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Suspected murderers arrested

The murders of Shanghai-based Taiwanese businessman Song Yu (宋鈺) and his family early Monday morning have reportedly been solved.

At a press conference called yesterday to announce the details of the case , Li Weiyi (李維一), spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that two people have been arrested for the murders in Jiangsu Province.

Li said that Song, his wife Lin Hui-chun (林蕙君) and their daughter Song Yi-chen (宋儀甄) were murdered during a robbery.

According to the spokesperson, Song's neighbors heard cries for help and called the police, but by the time the police arrived the family were dead and the thieves gone.

Investigators reportedly believe that Song and his wife were stabbed to death when they tried to fight the intruders and their daughter was murdered when she started crying for help.

Two Chinese nationals who rented rooms in the same house were also stabbed by the intruders as a warning, but were not seriously wounded.

Li said that a special task force formed to solve the murders had found one of the suspects' cell phone outside the wall that surrounded the Song's house.

Using the information in the telephone, the investigation got under way in Shanghai and then more than 50 investigators were sent to Jiangsu Province, where the two suspects, a 20-year old man and a 22-year-old man, eventually were arrested in Suining.

Reports said that when arrested, the two men were in possession of Song's car, platinum watch, laptop computer, cell phone and other items.

According to Li, members of Song's family have arrived in Shanghai.

Monday's slayings marked the second time that a homicide was committed after someone had broken into the home of a foreign businessman in the greater Shanghai area.

Lin Chin-tien (林清田), father of Lin Hui-chun, said yesterday that he believes the case is not as simple as the Shanghai police have claimed and expressed the hope that they will get to the bottom of the case.

Lin said that his family will wait for further information to substantiate the details of the case and added that he has asked his brother, Lin Wen-hsiung, to travel to Shanghai to help deal with the affair.

Meanwhile, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which handles Taiwan's relations with China in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, said yesterday that it is trying to learn more about the case.

Soong Chiang (宋鏘), the older brother of Soong Yu, who arrived in Shanghai a day earlier with the help of the SEF, said that the family had initially decided to cremate the bodies in China and bring the ashes back to Taiwan for burial.

Soong Yu was in the security installation business and relocated with his family to Shanghai more than two years ago. Soong's family said they had no reason to suspect he had fallen foul of gangsters. A resident in the same community as the Soongs said that the murder came as no surprise, as security in the community is lax.
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