Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday said they are seeking the death penalty for Chang Yen-wen (張彥文), who stalked his girlfriend after their relationship ended and allegedly stabbed her to death on a street in Taipei City in September.
Following the indictment, the Taipei District Court on Friday held a bail hearing on Chang and ruled that the 29-year-old, a graduate of National Taiwan University, be detained.
An autopsy report on the victim, a 22-year-old female teacher surnamed Lin (林), suggested that the woman was stabbed 47 times to her limbs, neck and chest area, and left to die on the street from severed arteries and massive bleeding.
The indictment said Chang, after stabbing Lin with a fruit knife that he bought a few days earlier, allegedly removed her underwear to kiss her genitalia.
The indictment said Chang’s “savage and perverse” attack on a defenseless young woman showed extreme cruelty and was devoid of any humane feelings, and is therefore seeking the death penalty for the crime.
Chang was indicted on murder and sexual assault charges, along with offenses relating to privacy, breaking and entering, intimidation and one count of desecration of a corpse.
Local media reported that while in detention Chang has stated his wish to apologize to Lin’s family and sent longing love messages to Lin in her afterlife by copying out Buddhist sutra text and burning the papers.
However, netizens have commented with disgust and indignation, saying that Chang was playacting in an attempt to fool the judges, so that he could escape capital punishment and to sway the decision in favor of a lighter jail term.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it