The judge will decide tomorrow whether Chinese immigrant Vince Li should be held accountable for stabbing Tim McLean dozens of times last July and dismembering his body while horrified passengers fled.
Both the prosecution and the defence have argued Li can't be held responsible because he is mentally ill.
"He was out of touch with reality," prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn said, adding that the court didn't even need to hear from psychiatrists. "He believed God was telling him to kill the evil force beside him. ... He could not differentiate between wrong and right."
Dalmyn said McLean suffered a horrendous death, and his family wants to see Li put in prison, but Dalmyn said the prosecution has little choice.
Li is accused of second-degree murder in the death of McLean, a 22-year-old carnival worker. He has admitted he killed McLean but pleaded not guilty. Last year, Li was judged fit to stand trial.
Witnesses said Li attacked McLean unprovoked, stabbing him dozens of times, as their bus traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway.
An agreed statement of facts between the prosecution and defense detailed how passengers stood outside the bus as Li stabbed and mutilated McLean's body. Finding himself locked inside, he finally escaped through a window and was arrested.
Li apologised and pleaded with police to kill him.
Police said McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, and the victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Li's pocket.
A psychiatrist called by the defense Wednesday said Li suffers from schizophrenia, and a psychiatrist called by the prosecution testified that Li cut up McLean's body because he believed that McLean would come back to life and take revenge.
If Li is found not criminally responsible, he will be ordered held in a hospital until a provincial mental health review board can look at his case. It's likely he will be held in a maximum-security hospital based on the threat he represents to the public, said Delmar Doucette, a veteran defense lawyer. In some cases, Doucette said, a person can be held for years - or the rest of their life.
McLean's mother, Carol deDelley, said she wants the law changed so anyone found not criminally responsible for a crime still serves prison time.
"It strengthens my resolve to change the laws that are currently in place because to me that are grossly inadequate in circumstances like this," she said outside court.
