The Keelung police have arrested a man suspected of starting a fire which claimed the lives of five people on Wednesday.
Lin Wang-jen (林旺仁), 43, was arrested at his Ilan residence on Thursday and immediately taken to the Keelung District Prosecutors' Office for further interrogation. Although Lin denied any involvement, police said they discovered evidence at his house that is almost sufficient to prove his guilt.
The fire was started on Wed-nesday evening in a five-story building on Yi-yi Road in Keelung, claiming the lives of three men and two women.
The building housed a KTV on the second floor and a nightclub on the third floor. All the victims were customers of the KTV or the nightclub.
The police investigation revealed that Lin's ex-wife works as a waitress at the KTV. Lin had divorced his wife on April 12, telling judges that he was extremely upset about his wife's job, the police said.
Lin's wife told the police that he had threatened, more than once, that "he would burn the place down someday."
"Our basic instinct told us that Lin could be the one we are looking for and our investigation did uncover something interesting," said Hsu Hsin (
According to the police, they have almost enough evidence to prove that Lin started the fire.
According to the security video and employees at a gas station close to Lin's residence, he purchased NT$118 of gasoline around 4pm on Wednesday. The police found a receipt for the purchase at Lin's residence, as well as a black T-shirt, pants and a full-cover motorcycle helmet, which match eyewitness descriptions and security footage from a camera at a convenience store next to the crime scene.
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