After a two-month investigation, Taipei District prosecutors yesterday charged artist Chang Chih-cheng (張志成) with helping his wife Chen Ling-hui (陳綾蕙) commit suicide.
The 42-year-old gallery owner was found dead at her home in Taipei on Nov. 7 last year.
Police reports showed that she died from carbon monoxide poisoning after burning charcoal in her bedroom.
A separate investigation showed that a possible factor in Chen’s suicide was that she was being pressured by loan sharks who were demanding unpaid debts using threats or violence.
After her art gallery experienced financial problems, Chen borrowed a substantial amount of money from a black-market lender who then charged her exorbitant interest rates.
Her husband was investigated after evidence pointed to the possibility that he may have assisted his wife in committing suicide.
Prosecutors said they had evidence that Chang bought the coal his wife used to kill herself.
Chang said his wife was originally going to buy the coal, but because she was not dressed appropriately, he went out and bought it for her. His fingerprints were also found on the tongs with which he allegedly picked up the pieces of coal.
Assisting a suicide is a criminal offense, even if the person assisting was asked to do so by the person who died. It is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Prosecutors charged Chang with assisting a suicide and requested a two-year prison sentence because they said Chang did not initially own up to his crimes. Prosecutors also said Chang had mild psychological disorders, but they were not serious enough to impair his judgment when committing the alleged crime.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS