Lee Tai-an (
Pingtung prosecutors have finished investigations for their case against Lee Tai-an and requested a death sentence on charges of murder, destruction of railway infrastructure, endangering passenger safety and illegitimately collecting insurance payouts after the death of Chen Hong-chen (陳氏紅琛), his deceased brother's Vietnamese wife.
Lee Tai-an has denied any wrongdoing and showed no remorse for his actions, prosecutors said.
They said that Lee Tai-an's alleged accomplice, Huang Fu-lai (
Prosecutors proposed a sentence of six years in jail and a two-year probation period for Huang, because he showed remorse and cooperated with investigators.
Pingtung Prosecutors' Office spokesperson Yeh Li-chi (葉麗琦) said that the Lee brothers had been involved in the "wicked and cruel" murder of Chen, but that Lee Tai-an showed no remorse whatsoever, although prosecutors gave him numerous opportunities to admit guilt.
Prosecutors said that the Lee brothers had been planning the derailment since last year.
Lee Tai-an's lawyer, Wu Cheng-chieh (吳澄潔), said yesterday that the prosecutors had no direct evidence against Lee Tai-an.
The accident occurred on March 17, when an express train traveling from Taitung to Kaohsiung derailed in Pingtung County.
The passengers aboard the train included Lee Shuang-chuan, who was a Taiwan Railway Administration employee, and his Vietnamese wife.
Chen died in hospital after the derailment, but prosecutors became suspicious after they discovered that Lee Shuang-chuan had taken out a NT$20 million (US$625,000) life insurance policy on his wife, which covered accidental death, a few days before the derailment.
Chen was reportedly still alive and called for help when she climbed out of the train compartment calling for help. The Lee brothers were not in the same compartment as Chen at the time of the crash.
Investigators said that Chen had first been injected with Etumine, a strong sedative mainly administered to patients with mental illnesses, followed by snake poison, and that Lee Shuang-chuan may have poisoned his wife and deliberately caused the train to derail to mask her murder.
Lee Shuang-chuang's previous wife died from a snake bite in the backyard of their home.
Lee Shuang-chuan was found dead hanging from a tree near his Taitung home on March 23.
The incident was followed by almost two months of live media coverage of goings on at the Lee brothers' house in Taitung County, where reporters monitored family members' every move.
The home also turned into a sightseeing destination, with buses and cars bringing hundreds of visitors to get a glimpse of the family at the center of the drama. Vendors also swarmed to the scene for business opportunities.
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