Chinta Puxley, THE CANADIAN PRESS

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WINNIPEG - The Greyhound bus in which Vince Li attacked and dismembered fellow passenger Tim McLean last summer should be taken off the road out of respect, the victim's mother said Thursday.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods/ file

Carol deDelley says there was little doubt Vince Li would remain in a mental hospital for now. But she says she worries about the coming years.

A spokeswoman for Greyhound said the notorious bus is now used in another part of Canada.

"After an extensive restoration and cleaning process and a new bus number, the bus is in service in another province," Abby Wambaugh said, declining to say whether Greyhound considered taking the bus out of commission following the tragedy.

McLean's mother, Carol deDelley, said she is haunted every time she sees a Greyhound bus, wondering whether that's where her son's life brutally ended last summer.

"The town I live in is a Greyhound stop," she said Thursday. "I can seldom leave my home, never mind get on the highway, without encountering at least one of those buses."

Li was found not criminally responsible for killing McLean in front of horrified passengers near Portage la Prairie, Man., last July. A judge ruled in March that Li suffered from untreated schizophrenia and did not realize that killing the 22-year-old carnival worker was wrong.

The review board responsible for Li's fate ruled this week that the Chinese immigrant will remain institutionalized for at least another year.

In the meantime, deDelley said the bus that became a gruesome crime scene should be taken off the road.

"That would be the respectful thing to do," she said. "Greyhound doesn't want to lose the cost of a bus. I think it's completely disgraceful. But then again, I never even heard a message of condolence from Greyhound."

The prospect of seeing the bus where McLean was murdered haunts many grieving the loss. In victim impact statements read before the review board, several family members and friends talked about the difficulty of seeing a Greyhound bus on the road.

"I wonder, is that the bus my son was slaughtered on?" deDelley told the hearing. "Did they ever get all the blood out? I don't want these thoughts, they just come. Since I have to travel the highway to get to the counselling and therapy sessions I require for me to cope, what choice do I have?"

Another family friend told the hearing every time she sees a Greyhound bus, she's reminded of the gruesome way McLean died.

"When I see a Greyhound bus . . . I experience a chill," Brenda Lewis told the hearing. "Bile rises into my throat and it chokes me."

Li will only be let out of the secure ward of the psychiatric facility if he is escorted at all times by two staff members and he can only leave the facility if he is accompanied by two peace officers.

"The review board is of the opinion that Mr. Li is a significant threat to the safety of the public," the board's order states.

The detailed reasons for the board's decision may be released in several months.

In its ruling, the board adopted the recommendations of Li's psychiatrist, who said Li no longer hears voices in his head but still needs to be locked up under the "highest level of security possible."

Li's case will be reviewed annually to determine if he is well enough in the future to be released into the community. Attending those hearings will force the family to relive the tragedy, deDelley said.

"Every year, to have to endure this is ridiculous."