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Man charged in coach beheading stays silent


    WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A 40-year-old man was charged on Friday with second degree murder after a fellow passenger was stabbed to death aboard a Greyhound coach on the Canadian Prairies and then beheaded.

    The killing occurred on Wednesday as the Greyhound movedeast on the TransCanada Highway near Portage la Prairie,MAN (MAN.XE)toba, and the gruesomeness of the death sent shock wavesacross the country.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Vince Weiguang Li ofEdmonton, Alberta, has been charged with second degree murder.

    Li looked down during his first court appearance on Friday,nodding his head when asked whether he was using his right toremain silent, according to media reports from Portage laPrairie, a small city about an hour's drive west of theWinnipeg.

    Police have not speculated on a motive, but the charge ofsecond degree murder is usually filed when police do notbelieve the killer planned the murder or targeted the victim inadvance.

    Witnesses have said that the killer, who brandished a"Rambo"-style hunting knife, did not appear to know thesleeping victim and that the attack began without warning.

    The attorney prosecuting the murder charge asked that Lihave a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said Li wouldfirst need to get a lawyer, the Canadian Broadcasting Corpsaid.

    If evidence shows the attacker was mentally ill and did notunderstand what he was doing, criminal charges may not standup, Fred Shane, a Manitoba forensic psychiatrist, told Reuters.

    Friends told local media the victim was Tim McLean, 22, whohad been working at a carnival in Edmonton before returning tohis Winnipeg home. Police have not confirmed this.

    (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Allan Dowd; Editing byPeter Galloway)