Keelung Chief Prosecutor Chu Jia-chi (
The Sun Union is the Taoyuan branch of the Tiendaomeng (
Under Chu's direction, Keelung police arrested Sun Union member Tung Chi-tai (
Two other suspects in the case, Peitou's Fengnien Borough Warden Chen Chao-chin (陳朝琴) and his younger brother Chen Shih-chang (陳世昌), were arrested at their Peitou residence at around 6am the same day.
Police suspect that the brothers hired Tung to kill Chen Chin-chi after their friendship with the councillor soured.
The late city councilor was killed on Nov. 16 last year on his way to Taipei's Taoyuan Restaurant for a wedding lunch for a friend's daughter.
As he entered the restaurant, a gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet and dark clothes opened fire with a pistol. The gunman immediately fled on a stolen scooter with another suspect who also wore a motorcycle helmet and dark clothing.
On Dec. 5 last year, Taipei police arrested the suspected scooter driver, Cheng Chien-yi (
Police said they had statements from witnesses identifying Tung as the person who shot Chen Chin-chi to death. In addition, Cheng also identified Tung as the assassin, police said, although they had difficulty finding him.
Chu tried to find Tung using many methods, including spreading rumors that both the mafia and law enforcement officers were looking for him so that his friends would not help him. Tung's whereabouts were ascertained over the following few months.
Police said that Tung was picked by the gang's senior members and sent to Thailand for an assassin's training course.
After the arrest, Tung confessed immediately, police said, leading investigators to the arrest of Chen Chao-chin and Chen Shih-chang.
A senior lieutenant at Central Police University, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday that Chu's background and personality helped him close many important cases such as this one.
"Unlike other prosecutors, Chu takes advantage of the professional knowledge and skills he gained at the academy when he is investigating a case," the lieutenant said.
"Not only that, but since he has been a police officer himself, he knows better than other prosecutors how to communicate with police officers and work with them to accomplish the mission, while it is also easier for police officers to treat him as a pal and trust his decisions," the lieutenant said.
Chu passed the national exam for judicial officials in 1984. After an 18-month training course, he became a prosecutor.
Before then, Chu had been a police officer for four years after he graduated with a bachelor's degree in administrative management from the Central Police University.
During his career as a prosecutor, he has worked at several district prosecutors' offices, including in Chiayi, Taoyuan, Taipei, Ilan and finally Keelung. He was promoted to chief prosecutor for the Keelung District Prosecutors' Office last year.
His colleagues at the prosecutors' office described him as patient, careful and well-organized.
Other prosecutors say Chu probably now has the best understanding among prosecutors of the Sun Union gang because he has studied, researched and analyzed the gang for years.
He has also arrested and indicted at least five leaders and more than 20 members of the gang during the past five years. Police investigations have discovered that the gang now lists Chu as one of its "most wanted."
Chu's colleagues, including Keelung Prosecutor-General Tsai Ching-hsiang (
The Ministry of Justice has also honored him for his magnificent work on cracking drug cases and for his work with gangs.
"I have nothing to fear, nothing to hide and nothing to be proud of because I am just doing my job," he said. "I will keep the faith and keep fighting against criminals."
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