Family of bus-slaying victim sues suspect, Greyhound, authorities
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 2, 2008 | 5:43 PM CT
CBC News
The family of Tim McLean is suing Greyhound, the RCMP and the man suspected of committing the gruesome killing of the 22-year-old man aboard a bus in rural Manitoba in July.
At a press conference in Winnipeg Tuesday afternoon, Jay Prober, the lawyer for McLean's father, Tim McLean Sr., said the lawsuit names the suspect in McLean's killing, Vince Weiguang Li, as well as the Greyhound bus company and Canada's attorney general.
The federal ministers of transport and safety are also named in the suit, which claims Greyhound and the government failed to ensure the safety of the travelling public.
The RCMP are also named for allowing the accused killer to remain on the bus for several hours with McLean's body.
Li, 40, has been charged with second-degree murder. He is accused of first stabbing, then mutilating McLean's body on a bus just west of Portage La Prairie, Man., on July 30. Li was arrested hours after the driver pulled the bus over and passengers fled when he tried to leave the bus by jumping out a broken window, RCMP said.
The family is seeking about $150,000 in damages, but Prober said the lawsuit is not about money. It's about accountability and responsibility for what happened to McLean, he said
The death should have been prevented, Prober said, adding that he hoped the legal action would lead to better safety measures on Greyhound buses.
Prober said the family has had difficulty getting answers about why the Mounties waited hours to try to end the incident.
