The Taipei District Court yesterday handed down its judgement in the high-profile "suitcase murder," sentencing a computer engineer to 13 years in prison for the death of his male lover during violent sexual intercourse.
The court rejected Liao Chien-kai's (
The prosecution also had said that Liao had committed negligent homicide, but the family of the victim successfully argued to the court that Liao had killed with intent.
Taiwan's judicial system allows a court to investigate more serious charges than those brought by prosecutors.
Chen Chia-wei (
The court found that Liao, during sexual intercourse, sealed the mouth and nose of the victim, covered his head with a plastic bag and tied his hands and legs to the bed.
The court ruled that under the circumstances, death by suffocation was foreseeable and therefore Liao was responsible for preventing the victim's death.
The court further found that after engaging in sex with the victim, Liao failed to untie and or do anything to help the victim that would have prevented his suffocation.
Liao claimed that he fell asleep after the incident and was unable to save the victim.
But citing telephone records and the testimony of witnesses, the court inferred that Liao was not asleep at the time of the death.
Liao and Chen were not present at yesterday's ruling.
The homicide took place on Feb. 3 this year.
The victim's body was found stuffed in a suitcase, that had been found dumped in a vacant lot in Taipei City's Wenshan District three days later.
The police in March arrested Liao and Chen after tracing them through checking the victim's computer records.
The prosecution discovered that the victim had exchanged messages with Liao in an Internet chatroom for sadomasochists.
Liao, whose chatroom ID was "vicious dog" (虐犬), confessed that he invited the victim for a tryst at his place, where the incident happened while they practiced autoerotic asphyxiation.
The prosecutors had adopted Liao's explanation that he accidentally killed the victim and indicted Liao for negligent homicide, but the family of the victim successfully argued to the court that Liao had intentionally killed their son.
According to the Criminal Code, a negligent homicide carries a jail term of less than two years or a fine, while a person found guilty for murder can be sentenced to death or imprisonment from 10 years to life.
The victim has not been named as Taiwan's Sexual Assault Prevention Act forbids the release of his identity.
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