the killer is treated as a victim. As empty as Tim's family feels in the aftermath, the fallout of this monstrous event stretches its grasp wide over all those even remotely involved.

Two women who witnessed the horror on the bus filed a lawsuit against Lee, Greyhound, the RMCP, and the Canadian government from the view that their trauma was preventable. Multiple calls and petitions were launched to increase the security on intercity buses as incidents increased across the country. The women were forced to drop their lawsuit as Greyhound had a no-fault vehicle insurance policy.

Another passenger gave birth years later, but immediately had their child removed from the home due to her severe PTSD from bearing witness to the slaying. The poor child was rotated around care for the first 18 months of her life before being returned to the care of her mother under the grandmother's supervision.

The truck driver who pulled over to assist the passengers of bus 1170 and supplied crude weapons for barricading Lee inside the bus went on to suffer from PTSD-induced rage and alcoholism. In July 2014, six years after the event, one of the first RCMP officers on the scene, Corporal Ken Barker, committed suicide. Barker was 51 years old, having retired only one month prior.

Having seen and dealt with many traumatic experiences in his career, his family feels the Greyhound incident was truly the straw that broke the camel's back.

The PTSD from witnessing the carnage Vince Lee brought upon Tim McClain caused utter distress, breaking up his marriage as he pushed everyone away. As Vince Lee continued to make headlines with his ever-increasing freedoms, Ken began having flashbacks and experienced a rapid decline in his mental state. In the end, Ken only had his dog at home and no partner or understanding coworkers. Part Five: Free in Society

The RCMP seized Li's laptop from Darren Beatty, who was willing to give it up. The young man was donated a brand new laptop for his courage, cooperation, and honesty throughout the investigation. The laptop contained harmless personal data, including letters, photos, and resumes. Over 20 resumes were found, each tailored to a specific job, and clearly, a lot of work was put into them. Amongst the personal notes were letters back to his family in China,

He expressed guilt for leaving them behind and spoke of his newfound freedom in Canada. But he also divulged a lot of confusion in acclimating to Western culture. Vince Lee came to Canada for a better life. He struggled to learn the language, hold down a stable job, and sustain his marriage, which ultimately ended in divorce in 2006.

He proactively searched for new work, taking low paying, mind numbing jobs, which paled in comparison to his standing as a computer engineer in China. As stress after stress piled upon Vince Lee, he struggled to maintain his mental wellbeing, falling down to the overpowering force of schizophrenia, which took control of his mind, his choices and his actions.

The purpose of sending those who commit such acts to mental health facilities rather than prisons is to offer them treatment and reintegrate them into society if possible. The idea of someone who committed such a heinous act rejoining society was an alarming thought for those who were traumatized by the attack. Tim's family pushed for legislation change regarding the ruling of not criminally responsible, saying there is little done to protect the community from a repeat offense.

They, along with their thousands of supporters, believe that once a person has shown they are capable of such acts, despite mental illness, they should spend life in prison. Regardless, Vince Lee progressed well through treatment in the following year. He hit milestone after milestone, starting with supervised outdoor walks in 2010, accompanied by day trips to town in 2012, all the way to unsupervised trips to bordering cities in 2015.

Lee spoke publicly for the first time in 2012 in an interview with the Schizophrenia Society. He said he first started hearing the voice of God in 2004, around the time he was first hospitalized. He spoke of the attack. His reasoning was he wanted to save the other passengers aboard from an alien attack. The purpose of his public speaking was to raise awareness for severe schizophrenia and to praise society for their support in his treatment.

His doctors say he is responding well to his treatment and that he still hears voices, but he now knows what is real and what is not. His doctor recommended more freedom. In 2015, Lee moved to a group home in the community. In 2016, Lee legally changed his name to Will Baker. He was discharged to live independently under some conditions.

Number one, he must disclose his address. Number two, he must continue to take his medications. Number three, he must have no contact with Tim's family. In 2017, less than 10 years after the attack, Lee was discharged from the system completely. He now lives without any restrictions or monitored living arrangements. Despite his severe mental illness, which requires medication,

Lee is free to make his own medical decisions and has zero monitoring.

Apparently, the risk of a reoffending incidents is 0.08%, but where this number came from is unknown. However, what is known is that the number is not zero. There are no assurances that Lee will never be able to commit such acts again. He is not monitored by the state. No one will check up on him if he fails to fill his prescriptions. He does not even require an annual check-in

as many other rehabilitated patients do with much more minor misdemeanors. Part six, Tim's anguished family. Tim McClain was born on October 3rd, 1985. He grew up in Winnipeg and LA with his huge extended family. His athletic interests were well-known, sporty and outgoing. He enjoyed soccer, football, motorbikes, and generally anything that could get him dirty and into mischief. His charm brought the best out in the people around him,

The man had an insatiable appetite, both for food and life. He could not stand still. He had so much to see and everywhere he went, he brought joy and light. Tim lived freely, refusing to settle in one place too long, changing jobs at the drop of a hat. The spring of 2008 had him working at a carnival in Edmonton. The carnival lifestyle suited him. It was fast paced and exciting.

On December 21st, 2008, five months after his passing, Tim's girlfriend, who he had known since first grade, gave birth to a son, Tim's first and only child. Unfortunately, the turmoil boils on as Tim's son spent the next 10 years caught in a vicious custody battle between his mother and grandmother, Tim's mom.

The fractures run deep, and Tim's father has not seen his grandson in years due to a relationship breakdown with Tim's mother.

This story is not about the shock value of gory details, although there is plenty to be said, but it is about the justice or lack thereof for a killer, the deep scars of violence and those the victims leave behind. Tim's mother and many others detest Vince Lee's freedom when she, her family and the rest of bus 1170 are serving life sentences of trauma and pain.

"Vince Lee got help. Good for him," she said. "Maybe he's feeling better today. My son's still dead. What if he chooses not to take his medications? We know what he's capable of." Today, a well-tended memorial sits roadside of the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Winnipeg, where bus 1170 came to a sudden halt.