A man who was convicted of killing two girls in 2003 and released on parole last year was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murdering a young woman only 20 days after he was freed.
The suspect, Chen Kun-ming (陳昆明), 26, in April 2003 murdered his neighbor’s eight-year-old girl and 10-year-old sister. Chen took the two girls to an abandoned house under a bridge in Taipei County’s Jhonghe (中和). He strangled the older girl to death with his hands before he hit the younger girl’s head with a brick and strangled her to death.
Chen then threw the girls’ bodies into Taipei County’s Sindian Creek (新店溪).
Chen laughed and behaved strangely when police visited him a few days after the murders.
Prosecutors from Taipei County’s Banciao (板橋) charged Chen with the two murders and called for the death sentence, but since Chen pleaded insanity, his sentence was reduced and he became eligible for parole last year.
Banciao prosecutors said police arrested Chen early yesterday morning after they found a woman’s corpse in Chen’s home in Banciao.
Prosecutors said police had identified the victim as Chen Mei-yu (陳美玉), 27, who they believe died over several days from knife wounds.
Prosecutors allege that Chen Kun-ming advertised a job in newspapers and enticed the victim to his residence in Banciao by saying he would interview her.
Chen Kun-ming is suspected of murdering the victim in his home and hiding her body there, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Chen Kun-ming denied he was involved in the murder, saying he suffered from mental illness.
Prosecutors yesterday applied to detain the suspect. The victim’s father, meanwhile, told the press at a police station that he did not understand how Chen Kun-ming could be freed so easily after having committed two murders.
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