The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it would seek the death penalty for a university student accused of killing four people and wounding nearly two dozen others in a stabbing spree on the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit system in May.
Cheng Chieh (鄭捷), 21, was charged with four counts of murder and 22 counts of attempted murder in connection with the attack on an MRT car on the Bannan Line on May 21.
“The accused’s actions fit the definition of mass murder. His means were ruthless and inhuman, and caused irreparable harm to the victims and their families. We demand the court sentence him to death,” prosecutors said in a statement.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The prosecutors described Cheng as “antisocial, narcissistic, apathetic and suicidal,” adding that in elementary school, Chang had vowed to “kill people in revenge” after having trouble with classmates.
The prosecutors said that psychological evaluations have shown Cheng was not mentally disordered at the time of the stabbings and that he is fit to stand trial.
Cheng has been detained since the incident.
His parents had called for him to be sentenced to death to help ease the pain inflicted on the victims and their families, calling their son’s actions “unforgivable.”
They made the plea during a tear-filled visit on May 27 to an impromptu shrine to victims of the stabbing spree erected outside the Jiangzicui Station (江子翠) in New Taipei City.
“I hope that the judge will quickly put Cheng on trial and rule on the case, and by doing so, give some consolation to the victims,” Cheng’s father told reporters at the time.
Parents of 26-year-old Chang Cheng-han (張正翰), who was killed in the attack, said that even if Cheng was sentenced to a hundred death penalties, it would not bring back their son.
Chang’s mother, Chang Su-mi (張素密), said that she hopes the government and the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) could establish a task force to assist victims’ families in handling legal and compensation matters.
TRTC is seeking NT$20.61 million (US$687,000) in compensation from Cheng for operational losses after it reported a drop of about 945,000 passengers in the 10 days following the attack.
Additional reporting by Lin Yi-chang
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS