A man with a history of drug abuse is suspected of murdering and setting fire to his grandparents in an episode of drug-induced hysteria in Kaohsiung yesterday before regaining self-control and turning himself in, police said.
Lee Chih-lung (李志隆), 21, allegedly went berserk when his grandmother caught him doing drugs and chided him, police said.
Exasperated, Lee reportedly shoved his grandmother against a wall, picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed her multiple times before turning on his grandfather, who had rushed to restrain him, police said.
“His grandparents had pampered him since he was a child, yet he still had it in him to kill them. He is worse than an animal,” Lee’s relatives said after learning about the alleged double homicide.
Lee later reportedly set fire to his grandfather’s corpse and the apartment before coming to his senses and calling the authorities, police said.
Police and paramedics rushed to the scene and found two bodies: a female victim lying in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds and a male victim covered with blankets and severely burned, the police said, adding that Lee was taken into custody for questioning and charged with homicide.
“I was high on drugs. I did not know what was happening,” the police quoted Lee as saying.
Lee later said he had taken an ecstasy cocktail on Friday night, police said.
The child of a divorced couple, Lee was raised by his grandparents, police said, adding that he admitted to having become a drug addict in junior-high school, dropping out soon afterward.
Up until recently, Lee had been working as a molding technician and plasterer, spending most of his income on drugs and at Internet cafes, police said.
Lee had been referred for a delivery job at a window and door manufacturer in Tainan about a month ago and said he could return to his home in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) only on weekends, police said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS