The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a 12-year sentence for Chuang Yu-hsieng (莊育賢), who had been found guilty of strangling his girlfriend, surnamed Lee (李), at a motel in Taichung.
The verdict was the final ruling in the case.
Chuang had appealed the first ruling after a district court convicted him of manslaughter and sentenced him to 10 years and two months in prison.
The High Court in October last year then sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
In their ruling, the Supreme Court judges said that the sentence should be upheld because Chuang had not shown remorse for committing the crime, and he had not apologized to his girlfriend’s family, nor did he offer them financial compensation.
The couple had been living together and were reportedly planning to marry.
Chuang took Lee out on a car trip and they checked into a Taichung motel on July 18, 2018, investigators said.
The next morning they were seen arguing over breakfast.
Prosecutors said that Chuang at first denied the killing, saying that Lee had committed suicide.
After being presented with evidence, he later admitted to strangling Lee in a fit of anger, they said.
Minutes later, he found that she was still breathing, so he took a towel from the bathroom to strangle her to death, they cited him as saying.
Chuang dragged the body to the bathroom to clean it, then carried it to the car and drove along a highway between Taichung and Nantou County, looking for a place to dump it, but did not find a a suitable spot, investigators said.
Chuang checked into another motel later that night. The next day he crashed his car into a guard rail on Highway No. 6. Police arrived to find him in a nervous state.
He attempted to jump off the side of highway and kill himself, but police grabbed him first.
Police officers then discovered Lee’s body in the car’s trunk.
In another case, the Taipei District Court yesterday approved the detention of a Taipei City Motor Vehicles Office official surnamed Yuan (袁), after prosecutors began investigating him for corruption on Tuesday.
Yuan is accused of receiving bribes of NT$1.3 million (US$43,279) a year.
He reportedly colluded with businesses to enable drivers to pass the physical test for their drivers’ license, among other things.
Prosecutors have questioned six other people and carried out searches.
Yuan was detained along with businessman Lee Hung-chang (李宏章), while the other five were released on bail ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$250,000.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS