A judge in Canada is expected to decide whether a man charged with beheading a fellow passenger on a bus should be sent for psychiatric evaluation.

Vince Weiguang Li, 40, is accused of second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed and decapitated 22-year-old Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus on 31 July.

Mr Li appeared in court in Manitoba on Friday but remained silent.

Police have provided no motive for the attack which happened in front of terrified passengers.

Eyewitnesses on board the bus, which was travelling through a desolate stretch of Canada's vast prairies, Bus beheading suspect in court ...
Beheaded Canada bus man 'named' ...
Man decapitated on Canadian bus ... said Mr Li, a former church custodian, stabbed Mr McLean, who was sitting next to him, 50 or 60 times.

He then severed his head with a large knife, reportedly brandishing the head to terrified passengers.

According to a recording published on the internet of intercepted police radio transmissions from the scene, the attacker was seen to eat parts of his victim's flesh.

Witnesses said Mr Li did not appear to know the sleeping victim and that the attack began without warning.

'No anger issues'

Mr Li, who immigrated to Canada from China four years ago, is being kept in custody in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.

Church pastor, Tom Castor, who helped hire Mr Li after he immigrated, told the Associated Press news agency that the suspect never showed any sign of anger or emotional problems.

"He seemed like a person who was happy to have a job, was committed to doing it well and didn't stand out in any way (in terms of) having anger issues or having any other issues," Castor was quoted as saying.

Mr Li was also vetted by church officials and his references were checked. He did not have a criminal record and there did not appear to be any other signs of problematic or troubled past.

If evidence shows the attacker was mentally ill and did not understand what he was doing, criminal charges may not stand up, Fred Shane, a Manitoba forensic psychiatrist, told the Reuters news agency.

(BBC)

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