6:38am UK, Saturday August 02, 2008

A man who witnesses say stabbed and decapitated the passenger next to him on a bus in Canada has appeared in court charged with second degree murder.

Left: the bus on which the attack occurred. Right: Victim Tim McLean.

Vince Weiguang Li, of Edmonton, Alberta, gave no plea after he shuffled into a Manitoba courtroom with his legs shackled, one hand bandaged and his face bruised.

Canadian police have not released the victim’s name or other details about Li, 40, but friends named the 22-year-old victim as Tim McLean.

Numerous tribute groups have been formed on the website Facebook, with many users shocked by the brutal and apparently unprovoked nature of the frenzied attack.

“I always remember Tim being an awesome Guy with a wicked sense of humor. I will never understand how a person could hurt someone like this. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones. Rest In Peace Tim,” wrote one of the victim’s friends online.

Another friend, Jody Lang, said McLean was loved by his friends and never got into a fight.

At 5’4 and weighing just over nine stone, he was small and tried to steer clear of trouble, she said.

“I can’t see why this guy would even attack him,” Lang said. “He would never pick a fight. He wouldn’t intimidate the guy.”

Detectives have offered no motive for the savage attack against Mr McLean, who friends have described as an easygoing carnival worker.

Witnesses say he was killed in a grisly murder that occurred as many of the passengers were napping as the bus passed through a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway.

Shortly after passengers reboarded the bus following a break, the suspect – for no apparent reason – stabbed the man sitting next to him several dozen times as passengers fled in horror.

Witnesses report that he then severed the man’s head, displayed it and began hacking at the body.

Garnet Caton, who was sitting just one seat in front of the two men said: “There was no rage or anything. He was just like a robot stabbing the guy,” he said.

Mr Caton said the driver stopped the bus when he became aware of the attack and passengers raced off.

He added that the suspect had been on the bus about an hour and initially did not sit near the victim, Mr Caton said, but he changed seats after a rest stop.