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.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS