There were signs of progress in the investigation into the murder of prominent women’s-rights activist Peng Wan-ru (彭婉如) 19 years ago as the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said they are investigating a taxi driver after forensic evidence showed that he matched six fingerprint characteristics of the main suspect.
Peng, then-director of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) department of women’s affairs, was reported missing after she left Kaohsiung’s Jianmei Hotel by taxi after attending a DPP provisional national party congress on Nov. 30, 1996. Her body was found in Kaohsiung’s Niaosong District (鳥松) on Dec. 3.
While previous investigations had identified a taxi driver as a possible suspect, surveillance footage of the taxi had been blurry and the taxi’s license plate number could not be seen clearly, police said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Internet
More than 130,000 taxi drivers in the five counties and cities in the south were fingerprinted, but to no avail, the police said.
Police said that the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) had recently received tips from an ex-girlfriend of a man surnamed Yang (楊), saying that Yang claimed to have killed Peng.
Yang, who turns 50 this year, had been a taxi driver in the Kaohsiung area two decades ago, but moved to the Taichung area a decade ago.
Photo: CNA
He was recently detained for driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.
CIB Director Liu Po-liang (劉柏良) yesterday said that while Yang did not match the DNA samples collected from the crime scene, he matched six characteristics of the primary suspect’s fingerprints.
Usually, cross-analysis of finger prints needs a match of at least 12 characteristics, but leeway can be allowed — 10 characteristics — if the fingerprint is unique, Liu said, adding that Yang, having matched six characteristics, required further investigation.
Accordingly, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said Yang has not been confirmed as the primary suspect.
New information on the case surfaces every couple of years and investigators are committed to looking into information as it arises, it said.
Meanwhile, Peng Wan-ju Foundation president Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) yesterday said that the police’s devotion to cracking the case is to be commended and she hoped similar tragedies could be avoided.
DPP Tainan City Councilor Tang Pi-e (唐碧娥) yesterday said she only wished she had stopped Peng on that fateful day 19 years ago, as she was one of the people sending her off at the hotel as Peng got in the taxi.
Noting Peng’s day of death is coming up in 19 days, Tangsaid she hoped the culprit could be apprehended on that day.
DPP spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) yesteday praised Peng’s contribution to women’s rights, adding that many people in the DPP has missed her a lot.
Cheng said that so far, prosecutors and the police have not confirmed the reports, however, if there are new developments, he and all the concerned friends would hope the long-time mystery could be solved as soon as possible.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin and Wang Chieh
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS