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Death penalty sought in murder

The Keelung District Prosecutors' Office yesterday named Chen Chao-chin (陳朝琴) as the mastermind behind last year's shooting death of KMT Taipei City councilor Chen Chin-chi (陳進棋) and suggested that he be given the death penalty.

According to Keelung Chief Prosecutor Chu Jia-chi's (朱家崎) indictment, in addition to Chen Chao-chin, his younger brother Chen Shih-chang (陳世昌) and friend Pan Heng-yi (潘恆逸) were also indicted. Chu suggested a seven-year sentence for Chen Shih-chang and a 10-year sentence for Pan.

"Chen Chao-chin, Chen Shih-chang and Pan organized the murder and hired local crime gang Sun Union (太陽會) member Tung Chi-tai (董智泰) to murder Chen Chao-chin. It is necessary to put Chen Chao-chin away and seek longer jail terms for both Chen Shih-chang and Pan," Chu said in his indictment.

Chen Chao-chin and Chen Shih-chang have been detained on the charge of murder since April 19. Tung's statement was the key for prosecutors to discover the accused men's involvement in the homicide.

According to Tung's confession to prosecutors, Chen Chao-chin and he have been friends for years. Chen Chao-chin and the late councilor had also been friends and neighbors since childhood.

However, the relationship between Chen Chao-chin and Chen Chin-chi soured in the run up to the last year's Taipei City Council election because of their argument over the issue of who should represent the Peitou constituency.

One day last November, Chen Chao-chin, Chen Shih-chang and Pan called Tung and invited him to join their plan to kill Chen Chin-chi. The trio also promised Tung a NT$80 million payment after the assassination, prosecutors said.

Tung then invited his friends Cheng Chien-yi (鄭健逸) and Chu Chih-chiang (朱志強) to help him carry out the murder plan.

On July 25, the Shihlin District Court sentenced Tung to life in prison, Cheng to fourteen years in prison for their roles in the murder. Chu was found innocent.

The late city councilor was gunned down on Nov. 16 last year, while on his way to Taipei's Taoyuan Restaurant to attend 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, along with with another man who also wore a motorcycle helmet and dark clothing.

On Dec. 5 last year, Taipei police arrested the suspected scooter driver -- Cheng, a 34-year-old salesman who works with an international trading company.

The police said that they had statements from witnesses identifying Tung as the person who shot Chen Chin-chi to death. In addition, Cheng identified Tung as the assassin, police said, although they had difficulty finding him at the time.

On April 18 this year, the police finally arrested Tung as he left a KTV parlor in Hsinchu at around 3am.

Both Chen Chin-chi and Chen Chao-chin were both competing in the 2002 Taipei City council election to represent the Peitou constituency. After Chen Chin-chi was murdered, Chen Chao-chin still did not win the election.

Approximately three hours after Tung's early-morning arrest in Hsinchu, another team of police officers arrested Chen Chao-chin and his brother Chen Shih-chang at their Peitou residence.
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