The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the life sentence handed to a Hsinchu man who was found guilty of murdering his mother and dismembering her body.
It was the final ruling and cannot be appealed.
On Aug. 17 last year, the man surnamed Chu (朱) was convicted by the Hsinchu District Court of “murdering a lineal ascendant” and “abandoning the body of a lineal ascendant.” He had been accused of killing his mother on Sept. 5, 2021, and using a grinder to dismember her body.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
Chu was hospitalized after allegedly injuring himself when dismembering his mother’s body.
Hospital staff, after being unable to contact his mother, contacted his uncle, who contacted the police after finding lots of blood in Chu’s house.
While in hospital, Chu hired people to clean up the blood in his home. He reportedly told the cleaners that the blood was from slaughtered pigs.
CCTV footage showed Chu disposing of rubbish bags that had blood dripping from them.
On Aug. 17 last year, the Hsinchu District Court ruled that despite being schizophrenic, Chu was aware of the illegality of his actions, because he had admitted to spending four months planning the murder and had tried to cover up what he had done.
Chu was not given the death penalty after the court took into account his schizophrenia and that he had a poor relationship with his mother, instead sentencing him to life in prison and disenfranchisement for life.
He appealed to the High Court, which on June 14 ruled that he had intentionally killed his mother because he had said: “I slit her neck several times, because if I did not, she would not have died.”
There was no reason or proof why a life sentence was too steep, the High Court said.
Chu appealed to the Supreme Court, saying that he had acted in self-defense because his mother was controlling him, and that his schizophrenia made it difficult for him to know the difference between right and wrong.
The Supreme Court turned down his appeal and on Thursday upheld the original sentence.
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