The Supreme Court on Friday handed down a life sentence to Nemencia Armia, a Filipina convicted of murder in Kaohsiung in 2007.
Armia was previously sentenced to death by the Kaohsiung District Court. The Taiwan High Court’s Kaohsiung branch twice sentenced Armia to life in prison. Armia appealed those decisions to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on Friday turned down her latest appeal by handing down the final verdict of a life sentence.
Kaohsiung prosecutors in Nov. 2007 indicted Armia for her involvement in the murder of a 48-year-old woman named Chiu Mei-yun (邱美雲), a broker who helped foreigners find teaching jobs at private schools in the Kaohsiung area.
Kaohsiung prosecutors began an investigation into the case after Chiu’s body was found in a garbage bag in Kaohsiung’s Yencheng District (鹽埕) on Sept. 15 2007.
The Supreme Court ruling said Armia, 41, was convicted of killing Chiu on her own and dumping the body in a garbage bag.
According to the ruling, Armia met Chiu at her residence on Sept. 15 2007. During the meeting Armia wanted Chiu to lend her some money, but Chiu refused.
Armia hit the woman in the face and robbed her of her ATM cards, credit cards and cash, but Chiu refused to reveal the PIN codes. Armia then attacked Chiu with a kitchen knife and killed her, the ruling said.
Armia was the girlfriend of US citizen David Michael Fillion. Fillon was arrested along with Armia in September 2007, but prosecutors later released him because of insufficient evidence.
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