Greyhound, RCMP sued in bus beheading

Two passengers aboard a Greyhound bus when Vince Li killed Tim McLean are suing the bus line, the Canadian government, RCMP and Li.

Both Li and McLean were passengers on Greyhound bus No. 1170 near Portage la Prairie, Man., on July 30, 2008, when Li pulled a knife and killed McLean, 22.

Li pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder. Psychiatric evidence at his trial suggested he is schizophrenic and suffered a major psychotic episode when he fatally stabbed McLean and cut off his head.

He was found not criminally responsible and sent to a psychiatric institution in Selkirk, Man., where he remains.

On Wednesday, two other passengers on the bus, Debra Tucker of Port Colborne, Ont., and Kayli Shaw of London, Ont., each filed separate claims in Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench. Both women are seeking $3 million for a range of alleged ailments, including severe anxiety, nervous shock, and severe depression.

They claim they are now being medicated due to the incident, are unable to work and suffered loss of income.

Shaw said she can't work or study, and her marriage and other personal relationships have failed.

"I have a hard time hearing ambulance sounds, police cars, I freak out," Shaw told CBC News. "I have to literally go through so much anxiety just to go out and do things."

Greyhound is liable, the two say, for failing to provide safe passage for passengers, failing to train staff appropriately and failing to have adequate security at bus terminals and passenger points. They claim the federal government is liable for failing "to assure national transportation security" and requirements under the Canada Transportation Act.And the RCMP is liable for failing to remove Li from the bus in a timely fashion following a standoff the two claim.

Li failed to appreciate the brutality of his act would cause the female passengers psychological harm, the claims allege. Li also failed, they said,to get medical or psychiatric help "when he knew or ought to have known that he sustained a medical condition in need of care and treatment."

No trial date has been set for the case and no statement of defence has been filed. The claims have not been tested in court.