Police yesterday announced they had arrested a suspect accused of raping and murdering a junior high school girl 10 years ago.
Tsao Tien-shou (曹添壽), 54, a former taxi driver, was arrested at Datong District’s (大同) homeless shelter in Taipei City on Thursday afternoon by Criminal Investigation Bureau officers.
The victim, surnamed Chen (陳), was reported missing near her residence in Keelung's Chidu District (七堵) around 5pm on Sept. 10, 2000. Her body was discovered a few blocks away at around 8pm. The coroner’s report said she was raped and strangled to death.
Coroners discovered semen on Chen's underwear, but police were unable to find a suspect with matching DNA until recently when Tsao, a suspect in a sexual harassment case in Taipei City’s Nangang (南港) last month, had his DNA taken.
While Tsao was cleared of involvement in the Nangang case, his DNA was found to match the DNA sample in Chen's case.
Police said Tsao had admitted to the crime, saying he accidentally killed Chen because he taped her mouth and nose shut while raping her.
Cheng Jung-kun (鄭榮昆), captain of Keelung City Police Department's criminal investigation unit, said Tsao also told the police that whenever he was drunk he felt like raping someone, adding that he had raped more than three victims since 2000.
“I lost count of how many women I have raped. I hope I will be sentenced to death as soon as possible,” Cheng quoted Tsao as saying.
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