Taichung City Police Chief Frank Chiu (邱豐光) yesterday said footage from alleged gangster Weng Chi-nan’s (翁奇楠) office could only be retrieved as far back as May 22, adding that the public should have full confidence in the police investigation.
“The hard drive from the security video system can only retain video clips spanning a maximum of five days,” Chiu said.
The Taichung police chief made the remarks in response to allegations that police were withholding certain video clips of the crime scene. On Monday night, police made public video clips taken during the homicide, in which Weng was shot to death in his office on May 28.
Video clips made public during the press conference on Monday put Taichung police in a bad light, showing four senior officers and a retired officer playing mahjong in the room when Weng was murdered.
The footage also showed Weng exiting his car and walking into his office, followed by his girlfriend and an employee surnamed Lin (林) at 4:19pm on May 28.
The gunman is then seen walking into the office and opening fire about 30 seconds later.
Lin, who was carrying Weng’s briefcase, dropped it in an alley while the gunman was shooting. He is seen trying to retrieve the briefcase after the shooting, but it was retrieved by police after they arrived at the scene.
Asked if the briefcase contained drugs, Taichung City Police Department First Precinct’s Investigation Team Captain Yang Chun-hsien (楊春賢) said the briefcase contained Weng’s bank books, stamps, business cards and company posters.
Meanwhile, police confirmed that a total of nine police officers were seen in footage between May 22 and May 28, adding that prosecutors were trying to determine the nature of their relations with Weng.
Yang said Criminal Investigation Corps’ Second Division sergeants Huang Chih-ming (黃志明) and Chiang Chen-chien (江振堅), officer Huang Lung-sheng (黃隴聲), Third Division sergeants Lu Chien-bang (陸建邦) and Hou Chih-peng (侯志鵬) were the other five officers seen in the footage. The five officers received minor demerits.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS