The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld the death sentence given to a woman convicted of robbing and murdering a couple in a high-profile case.
Hsieh Yi-han (謝依涵), 29, was sentenced to death by Taipei’s Shilin District Court in October last year.
Yesterday’s ruling upheld the original court decision that found Hsieh guilty of killing Shih Chien University assistant professor Chang Tsui-ping (張翠萍), 58, and her husband, Chen Chin-fu (陳進福), 79. The district court originally concluded that Hsieh’s motive for the murders was to obtain Chang’s jewelry collection — estimated to be worth NT$40 million (US$1.3 million at the time)
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Hsieh managed a Mama Mouth Cafe (媽媽嘴) coffee shop on the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Bali District (八里) at the time of the crimes, which led to the incident becoming known as the “Mama Mouth Cafe” (媽媽嘴咖啡店) case.
Chang and Chen lived nearby and were regular customers, befriending Hsieh over time. Over several years, Chen, a wealthy businessman, became fond of Hsieh, and reportedly considered her as his god daughter or stepdaughter.
While his wife was teaching classes or traveling abroad, Chen visited the cafe daily, investigators said. He also began to give Hsieh gifts of cash and jewelry, they added.
A court statement said Hsieh sedated the couple with drugged drinks on Feb. 16 last year, then stabbed both with a fruit knife before throwing them into the Tamsui River.
After the murders, Hsieh stole NT$350,000 from Chen and tried, but failed, to withdraw more money from his wife’s bank account by disguising herself as the murdered woman.
The couple’s bodies were discovered among mangrove trees and sand bars along the river bank on Feb. 26 and March 2 last year.
After yesterday’s verdict, Chen’s sister said that Hsieh deserved the death penalty for what she called cold-blooded murder, “but whatever the punishment, the lost lives of our love ones cannot be returned.”
She added that many questions remain unresolved in the case and that the families of the deceased suspect Hsieh had help carrying out the murders, so they have asked prosecutors to bring the accomplices to justice.
The case can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS