The High Court on Thursday upheld a life sentence handed down to a Filipino fisherman who went on a rampage on board a Taiwanese fishing vessel in 2019 that led to the deaths of eight crew members.
Aurelio Arafiles Fronda was convicted on charges of homicide, attempted murder and abandonment of a body by the Pingtung District Court in September last year, a ruling he subsequently appealed.
The incident took place on board the Wen Peng when it was operating in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius in February 2019.
Pingtung prosecutors said that the murders occurred after Fronda became involved in a heated argument with several members of the crew, which was made up of 11 Indonesians, 10 Filipinos and three Taiwanese — the captain, the chief engineer and an observer.
Fronda was found guilty of stabbing two Filipinos to death, while the remaining crew jumped overboard out of fear for their lives, a court document said.
Of the crew members who jumped overboard, most were rescued by a nearby Taiwanese fishing boat, although six were never found and are presumed dead, it said.
A Coast Guard Administration vessel was subsequently deployed to the last known position of the Wen Peng to help rescue the crew and arrest the alleged assailant.
After concluding their investigation, Pingtung prosecutors in July 2019 indicted Fronda on charges of homicide, recommending that he be handed a heavy sentence, as he had shown no mercy.
The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court on Thursday upheld the lower court’s ruling.
The case can still be appealed.
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