The police yesterday took two male suspects into custody in connection with the suspected kidnapping and death of a young boy in Hsinchu City.
The 12-year-old boy, surnamed Lin (林), upon leaving his school on Tuesday afternoon, was allegedly led away by a man. It was later found that the 25-year-old man, surnamed Lee (李), was known to Lin and his schoolmates as a “big brother,” as Lee befriended them by regularly playing basketball at the school.
After a frantic search, the boy’s body was found on Tuesday in Lee’s apartment.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
Lee was found lapsing into unconsciousness and the apartment appeared to be filled with large quantities of toxic gases. Lee was rushed to a local hospital for emergency treatment.
The police said that Lee sprayed a can of pesticide inside the sealed apartment in what was a suspected murder and suicide attempt.
A forensic examination found contusions on the boy’s neck, suggesting that he was strangled to death, police said, adding that an apartment security camera captured footage of another man with Lin and Lee when they entered the building.
Authorities later yesterday said that they apprehended the second man, a 30-year-old surnamed Chen (陳), at his parents’ home in Chiayi City. Chen was taken into custody and taken to Hsinchu City for questioning. He denied any involvement in the case, and denied knowing the boy, police said.
Local media outlets quoted the police as saying the investigation is focusing on allegations that the two suspects are pedophiles and that they might have abused the boy.
Evidence suggested that Lee has pedophile tendencies, with his social media messages and posted photographs revealing that he had befriended a number of schoolboys, and nearly all of his friends were young children, police said.
The police said that Lee allegedly pretended to be a school official and called the boy’s family to tell them the boy would be late arriving home because he was being detained at school.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)