Chen Jui-chin (陳瑞欽), the Chiayi County man who was arrested last Thursday for murdering a Chiayi woman, reportedly confessed to prosecutors yesterday that he murdered four family members in order to collect on their life insurance policies.
Last Saturday, Nantou prosecutors announced that Chen Jui-chin had confessed to murdering his friend Chen Yi-ling (陳怡伶) on May 11.
Her body had been found on May 12 in the Shanlinshi resort area.
During their investigation into that murder, Nantou County prosecutors discovered that five members of of Chen's extended family had died in what appeared to be an unusual string of accidents over a 13-year period and that he had received an estimated NT$22 million from their life-insurance policies.
"We had a long talk on Tuesday night. Early this morning, he finally admitted that the deaths of four of family members were his work. He wanted to get money from their insurance policies," said Nantou Chief Prosecutor Wang Ching-chieh (王清杰).
"However, Chen insisted that he had nothing to do with his second wife's death. For that, we will still need more time to investigate," Wang said.
Wang said that Chen admitted to murdering his first wife Tseng Pi-hsia (曾碧霞), his son Chen Chien-hung (陳建宏), Chen Yi-chi (陳一志) -- the 15-year old son of his second wife -- and Chen Tsung-ching (陳宗慶) -- the son of his third wife.
Tseng died after a fall from her bed in 1985 and while Chen Jui-chin had been the only witness, at the time he could not explain how the accident happened.
According to Wang, Chen Jui-chin has admitted that he had pushed Tseng out of the bed.
Chen Yi-chi died of at home in 1988, reportedly of brain damage. Chen Jui-chin has told prosecutors that he choked his stepson to death.
Chen Chien-hung was reportedly hit by a car in 1995. He was treated at a hospital, but died the next day at home after lapsing into a coma.
According to Chen Jui-chin, the truth was that he beat his son in the head with a brick.
His second wife Wang Shu-ying (王淑嬰) died in a car accident in 1996; Chen Jui-chin insisted that this really was an accident.
Chen Tsung-ching died at home in 1998, reportedly from brain damage that his stepfather told doctors had been caused by a car accident.
Wang said that Chen Jui-chin has confessed to slamming his stepson's head against a wall.
Prosecutors said that Chen Jui-chin had purchased life insurance polices on all five relatives without their authorization and that he had been the sole beneficiary of all of the policies.
The 54-year-old Chen Jui-chen was a former technician for the Chinese Petroleum Corporation.
Nantou District Prosecutors' Office said that when he was arrested on Thursday, he was picked up at Chiayi Christian Hospital.
He had gone to the hospital to get treatment for wounds he suffered after getting beaten up by his creditors.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS