The Taichung branch of the High Court on Thursday upheld the death penalty for a gunman convicted of killing four people and critically injuring a fifth at a biotechnology company in Nantou County last year.
The high court also upheld the life-long suspension of civil rights handed down by the Nantou District Court in May to Lee Hung-yuan (李鴻淵), as that a forensic psychiatric examination of the accused conducted by the Taiwan Forensic Psychology Association determined that there was little chance of rehabilitation.
In addition, Lee’s actions could be interpreted as falling under the “most serious crimes” possible under the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the high court said.
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
As such, the death penalty is the only way to maintain social order and justice in response to Lee’s multiple crimes and malicious behavior in taking the lives of others, it said.
On July 14 last year, a disgruntled Lee shot Kang Jian Biotech chairman Lai Min-nan (賴敏男), his brother and daughter, and two company employees surnamed Chang (張) and Liu (劉).
Lee held a grudge from his time as an employee at the company and shot the five in an act of revenge.
Lai suffered severe head trauma and was rushed to Taichung Veterans General Hospital, while the other four died on the spot.
All five were shot up-close in the head, execution style, which the high court said highlighted the completely lawless and extremely malicious nature of the crime.
The ruling can be appealed.
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