The father of 21-year-old student Lin Chih-hao (
Liao, who reportedly confessed to the crime on Friday, changed his testimony yesterday, saying that he only masturbated the victim, and that Lin died because he forgot to take off the patch that covered the victim's face.
Because of Liao's testimony, prosecutors have decided to charge him with involuntary homicide.
An autopsy had earlier confirmed that Lin died of suffocation after an adhesive patch was put over his face. According to Liao's earlier testimony, the patch was applied over Lin's face so he could experience a heightened orgasm in a practice known as autoerotic asphyxiation.
Police yesterday said that Liao would only face a sentence of two years in prison if he is found guilty of involuntary homicide.
Liao and Chen were both released on Saturday afternoon on NT$100,000 and NT$30,000 bail, respectively.
In response to the decision, Lin's father yesterday criticized the prosecutors' decision.
"Chen's testimony, saying that he accidentally killed my son, was totally unacceptable," Lin said yesterday.
According to Lin, Liao even bragged to other Internet surfers on an online sadomasochistic chatroom, saying that he had found a "sex slave," right after he picked up the victim in the chatroom.
"Obviously, Liao abused, or even murdered my son," Lin added. "If this was really an involuntary homicide, as Liao claimed, how could Liao be so calm to clean my son's body, put it into a suitcase and dump it?"
Lin also stressed that Liao was trying to avoid responsibility by claiming that he was depressed.
Meanwhile, Lin yesterday encouraged all parents to try to understand their children and to communicate with them more consistently.
According to Lin, many people in Taiwan dare not come out to their parents or friends about their sexual identity because of the country's conservative social mores.
"Gay people in Taiwan must learn how to protect themselves," Lin added.
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