Greyhound bus witnesses receive $450 after gruesome killing

Greyhound Canada has offered six counselling sessions and paid $450 compensation to a young Manitoba couple who were first-hand witnesses to a horrific killing on a passenger bus last summer.

Stephen Allison and his wife, Isabelle, were sitting opposite Vince Li and Tim McLean on Greyhound bus 1170 last July 30 when Li pulled a knife and killed young McLean.

“Seeing that is not something you get over very quickly,” Stephen Allison, 20, said Wednesday. “It’s made me a shell of my former self. I’m trying to get back to normal but it’s hard.”

He still recalls vividly the events of that night.

“I ran to stop the bus for people to get off,” Allison said. “We all started getting off, and then I looked back and realized my wife hadn’t gotten up because Tim had jumped over Mr. Li and was on the floor. She was sitting right beside what was happening. She couldn’t even move — she was paralyzed with fear.”

The couple said the event has changed their lives, probably forever.

Stephen Allison was a straight-A student. Now he can barely get to class.

Isabelle Allison is working part-time and not going to school at all. She’s taking anti-depressants.

The couple have been following Li’s trial, but not from the courtroom. Allison said he can’t bear to see Li in person again.

Both said they’ve lost their trust in strangers.

“It’s been very difficult for us.… We were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Stephan Allison said.

Lawyers are preparing a lawsuit against Li, Greyhound, the government of Canada and the RCMP on behalf of all passengers on Greyhound 1170 in an effort win compensation for their emotional suffering.

“I would like some paid-for counselling,” Allison said, adding that Greyhound paid for six trauma-counselling sessions for the couple but he and his wife could not afford to pay for further therapy. The young couple were also compensated about $450 for the loss of their belongings.

Li has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder. Both the Crown and defence have suggested Li should be found not criminally responsible for the killing due to mental illness. A decision was expected Thursday.

Stephen Allison said whatever the court finding, authorities should ensure Li is never in a position to harm anyone again.

“I think he should go away for a very long time. Even if he does believe it was something beyond his control, he still allowed it to happen, he still did it,” Allison said. “You’ve got to pay for what you do. You can’t take a life and expect to have nothing bad happen to you.”

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