Police suspect a Taiwanese entrepreneur and his wife may have killed their three grown-up children before cremating them and then themselves in an apparent mass suicide, they said yesterday.
Acting on a tip, police on Wednesday found two charred bodies in a newly installed furnace in the backyard of the luxurious home of entrepreneur Hung Jo-tan (洪若潭), 50, in the town of Erlin in central Changhua County.
Police also found three letters reportedly written by Hung in which he said he felt compelled to kill his three children because of family problems and political chaos in Taiwan.
He said that by the time the letters were read, his three children would have been burnt and their ashes scattered at sea "in accordance with their desires."
He also asked that his ashes and those of his wife be dropped into the sea.
The remains found in the furnace have not yet been identified, but could be those of the couple.
Hung's eldest son, 24, was a graduate student and his second son, 23, was an employee of a factory run by Hung. His 19-year-old daughter was a college student.
In one letter, Hung criticized his family for not supporting his recent marriage to Yao Pao-yueh (
Hung said that, although Yao had taken care of his family, "except me, she has not won the hearts of our parents, brothers and sisters."
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