Investigators probing the grisly murder of five children in Hualien yesterday said evidence pointed to the children's parents as possible suspects, but they were still unable to explain several bizarre aspects of the case.
"Investigators returned to the crime scene [yesterday] to get more details about the murder. We are also checking what happened as Liu Chih-chin (
The five deceased include Liu's 18-year-old and 17-year-old sons and a 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, and a nine-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son from his marriage to Lin.
Vice director of the Hualien County Police Department Liu Hsiao-lung (劉筱隆) yesterday told the media that surveillance cameras around the Chian Township train station showed that Liu and his wife were at the station at a time likely after the murders took place.
Liu added that the video did not show the couple being held by anyone, ruling out the possibility that they were kidnapped by perpetrators who had killed the children.
Liu added that the children's teachers told police that Liu's wife, Lin Chen-mi (
The five children were found dead in the bathroom of their Hualien home on Friday night.
The children were found with their hands and legs tied with wire, adhesive tape on their faces and with plastic bags over their heads.
Lin Chien-lung (林建龍), the police officer in charge of the case, said the result of an autopsy showed that the five were not drugged or poisoned as earlier suspected.
Police have said that the murder scene had puzzled investigators. The doors of the house had been locked from the inside, with steel bars put across the doors to seal them shut. Since there is iron grating over all of the house's windows and no other apparent way out, police can't figure out how the murderers left the scene.
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