Cannibal Gets Off Scot Free

In 2008 a guy named Vince Li was traveling by Greyhound bus through Canada when he suddenly stabbed another passenger to death, ate some of his prime cuts, and then severed his head with a pocket knife and used the bobbling head to taunt the disembarked passengers who were standing outside the bus watching. How very Canadian. It turns out Li is schizophrenic and doesn’t just have a terrible sense of humor. Also the guy he killed was a carnie. There are many lessons to be learned here. Specifically, if you can’t afford a rental car or train ticket you have no business traveling, and stay off of Greyhound.

He was found not guilty of murder due to his mental illness and served nine years in a Canadian mental institution which is basically the equivalent of an American Walmart. Li has been living in a state funded apartment which is probably either totally overdecorated or completely sterile for the past nine months. If you look at it one way, he got a free pad for cutting a guy’s head off. He has been subjected to monitoring to make sure he continues to take his medication, but his doctors have decided this is no longer necessary:

“It is of the opinion that the weight of evidence does not substantiate that Mr. Baker poses a significant threat to the safety of the public.”

Move him in next door then. Whether or not the person is mentally ill is irrelevant to how dangerous you are. In fact, the mentally ill are statistically much more dangerous than your average gang banger. Especially because the only thing keeping them from severing heads and eating the brains is a few pills.

Ever forget to take your vitamins?

Li, who has changed his name to Will Baker (an obvious sign that he’s not well), now has total freedom. He’s not on parole, and he’s not monitored. He is free to board whatever Greyhound bus he wants and be one of the top five scariest guys on it.

We need to rethink how we look at mental illness. If you kill a guy and eat him, for whatever reason, you shouldn’t be out walking around. Some sane people are total dicks. Some schizoids think they’re on The Simpsons. Some sever heads. Those ones should not be sitting next to you in the movie theater. 

Your buddy from high school is doing ten years. 
 
_{Photo Credit: CBC}