Police in Hualien yesterday arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of murdering a 76-year-old woman who raised him and allegedly stealing more than NT$100,000.
The man, surnamed Lee (李), was arrested early yesterday morning after the family of the woman, surnamed Yang (楊), found her dead in her living room in New Taipei City on Thursday.
An autopsy showed that Yang had been stabbed multiple times, including three times in the head, once in the chest and 18 times in the back, the New Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office said.
Photo: Wu Jen-chieh, Taipei Times
Lee reportedly told prosecutors that after he learned that Yang, with whom he had lived until last month, had NT$360,000 at home, he left his job early on Wednesday afternoon, bought a knife and confronted Yang about the money.
When Yang refused to answer his questions, Lee said he stabbed her multiple times, searched the house and stole about NT$100,000, before leaving for Hualien County, where he stayed with a friend, surnamed You (游), prosecutors said.
Friends and family of Yang said that Lee’s paternal grandmother was a close acquaintance of Yang, who she asked to care for Lee shortly after his birth, due to his father’s criminal history and as his mother had mental illnesses.
Yang raised Lee, but as he grew older, he spent most of his time playing online video games and began asking the family for money, they said, adding that he allegedly stole from them when they refused to comply.
Members of the Yang family had asked Lee to move out of the home in the middle of last month, but Yang, without their knowledge, arranged for Lee to rent a unit nearby, they said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique