The Misery Machine - The Case of Timothy McLean

Starting point is 00:00:00 Timothy Richard McLean, Jr. was born on October 3rd, 1985 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to parents Carol Dedele and Tim McLean, Sr. He grew up in Winnipeg and Eli alongside six siblings and an enormous extended family. Tim also had a precious baby niece, A. La Lili, who he doted on. At the time of his death, he had a son on the way with his former girlfriend, Colleen Estrao, whom he had known since the first. grade. Tim stood at about five foot five with beautiful dark brown hair and emerald green eyes. His family said he filled their lives with joy and light. Tim was very active and full of energy. He loved soccer, football, motorbikes, and just about anything that could get him into dirt or trouble. Tim also had a mischievous side to him and loved pulling pranks.

Starting point is 00:00:55 According to his younger brother Kendall, Tim was extremely charismatic and often demanded the attention of a room with his presence and strong magnetic personality. He also had a passion for traveling and preferred to let the wind blow him around to new people and places instead, never knowing what his next meal was or where it would be. Kendall feels his brother was drawn to join the carnival because it too was nomadic, wild and loud with a constant cycle of new faces passing by. He was very much the living embodiment of it. Tim toured various Western Canadian provinces as carnivore worker for the North American Midway Entertainment and made many friends and memories along the way.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Vincent Wei Guangli, born April 30th, 1968, was a Chinese immigrant and undiagnosed schizophrenic. He moved from Beijing, China to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2001 with his wife, Anna, initially working as a custodian for the Grant Memorial Baptist Church. He left the job just six months later to become a forklift operator. According to Anna, her husband had a strange habit of taking random buses with no apparent destination. Although Vince Lee was never diagnosed with any mental illness before the murder, he had started hearing voices he claimed from God as early as 2004. These voices would tell him he was the second coming of Jesus Christ and must save humanity from a space alien attack.

Starting point is 00:02:22 It has been alleged that Vince Lee once spent four days under psychiatric evaluation but was released without ever being diagnosed with anything. Vince Lee became a Canadian citizen in 2005. Year later, he separated from his wife and moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he lived in a basement and worked for a newspaper delivery company. In 2007, he worked as a janitor, and a mechanic, and then as a Walmart cashier. It has been theorized that the reason Vince went through so many jobs is he would have violent, outbursts and would subsequently get fired because of them. There is some evidence for this theory as staff who worked with him at Walmart said he was let go over a disagreement with another employee.

Starting point is 00:03:03 In July of 2008, he returned to working in newspaper delivery, and on the morning of July 28th, he delivered his last round of newspapers. At midnight that same day, he boarded a Greyhound bus to Winnipeg, Manitoba, but got off the next day in Erickson with three pieces of luggage. He was seen spending a long time in the M&M grocery store. and according to one passer-by, he spent the night sleeping on a bench. Vince Lee was likely carrying the murder weapon at this point, which he says he bought at Canadian tire to protect himself from the aliens.

Starting point is 00:03:37 On the morning of July 30th, he sold his brand-new laptop to a teenage boy for a measly $60 Canadian. He spent almost the whole afternoon loitering in an alleyway behind the grocery store. At around 6 p.m. on July 30, 2008, Tim McLean, Vince Lee, and 35 other passengers all boarded Greyhound bus number 1170, which was heading from Edminton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, via the Yellowhead Highway through Saskatchelan. Vince originally sat at the front of the bus away from Tim, but after a rest stop, he moved to an empty seat at the back of the bus, right beside Tim, who was seated by the window. This change in seating is believed to have been deliberate by Tim's friends and family. Tim kept himself the whole journey, never saying a word to the man seated beside him.

Starting point is 00:04:29 He had been traveling with the carnival for a long time and sent text to his friends and family members throughout the journey, saying how he was looking forward to finally reuniting with them back home in Winnipeg. However, Tim would never make it home alive. At approximately 9 p.m., the bus was driving down the dead. desolate Trans-Canada Highway, roughly 10 kilometers from Portage La Prairie, with the movie Zorro playing on the bus TV screen. A horrific and unexpected attack quickly unfolded. Without any warning, Vince stood up, took out a large buck knife, and began repeatedly stabbing Tim in the throat in the chest. Tim had just been sleeping in the corner with his headphones in, and had done

Starting point is 00:05:13 absolutely nothing to provoke such an violent, just gruesome attack. Upon being stabbed, Tim woke up screaming in terror. Winnis has been quoted as saying that Tim screams would haunt them for the rest of their lives. While Tim did try to run away, Vince Lee, who was over six feet tall and a lot stronger, pinned him in the corner against his seat in the bathroom door, stabbing him in the throat and chest over and over again. Tim was stabbed and estimated 50 to 60 times, and we can only hope that he passed on quickly after the first few blows. As soon as the stabbing started, the bus driver immediately stopped the bus and ushered all of the passengers out. One witness, an unnamed man, was the first other passenger to see the attack. He was sitting in the row in front

Starting point is 00:06:05 of Tim and Vince Lee and turned around when he heard the screaming. At first thinking it was just a fist fight, but soon noticed the knife, the blood gushing out of Tim's body. While he wanted to intervene and try to save Tim, his seatmate took off running, and he didn't think he could tackle Vince Lee by himself, especially with him armed. Passengers screamed and trampled over one another, desperately trying to get off the bus as fast as possible. It was absolute chaos. The bus had basically stopped in the middle of nowhere, so there wasn't anywhere for anyone to run to. All the passengers could do was stand on the side of the road, hoping the killer would not get off the bus and continuous rampage. Police have been called at this point, and they would arrive at the scene

Starting point is 00:06:47 roughly 15 minutes later. Thinking Tim might still be alive, Chris Alguire, who was a passing trucker who had stopped, as well as the unnamed witness from earlier, and the bus driver ran back to the door to try to help it. All they saw was Vince Lee cutting Tim's head off. Upon seeing the three men, Vince charged at them, trying to attack again. Bus driver quickly slammed the door shut, trapping Vince Lee inside the bus, but leaving his arm sticking outside. The bloody knife in his hand,

Starting point is 00:07:17 Vince swiped at the witness, who was forcing the door shut as Lee used his other hand to try to pry it open. The three men all ran to the front of the bus at this point, but Vince ended up never getting off the bus. Instead, he walked to the front to greet the crowd of passengers, many of whom were children. Vince then proceeded,

Starting point is 00:07:36 to hold up Tim's severed head and wave it at them before dropping the head on the floor as if it was no big deal. Passengers responded by crying, screaming, and some even vomited. Witnesses described the killer as totally calm and showing no emotions whatsoever. It was like he was a robot. Vince Lee himself would later say that he felt really scared while carrying out the murder. Fearing for everyone's safety, the trucker got some weapons from his trunk and threatened Vince to stay put and not leave the bus. Tens tried to get the bus working, but thankfully it had been disabled by the driver. I was just reading a book.

Starting point is 00:08:16 All of a sudden I heard a guy screaming. I turned around and the guy sitting right next beside me was standing up and stabbing another guy with a big rambo knife pretty much. It was a big survival knife like this in the throat. Repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly. I told everybody to get off the bus. Everybody started to get off the bus. The guy still kept stabbing him and stabbing him.

Starting point is 00:08:43 Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that. And when we all got up, we seemed that the guy was cutting off the guy's head. He was cutting off the guy's head there. And he saw us. He came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn't shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us. So we backed off the door, and I ran around the backside of the bus.

Starting point is 00:09:16 The bus driver took off, and then we both returned to the front to see what had happened, and he hadn't gotten off the bus. The door was still open. We shut the bus door that time and shut it. It was at that point that he came, started walking to the front of the bus, and he had the head in his hand, and he just looked at us like this, and he just looked at us like this, and he had the bus. and dropped it on the ground, but totally calm. The three of us had weapons from the trucker's truck there, and we just stayed outside while he tried to get out of the door, telling him, well, stay put, stay put, stay there,

Starting point is 00:09:51 don't try to come out. He tried to get the bus working, and the bus driver disabled the bus somehow in the back. I'm not sure how he did it. It was at that point, I think, the police showed up and kicked us off. Got us in the back. Although police officers had arrived at the seaman, Tim was already dead and decapitated.

Starting point is 00:10:13 Vince Lee wasn't finished yet. He took the knife and began violently hacking off pieces of Tim's dead body and eating them. In a radio transmission, one police officer referred to Vince as a badger who was defiling the body at the front of the bus as we speak, and hacking off pieces and eating it. A large chunk of Tim's heart was eating. as well as both eyes. Vince Lee tried to escape the bus several times, but it was locked, so he just went back to Tim's body and hacked at it some more.

Starting point is 00:10:47 He mutilated the rest of Tim's body parts, stuffed them in plastic bags, and scattered them throughout the bus. Police ordered him to drop the knife, surrender, and leave the bus. However, Vince wouldn't comply and told the officers he had to stay on the bus forever. After hours of police confrontation, Vince Lee was eventually arrested when he tried to flee the scene by breaking one of the bus windows. As they were putting him in handcuffs, he just kept apologizing and begging for the officers to kill him. All while blood was smeared all over his face.

Starting point is 00:11:23 Officers also discovered Tim's tongue, nose, and ear inside Vince's pocket. Many theorized this served as some kind of sick souvenir of the killing. Vince Lee was taken into police custody and then transferred to the Winnipeg Remand Center, a correctional facility where inmates await trial. After the arrest, Tim McClain's mutilated body lay at the crime scene for several hours before being taken for forensic examination and autopsy at the chief medical examiner's office in Winnipeg. The autopsy report has never been released into the public domain.

Starting point is 00:11:58 As for the witnesses, they were placed at the Royal Oak Inn in Brandon Manitoba for the night. Many would be in therapy for years and struggle with PTSD as a result of what happened. Chris Alguire, the truck driver who stopped to help, would struggle with rage and alcoholism problems. Another witness, a woman who wishes to remain anonymous, had her baby taken away from her for 18 months because social workers were concerned that her PTSD might affect her ability to care for her daughter. A week after the murder, a candlelight memorial for Tim was held on Sunday evening at the steps of the Manitoba legislature. Tim's older sister Amanda Corrigan and younger brother, Kendall Dedelli, spoke to CTV news and referred to their brother as a gentle soul, who had never been in a fight and would never hurt anyone else. They expressed their wishes for people to remember him for the way he lived, not for the horrific way he died.

Starting point is 00:13:00 The brutal murder of Tim McLean horrified the world and is regarded as one of the worst crimes in Canadian history. and the fate of his killer, Vince Lee, still outrages people to this day. Vince Lee was initially charged with second-degree murder, but after undergoing psychiatric evaluation and being diagnosed with schizophrenia, he was deemed not criminally responsible for his crime, so both the prosecution and defense accepted not guilty by reason of insanity. The murder trial took place on March 5, 2009, and Judge John Scurfield ruled that Vince Lee had acted in self-defense because the voices in his head told him that Tim was an alien who was going to kill him. Instead of jail, Vince Lee was sent to the Selkirk Mental Health Center, a high-security

Starting point is 00:13:45 mental health hospital in Manitoba, and not even for a life sentence. Tim's family and friends attended the trial wearing t-shirts with his face on them. They all wept as the details of his gruesome murder were read out in the courtroom. Their pain was only made worse when crown witness and forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Stanley Yaron, testified to the courtroom that he felt the mentally ill Vince Lee was also a victim in this situation. Tim's mother, Carol Dadelli, later shared a heart-wrenching statement with the courtroom during the trial. I quote, that light that was Timothy's life has been snuffed out in the very cruelest, heinous manner possible by you, Vince Lee, nobody else, just you. I believe you're

Starting point is 00:14:28 dangerous, and why would I believe otherwise? You've demonstrated that very clearly, no doubt. That night in July, when I was informed that the young man who'd suffered that horrible death on the back of a greyhound bus was my son, I literally wished I'd just die too. I couldn't imagine surviving when my child didn't. I cannot leave my home to drive into the city without seeing at least one greyhound bus. I wonder, is that the bus my son was slaughtered on? Did they ever get all the blood out? I don't want these thoughts. They just come. I can no longer tell my remaining children to be careful and to make sure you get home in one piece. We can no longer laugh our heads off or gut out. These used to be such innocent phrases. They now have such ugly meaning for me. Vince Lee only spoke once

Starting point is 00:15:17 during the trial, pleading for someone to please kill me. At least two lawsuits arose as a result of the murder. Two passengers aboard Greyhound Bus 1170 filed a lawsuit against Vince Lee, Greyhound, the RCMP, and the Canadian government asking for $3 million in compensation for, as they put it, witnessing the defendant Lee stabbing Mr. McLean Jr. to death, mutilating his body, and performing acts of cannibalism. Nothing came of the lawsuit, and it was dropped in 2015 when Greyhound said it could not be sued under Manitoba's sister. of no-fault vehicle insurance. Tim McLean, Sr. also filed a lawsuit on behalf of 13 family members against Vince Lee,

Starting point is 00:16:04 Greyhound, and the Attorney General of Canada for $150,000, saying they had failed to put in proper safety measures that could have prevented the death of his son. The lawsuit is currently in limbo. He also stated that Greyhound never apologized or offered any condolences for his son's murder. In 2015, after seven years of therapy and medication, doctors believed that Vince Lee presented little risk to the public, and he was granted unsupervised day passes to Winnipeg, provided he took his medication and kept a working cell phone with him at all times. He later was allowed to move

Starting point is 00:16:40 into a group home in Winnipeg and was eventually granted an absolute discharge in 2017. This meant he was free to reintegrate into society without any supervision or monitoring. Vince Lee now lives under a publicly known new name, Will Baker, is very well known, and he still resides in Manitoba. Carol Dadelli told CBC News she was horrified and sickened that her son's killer is free to walk the streets of Winnipeg and express doubt over whether he will keep taking his medication. We all know what happens when he doesn't take his meds, but the fact that the decision is left to him, that ought to terrify everybody. I don't know why it doesn't. I don't know why everyone isn't up in arms. Around 50 people rallied at the Manitoba legislature to protest Vince Lee's freedom. The rally was called Justice for Tim McLean and had been organized by a friend of Tim's Jenny Kirk.

Starting point is 00:17:36 One protester and family friend of the McLean family, Brenda Hookman, expressed her anger and frustration with the Canadian justice and health systems, saying there is no way to guarantee Vince Lee won't go off of his medication, and that she wants to see him get the proper help he needs at a psych ward where he is going to be monitored all the time. Matt Logan, a former RCMP officer and forensic psychologist, also expressed concerns that Vince Lee will attack again, saying the absolute discharge is not in the public's interest, and that society needs to improve the way it bridges criminal justice and mental health. However, not all reactions to Vince Lee's release were negative.

Starting point is 00:18:19 Mental health advocate and CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, Chris Somerville, has been a longtime supporter of Vince Lee, whom he met with almost every month in Selkirk Hospital. Somerville expressed his happiness about releasing Vince Lee back into society, telling CBC news that Vince feels great remorse and great shame over what he has done and that he hopes nothing negative will come to Vince as a result of his release. Mr. Somerville also released a 45-minute interview with Vince Lee. Lee, which he says is an attempt to add a human touch to a horrible tragedy. He believes that both Vince Lee and Tim McLean are victims of untreated, uncontrolled psychosis.

Starting point is 00:19:01 In the interview, Vince stated, I understand people are scared because of my behavior on the Greyhound bus. I am not a risk to anybody. I don't hear voices. I would call my doctor if I heard voices again. Yes, I understand their fear. He also says he wants to apologize to Tim's mom, Carol Dadelli. I am really sorry for what I did.

Starting point is 00:19:22 If I could talk to her directly, I would do anything for their family. I would ask forgiveness, but I know it would be hard to accept. Tim's family has not publicly commented on this interview, and we assume they have no intentions of ever meeting with Vince Lee or forgiving him. Now, many people feel that the fact that Vince Lee could stab, behead, and cannibalize Tim McLean and walk away a free man after only seven years is a huge injustice. Many people believe someone capable of such a horrific crime can never be trusted again, and that Vince Lee, therefore, should have been locked away for life.

Starting point is 00:20:00 For Tim's family, releasing their loved ones killer, was the same as letting someone get away with murder, and they have been campaigning for Tim's law ever since the trial in 2009. Now, this law would ensure Vince Lee and others like him would never walk the streets again, regardless of how likely they were to re-offend. However, this petition was closed in 2014 because only 1,200 people had signed it. The Dedele Foundation for Life, which was a fundraiser created to fund the fight to change Canadian not criminally responsible laws, was also shut down in 2014. While the fundraiser and petition are no longer operating, a memorial in honor of Tim still remains right beside the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg, or Greyhound Bus number 1170 stopped on July 3,000.

Starting point is 00:20:49 30th, 2008. The words Timothy Richard McLean, we love you, are engraved into a beautiful white cross, which is surrounded by flowers and one of Tim's shirts. Tim McLean's funeral took place on the Saturday evening of August 8th, 2008. Members of the Christian fundamentalist hate group, Westboro Baptist Church, known for picketing funerals, boasted about their plans to protest Tim's funeral for whatever random reason that they never really explained. An alert was sent to Canada. as Border Patrol to deny entry to anyone carrying signs and pamphlets. Most of the group was turned away at the Niagara Falls border, however, a small number did

Starting point is 00:21:27 actually make it to Manitoba. Tim McLean, Sr. responded to the threats in a telephone interview saying that the days since learning of his son's death have been a blur in the family hasn't had a chance to even mourn. He also hoped that, however the funeral goes down, it's done with respect to Tim and that we were allowed to lay him to rest. A counter-protest from people in the Manitoba community was planned to prevent the funeral from being disrupted. Hundreds of people showed up to form a human wall around the church to keep out the hate group,

Starting point is 00:21:57 but fortunately, nobody from the Westboro Baptist Church ever showed up. On August 9, 2008, Tim McLean was laid to rest at Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens in Winnipeg. Over 600 people attended his funeral. Tim's uncle Alex McLean read a heartfelt statement in which he described his nephew as friendly, kind, sweet and caring. On December 21st, 2008, five months after Tim was murdered, Colleen Yestrow gave birth to his son. Colleen had known Tim since the first grade and had a brief romantic relationship with him in 2008 after she had falling out with her husband, which led to her becoming pregnant.

Starting point is 00:22:36 The family have never shared the child's name and tried to keep him out of the media spotlight. Colleen originally gave up the boy to his step-grandmother, but custody was eventually. eventually handed to his paternal grandmother, Carol. In early January 2016, the McLean family returned to the courthouse once again, this time for a custody battle. Colleen, who only had rights to see her son for four hours every Saturday, wanted full custody of the boy. Tension between the two family was already bad, but it had reached a breaking point when someone in the McLean family told the young boy about the terrible fate of his father, something Colleen had specifically asked. asked them never to do, telling the court, all he knew was that his dad was in heaven.

Starting point is 00:23:23 A counselor assessed the interactions between Colleen and her son and told the court she was unfit to be awarded custody of her son. Carol ended up being granted full custody of her grandson, whom she described as, a gift from God sent by my son to give me a reason to get up every day and to take care of, and I'm doing that to the best of my ability. She also says that that the boy has his father's eyes and sense of humor. Tim McLean, Sr., who has been divorced from Carol since before Tim's murder, hasn't seen his grandson for years because of ongoing disagreements with his ex-wife, which, he says, has worsened the pain of losing his son. In 2019, Colleen shared a photo on Facebook of Tim's son visiting his father's grave, writing,

Starting point is 00:24:12 Tim, our son, and I think of you every day. The headstone is rugged and pays homage to Tim's love of the outdoors. The gold inscription in the center reads, McLean, October 1985, July 2008. Forever, Joka Wilde. Carol Dedele frequently visits her son's grave. In an interview with CBC, she sat at a bench beside the grave and recalls the day of Tim's murder.

Starting point is 00:24:40 When this very first happened, for weeks and weeks, I was just mad. It was so maddening to me that the whole world didn't just stop. Mine did. Nothing changed for everybody else. The traffic still went. Suns still shone. It was so maddening to me that the whole world didn't just stop. Mine did.

Starting point is 00:24:59 It stopped and it took a long time to really want to get up every day. As for Tim McLean, senior, he told the CBC, it's still difficult to get up some mornings. We're trying to move on. But it's very hard, still very hard. I don't think we'll ever be over it. Tim Sr. remembers his beloved son every day and even has a tattoo of his face ink over his heart. Tim McLean is deeply and eternally missed by all of his family and friends.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Timothy McLean

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