A 26-year-old man suspected of murdering Chiu Chiao-chi (邱喬琪), the host of Web streaming series “17 Live” (17直播), was in custody yesterday, Taipei police said.
Liao Yan-ting (廖晏霆), who claims to be the 27-year-old Chiu’s former boyfriend, was transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning, police said.
He reportedly told police he was angry because Chiu had broken up with him a few months ago.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Officers responded to calls at 7:40pm on Friday last week, and rushed to Chiu’s apartment in a building on Zhongshan N Road, Sec. 3.
Inside they found Chiu bleeding from knife wounds to her back, and Liao in an allegedly drunken stupor, police officials said.
Chiu was taken by ambulance to Taipei MacKay Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 8:55pm, they said.
Liao allegedly initially confessed to stabbing Chiu with a kitchen knife, officials said.
However, when questioned by investigators yesterday, he told them he had gone to Chiu’s apartment just to talk, and “accidentally stabbed her with the knife” when they got into an argument, officials said.
However, investigators believed the stabbing was premeditated murder, not an accident, since Chiu sustained two deep puncture wounds to her back, and bruising on her arms indicated that she had put up a fight, they said.
Ropes and a purported suicide note were also found Liao’s backpack, they said.
Liao allegedly told investigators that while he and Chiu were dating, she had cheated on him by going out with other men, and also worked as a hostess at nightclubs, they said.
Chiu’s family members reportedly told police that they though Liao had emotional problems and violent tendencies, police said.
They also said that he had warned Chiu that he would harm her if she broke up with him, police said.
Taiwanese-American rapper and entertainment personality Jeffrey Huang (黃立成), the founder and owner of “Live 17” under his 17 Media Group, yesterday released a statement mourning Chiu’s passing.
“We are shocked and saddened at the news of Chiu’s death. She was exuberant and cheerful in her live shows, and brought much positive energy to her fans... We urge the authorities to quickly investigate the details of the case,” he said.
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