A 40-year-old man who witnesses say stabbed and beheaded his seat mate aboard a Greyhound bus travelling across Canada made his first court appearance on Friday on second degree murder charges.

Police offered no motive for the savage attack against a man who friends described as an easygoing carnival worker.

Vince Weiguang Li, of Edmonton, Alberta, his face bruised, one hand bandaged and his legs shackled, shuffled into a courtroom for a procedural hearing in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, with his head bowed.

He did not reply when the judge asked him if he was getting a lawyer, and only nodded slightly when asked whether he was exercising his right not to speak.

He was not required to enter a plea. Second-degree murder charges are generally filed when authorities do not believe the crime was premeditated.

The prosecutor asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said he wanted to give Li a chance to meet with his lawyer about that. Li's next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Li has no known criminal record.

Authorities have not released the victim's name or other details about Li. They also have not commented on the details of the attack, which occurred on Wednesday night as the bus - en route from Edmonton to Winnipeg, Manitoba - travelled a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway through the Canadian Prairies.

Friends of the 22-year-old victim, however, identified him as Tim McLean, saying he was headed to Winnipeg after working with the carnival in Edmonton.

Jody Lang said she and her fiance, William Caron, heard reports their friend might be the victim on the bus, then received a phone call from McLean's family confirming it on Thursday night.

"I keep thinking it's just a horror movie and we saw it and we're going to wake up, and we're going to get out of the movie theatre and Tim is going to be home and we're all going to go out," Lang said.

Lang said McLean was loved by his friends and never got into a fight. He was small - about (1.6 metres) and 59 kilograms - and tried to steer clear of trouble, she said.

"I can't see why this guy would even attack him," Lang said. "He would never pick a fight. He wouldn't intimidate the guy."

Friends started a Facebook group called "R.I.P. Tim" after news of the attack.

"He was a great person, he was kind, thoughtful, and he did not deserve this. I feel for his parents and sisters and his lil bro," Jossiee Kehleer wrote on the site. She called him "a nice, caring guy," in an interview by instant message, but declined to say more.

Witnesses described a grisly murder that occurred as some were napping and others watching "The Legend of Zorro" on the bus's television screens.

Shortly after passengers reboarded the bus following a break, the suspect - for no apparent reason - stabbed the man sitting next to him several dozen times as passengers fled in horror, witnesses said. He then severed the man's head, displayed it and began hacking at the body.

Garnet Caton, who was sitting just one seat in front of the two men, said he did not hear the two speak to each other before the attack.

"We heard this bloodcurdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly," Caton said.

Caton watched in horror as blood sprayed across the back of the bus, he told The Globe & Mail daily.

"He had a Rambo, hunting knife covered in blood and he just kept going at the guy," Caton told reporters. "He was very calmly killing the guy and the other guy was screaming bloody murder."

Caton said the driver stopped the bus when he became aware of the attack and passengers raced off. A short while later, Caton said he re-boarded along with the bus driver and a trucker who had stopped to see what was happening.

He said the suspect had the victim on the floor of the bus and "was cutting his head off" with a large hunting knife.

"There was no rage or anything. He was just like a robot stabbing the guy," he said.

The attacker turned toward them, and the three men quickly left the bus, blocking the door as the attacker slashed at them through an opening. Caton said the driver disabled the vehicle after the attacker tried to drive it away.

As the three guarded the door with a crow bar and a hammer, the attacker went back to the body and calmly came to the front of the bus to show off the head, Caton said.

Cody Olmstead, another passenger, said the man "dropped the head and went back and started cutting the body." Olmstead said the man later use the head to taunt police.

Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said there were 37 passengers aboard.

The victim had been on the bus since Edmonton. Caton said the attacker boarded the bus in Brandon, Manitoba, about 130 kilometres west of Portage La Prairie.

The suspect had been on the bus about an hour and initially did not sit near the victim, Caton said. But he changed seats after a rest stop.

old

yea, i heard this on the news 2 days ago. its really shocking and disturbing. oh well, its in manitoba, lots of Fkd up people there anyways.

Makes you wonder bout the people that sit next to you.

lol with all the asians committing random homicides these days, i think the people next to me are to worry.

LOL Too funny!

Sorry but it ain't funny. I sometimes ride the Peter Pan or greyhound type of bus to the Chicago area.

I am afraid now to ride the bus, not only because I'm afraid somebody may stab me, but because other people on the bus (mostly white and black people) will look at me closely and perhaps think I'm an Asian male psycho like Vincent Li.