Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Chen Fu-hsiang (陳福祥), who stands accused of a double murder at a Taipei car park in January, allegedly in a dispute over drug money.
The hearing wrapped up at the Taipei District Court on Thursday, with prosecutors arguing that Chen had committed the murder with extreme cruelty by firing his handgun at close range, and that there is little possibility of reforming him.
Prosecutors said evidence from surveillance footage showed that Chen shot Tsai Kai-yang (蔡鎧陽) and Tsai Tsung-yu (蔡宗育) late on the night of Jan. 13 before putting their bodies in a car in a parking lot in the Ximending (西門町) area of Wanhua District (萬華).
In separate civil lawsuits filed by victims’ families, Chen is being sued for a total of NT$38.7 million (US$1.18 million) in compensation.
The judge at the Taipei District Court has set Dec. 24 for rulings on both the public prosecution case and the civil lawsuit.
After allegedly killing the men and taking money from their car, Chen fled and hid for 14 days before he was arrested on Jan. 24.
Prosecutors said the investigation found the slaying was due to disputes over money owed from drug deals that went sour.
The slain men, reportedly gang members, had allegedly set up a purchase of narcotics said to be worth NT$4.4 million.
Police said that Chen Fu-hsiang was found to be deep in debt — about NT$20 million — because Chinese authorities intercepted a shipment of ketamine that Taiwanese officials linked to Chen Fu-hsiang and his gang.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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