Police in New Taipei City apprehended a 29-year-old suspect surnamed Lin (林) wanted in connection with the alleged beating death of his girlfriend’s young daughter and dumping of the body at a graveyard in Taoyuan.
Lin was arrested on a street in Banciao District (板橋) yesterday morning and taken in for questioning.
New Taipei City police said they were able to track him down by tracing the transmission signals when Lin made calls with his mobile phone.
He allegedly began drinking heavily on Friday night and when he returned home early on Saturday morning, he became angry with his live-in girlfriend’s five-year-old daughter, police said.
According to the 27-year-old girlfriend, Lin became irate because her daughter did not want to sleep, but to go outside to play.
Lin allegedly slapped the girl several times in the face initially, the girlfriend reportedly told police.
However, at about 4am, he woke up and began beating the little girl, hitting her repeatedly on the head and body for about 30 minutes, the woman reportedly said.
When the couple realized the girl was dead, they panicked, and decided to try to cover up her death, she told police.
Police said the couple got into their car with the youngster’s body and drove around looking for a place to dispose of the corpse.
The couple drove from New Taipei City to a rural graveyard in Taoyuan, where they left the body in an isolated spot, hoping it would not be discovered, Lin’s girlfriend reportedly told police.
By that time, the pair were so distraught, they decided to commit suicide by burning charcoal in the car, she told police.
However, that plan did not work out, so they left the car near the graveyard, and hailed a taxi and drove to a fishing harbor in Taoyuan, she reportedly said.
The couple began drinking alcohol on the pier, where Lin allegedly told his girlfriend that he would drown himself to take responsibility for the youngster’s death and then he walked into the sea, she told police.
The woman told police she fell asleep on the pier and when she woke up, Lin was not around, so she decided to report her daughter’s death to the police.
Police said that she told them where her daughter’s body was, and authorities recovered the body, which had numerous bruises on the head and body.
However, according to police, Lin returned to New Taipei City by taxi and then traveled by MRT to several locations in an effort to make contact with some relatives before he was picked up.
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