319 shooting case closed

The Supreme Prosecutors Office yesterday announced it is closing its investigation into the 319 assassination attempt, bringing an end to a saga that has sharply polarized the nation for almost a year and a half.

Investigators concluded that retired construction worker Chen Yi-hsiung (陳義雄) was entirely responsible for shooting President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) on March 19 last year, and that he committed suicide shortly after the failed assassination attempt.

"The 319 assassination task force has completed an investigation report which concludes that the assassination attempt was not staged by President Chen or Vice President Lu, and that Chen and Lu were shot while leading a motorcade in Tainan City on the afternoon of March 19," State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) said at a press conference called by the Supreme Prosecutors Office yesterday.

"Chen Yi-hsiung, who was unsatisfied with the political situation and Chen's government, fired two shots toward the president. One bullet hit Chen [Shui-bian] and another bullet hit Lu, but Lu was not his target," Wu said.

"Chen Yi-hsiung committed the assassination attempt by himself, and no other suspect has been found," Wu said.

Wu, however, admitted that the task force had been unable to find the gun used in the shooting.

Implausible theories

Refuting charges that the president may have somehow wounded himself in a bid to tilt the following day's election in his favor, the investigation report released yesterday said police found two large, fresh bloodstains on Chen Shui-bian's underwear as he was being transported to Chi Mei Hospital soon after the shots were fired.

"The fresh gunshot wound signified that it is impossible that Chen made a false wound before the accident occurred," the investigation report states.

The report says that according to the bullets' trajectory, the shots were fired from a spot opposite to Chen and Lu's vehicle, so it is also impossible that the president's or vice president's guards intentionally shot at the vehicle.

Regarding allegation that Chen and Lu somehow intentionally wounded themselves at the hospital, the report states that not a single staff member, presidential guard or vice-presidential guard has said anything that would back up that charge.

Unhappy man

The report says Chen Yi-hsiung's motive in the assassination attempt was his extreme disgust and anger toward the government. He said in a note before March 19 that he hated the fact that Chen Shui-bian would likely be re-elected, the report said.

The report said a security camera near the site of the shooting in Tainan City filmed a middle-aged, partially bald male in a yellow jacket walking quickly and nervously away from the site of the shooting immediately after it occurred. On March 26 last year, police publicized the man's picture and asked him to report to police, but he never appeared.

The report said Chen Yi-hsiung's wife told investigators "when the police published the picture of a baldheaded man with a yellow coat, I watched it on TV and asked my husband `Is that you?' and `Did you do this?'"

Chen Yi-hsiung responded that "it was his own business and that he would handle this," according to his wife. She said her husband had burned the yellow coat in his house the very day police published the picture, the report added.

According to the report, Chen Yi-hsiung's wife admitted that her husband was out when the shooting occurred.

"When he came home that evening, he was quiet and seemed lost in thought," Chen's wife told investigators.

On March 29 last year, Chen Yi-hsiung's drowned corpse was found at the An-Ping Port (安平港) in Tainan City. His family had a letter he left before his death, which expressed his anger with the government.

Other evidence

In addition to Chen Yi-hsiung family's statements, the report also said that last September, police identified Tang Shou-yi (唐守義) as the maker of the arms used in shooting.

Police looked for people who had bought arms from Tang. In March, police discovered that Chen Yi-hsiung had bought a pistol and bullets from Tang.

But the second son of Chen Yi-hsiung denied yesterday that his father was the would-be assassin.

"No direct evidence points to my father as a suspect, so in my mind, my father absolutely was not involved," the son told reporters.

also see story:
Chen, Lu accept results of assassination investigation