The man whose statements first led to murder charges being brought against the Hsichih Trio testified yesterday that the three men were innocent.
Wang Wen-chung (
Wang, a friend of Su's and Liu's, had said during police interviews that the three defendants committed the murder along with his elder brother, Wang Wen-hsiao (
The couple were murdered at their home in Hsichih on March 24, 1991. Earlier on the night in question, Liu, Su and Wang had been out together. They all testified that Chuang was not with them.
Five months after the murder, police arrested the elder Wang, who had a record of sneaking into the couple's house and stealing from them.
Questioned by police -- who doubted that the more than 70 stabs wounds which had been inflicted on the couple could have been made by one person -- Wang Wen-hsiao confessed to the crime and said that his younger brother and the three others were involved.
The police found Wang Wen-chung at the army base where he was based and asked him to give the names of the people he had been out with that night. Following Wang's identification, the three defendants were arrested and charged as accomplices.
The younger Wang said during yesterday's hearing, however, that he had been coerced and induced by the police to name the three and "confess" to his offense of being a lookout for the defendants.
"The police told me that both my [elder] brother and Su had admitted that they did it, and that they wouldn't be able to help me if I insisted I was innocent. But, as I later found out, they had lied to me about Su's confession," Wang said.
Wang said the police then made up scenarios about how the murders were committed, with him as a lookout and the others as killers. "Whenever I denied something, the policeman standing behind me hit me in the head. I was frightened and they kept pressing me to confess. Finally, I agreed to admit to what they wanted because I was thinking it would be a lighter offense for me compared to the others," he said.
The elder Wang, who was serving in the army, was sentenced to death by a military court and executed in 1992. The younger Wang was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail by the military court.
Wang's earlier statements contradicted his later recollections -- he had confessed to taking a role in the killings during police and prosecutors' questioning but then testified during court proceedings that he had nothing to do with the murders.
Questioned by the High Court over the contradictory statements, Wang said yesterday he was telling the truth during the court proceedings. "I thought it was useless to tell the police I didn't do it. They would only hit me more," Wang said.
"But I retracted the statements and told the truth to the judges because I believe they were just," he said.
During the hearing, Wang also said his [elder] brother had been a drug user, but he was not sure whether he had taken drugs on the night of the murder. The testimony is crucial because whether the elder Wang would be able to kill the couple and inflict 70 stab wounds by himself is at issue in the case.
RSS