The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a death sentence handed down to Li Kuo-hui (李國輝) for torching a building in New Taipei City in November 2017, killing nine people.
During his trial, Li, an ethnic Chinese from Myanmar, said he heard his neighbors making fun of him from his rented room in the building in Zhonghe District (中和).
Early on Nov. 22, 2017, Li, now in his 50s, left his apartment with an empty bottle, which he filled with gasoline, investigators said.
Photo: CNA
He returned at 8:32pm and poured the fuel on the staircase to the fourth floor, ignited the gasoline and fled, they said.
The blaze rapidly engulfed the fourth and fifth floors of the building, where there were 25 small units divided by wooden partitions.
The New Taipei City District Court in 2018 sentenced Li to death for murder, saying he set the fire out of anger, taking the lives of nine people.
The district court’s ruling was upheld by the High Court.
However, the Supreme Court in July last year remanded the case to the High Court for a retrial.
The High Court ruled that Li was guilty of murder with direct intent, High Court spokeswoman Huang Yu-ting (黃玉婷) said yesterday.
Considering Li had no mental disorders at the time of the crime and had been wanted by police for two earlier counts of arson, the High Court upheld the previous ruling, including the lifetime deprivation of Li’s civil rights and the death penalty, she said.
The ruling can still be appealed, Huang said.
Li was previously indicted for two counts of arson by New Taipei City prosecutors in connection with two fires in May and June 2017.
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