The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a life sentence handed to Chen Po-chien (陳伯謙), 40, for the rape and murder of a woman at Taipei’s Huashan Creative Park (華山創意園區) in 2018.
Due to the viciousness of the crime, which included dismembering the body and disposing of it on Yangmingshan (陽明山), and lack of remorse, the Taipei District Court in its first ruling in August 2019 imposed the maximum death penalty.
The High Court in April last year overturned the ruling, instead sentencing Chen to life in prison.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Seeking capital punishment, the victim’s family appealed, resulting in yesterday’s Supreme Court verdict, which is final and cannot be appealed.
“Taiwan’s justice system is dead,” the victim’s father, surnamed Kao (高), told reporters after the ruling, condemning the judges for manipulating the law to overturn the original death sentence.
“Past psychiatric evaluations showed a near-zero chance Chen could be rehabilitated, but the judges deceived the public by saying the contrary,” Kao said. “We cannot accept this ruling.”
Separately, the Nantou District Court yesterday ordered a man in Puli Township (埔里鎮) who shot another man with a modified handgun last year to pay NT$2.93 million (US$105,078) in compensation to the victim.
The case was also allegedly a romantic triangle, as the Puli man, surnamed Chang (張), 47, believed his ex-girlfriend was seeing the other man, surnamed Pan (潘), 42, also from the Puli area.
The decision can be appealed.
Also yesterday, New Taipei City police said that a fitness instructor surnamed Chang (張) would face homicide charges after allegedly strangling his girlfriend to death.
Chang, 35, was reportedly in a relationship with a woman surnamed Huang (黃), 28, as they had been cohabiting for the past nine months in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
Neighbors told police that they heard the two quarreling on Tuesday afternoon, then saw the woman go out to buy dinner and return in the early evening.
A friend of Chang received a call from him later that night, allegedly requesting assistance with funeral arrangements. This prompted concern from the friend, who provided the address to police.
Police and firefighters had to break down the door, as Chang refused to let them in while brandishing a knife.
After gaining entry, they found the girlfriend’s body on the bed.
Chang was still wielding the knife with two stab wounds on his chest, leading police to believe the wounds were self-inflicted.
Police yesterday reported that Huang was pronounced dead at a hospital, while Chang was in a stable condition.
The woman got to know Chang when she took a job at the same gym and they entered into a relationship, police said.
It is alleged that Chang quit his fitness instructor job a month ago, while Huang had reportedly planned to move out since she started dating another man.
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