The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of the 2013 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her mother.
The ruling said the man, surnamed Huang (黃), now 21, was devoid of conscience and had no regard for human life, and that it was possible that he would murder again if he were to go free.
The Taiwan High Court therefore upheld the death sentence from the first ruling by the New Taipei City District Court, which found Huang guilty of rape and the double murder, and also stripped him of his civil rights for life.
Huang was 19 and was serving his compulsory military service when he committed the crime in September 2013.
Huang’s ex-girlfriend was a college student who worked part-time and Huang had withdrawn NT$200,000 from her bank account without her consent, the ruling said.
He was angered when she later demanded the money back, especially because they had broken up and she was seeing someone else, the ruling said.
Huang allegedly wore a hood to conceal his face as he sneaked into his ex-girlfriend’s home in New Taipei City. When he was discovered by her mother, Huang strangled her to death with rope. When his ex-girlfriend returned home, Huang overpowered her and tied her up, before raping and strangling her, while he also stole NT$10,000 from the house, the ruling said.
In an unrelated trial, the Supreme Court gave a seven-year prison sentence to Lee Meng-feng (李孟峰), who escaped and went into hiding for 15 years after attempting to kill his girlfriend in March 2000.
The authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest, but Lee not only eluded capture, but managed to enroll in graduate schools to obtain a master’s degree and enter a doctoral program in psychology at National Taiwan University.
Lee was convicted of attempted murder after stabbing his girlfriend seven times. His victim sustained severe injuries, but medics saved her life.
In the first ruling in 2000, Lee was given an eight-year prison term, but he jumped bail and escaped, and was only recaptured in April.
The Supreme Court decision reduced the sentence to seven years, saying that Lee had shown remorse and studied diligently in school, and had a good possibility of reintegrating into society.
Yesterday’s ruling was final.
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