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Hsichih Trio murder scene re-examined

Forensic investigators re-examined the scene of the Hsichih Trio murders yesterday in a bid to reconstruct the events surrounding the double homicide 10 years ago -- only to discover that almost all traces of evidence had been removed.

The apartment of the murdered couple, which remains uninhabited, has been redecorated. All the furniture which was originally in the apartment had been removed, the walls re-painted and floor tiles replaced.

Forensic investigators from the Ministry of Justice, who are conducting examinations on recently exhumed bones of the murdered couple, examined the scene yesterday afternoon, accompanied by a trial judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers. They took a window from the couple's bedroom for further examination, which they said had traces of the victims' blood.

The investigators carried out their inspection hoping to obtain evidence that might end the controversial argument surrounding how many offenders were present at the time the murders took place 10 years ago.

In March 1991, the couple, Wu Ming-han (吳銘漢) and Yeh Ying-lang (葉盈蘭), were brutally murdered in their home. Four men were charged for the killing and one of them, Wang Wen-hsiao (王文孝), who was serving in the military at the time, was executed a year later.

The other three -- Su Chien-ho (蘇建和), Liu Bing-lang (劉秉郎) and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳) -- whose convictions are widely suspected to be unjust -- are now undergoing a retrial by the High Court.

The defense has argued that Wang committed the murders alone while previous court trials determined the three co-defendants had taken part in the killings.

Though the bodies of the couple were also exhumed for further scientific study by forensic investigators from the justice ministry, examination of the remains has yet to produce any new evidence.
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