A representative of the family of the main suspect in the March 19, 2004, election-eve shooting of the president and vice president yesterday challenged the forensic investigation carried out during the case by Chinese-American forensics expert Henry Lee (李昌鈺).
Chang Hsi-kuang (張曦光) called a news conference at the Alumni Hall of National Taiwan University, offering what he claimed was "new evidence" concerning the bullets used in the shooting, and asking Lee, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a four-day visit, for an explanation.
Materials science professor Hsu Tung from the National Tsinghua University and former Hualien County Commissioner Wang Chin-feng (王慶豐), who had taken part in a "319 truth investigation commission" set up by the Legislative Yuan, also attended the news conference.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Chang, who has represented the family of Chen Yi-hsiung (陳義雄), the only suspect in the shooting, has repeatedly questioned the forensic report of the investigative team.
As Lee took part in the crucial forensic work leading the investigative team to identify Chen Yi-hsiung as the main suspect, Chang asked for Lee to address his doubts concerning the investigation.
Lee was to speak on the forensic investigation and reconstruction of the crime scene at the Taiwan Police College yesterday and today. He will give a speech on new forensic concepts to ranking police officers. He was also scheduled to appear on a call-in TV program last night to answer questions about the forensic work during the shooting investigation.
President Chen Shui-bian (
The opposition has never produced evidence to substantiate its accusation, and the Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the president's re-election.
After a lengthy investigation, with Lee assisting in crime scene reconstruction and forensic examinations, the "319 investigation task force" ended its probe last August after identifying Chen Yi-hsiung as the main suspect. He was found dead in Anping Harbor in Tainan about 10 days after the shooting. It is believed that he committed suicide.
The family of Chen Yi-hsiung had previously testified that he carried out the shooting because he was depressed about being unemployed and blamed the president's policies.
However, his wife, Lee Shu-chiang (李淑江), retracted her testimony in the middle of this month, claiming at a news conference that she was coerced into making statements implicating her husband.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it