Investigators probing the gruesome murder of five children in Hualien were left scratching their heads yesterday over several mysterious aspects of the case.
"We are contacting psychological experts to try to understand the murderers' mental state, which might help us to crack this case," Hualien District Prosecutors' Office spokeswoman Huang Yi-chun (
The five children of Liu Chih-chin (劉志勤), 48, and his wife Lin Chen-mi (林真米), 35 were found dead in the bathroom of their Hualien home on Friday night.
The children were found with their hands and legs tied with wire, adhesive tape on their faces and with plastic bags over their heads. The windows and the door of the bathroom were sealed with adhesive tape.
Liu and Lin are missing.
The five deceased include Liu's 18-year-old and 17-year-old sons and 12-year-old daughter, all from Liu's previous marriage, and a nine-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son from his marriage to Lin.
Liu's car was found by police on Saturday parked near the Chian (
Police initially suspected that Liu and Lin murdered their children, then drove to the train station, abandoned their car there and left the township by train.
However, police officer Lin Chien-lung (
No exit
First of all, Lin Chien-lung said, the doors of the house had been locked from the inside, with steel bars put across the doors to seal them shut. Since there is iron grating over all of the house's windows and no other apparent ways out, police can't figure out how the murderers left the scene.
"It is the most difficult question to be answered in the case," Lin Chien-lung said.
Second, police cannot figure out how the five children were killed.
They originally suspected that the children were already drugged and unconscious when the perpetrators taped their mouths and covered their heads, since there was no sign of a struggle in the house or on the childrens' bodies.
However, Lin Chien-lung said that a result of an autopsy showed that the five were not drugged or poisoned. The autopsy also indicated that the five might not have been killed on the same day.
Finally, Lin Chien-lung said that police found two cigarette butts at the crime scene, but that DNA tests had shown that the smoker was not Liu, his wife or any of the children -- indicating that people outside the family were likely involved in the murders.
No fingerprints were found in the house or on the corpses, so police believe the murderer or murderers were wearing gloves as they committed the crimes.
Heavy debts
Liu was said to have debts of around NT$3 million (US$91,254), which may have been a factor in the incident, Lin Chien-lung said. Police now suspect the murders may have involved Liu's creditors.
Lin Chien-lung said that Liu ran a tourist photography business in Hualien. Police say that Liu went heavily into debt to expand his business, which led to serious financial difficulties for his family.
Lin Chien-lung said that several of Liu's relatives, neighbors, and friends interviewed by police have said that Liu appeared to have psychological problems.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
NO RELIGIOUS VISIT: The interior minister said visas were not issued for 218 applicants for a tour of Taiwan organized by a temple due to their own non-response Chinese who had sought to enter Taiwan for a religious event were not granted visas because they were not “religious personnel” and planned to visit places not listed on their group tour’s itinerary, then never supplied supplemental information upon request, the Ministry of the Interior and the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Visas were not issued for 218 of the 239 applicants, as they did not provide additional information or explanations as requested, Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) told a committee at the legislature in Taipei. Multiple groups, including the Taiwan Matsu Fellowship, had signed a petition that sought
A military procurement announcement released on Friday shows the purchase of “air/surface” weapons bound for Taitung, likely for the newly purchased Block 70 F-16V jets still awaiting delivery. The announcement shows a NT$17.22 billion (US$548.91 million) purchase agreement signed on Nov. 13 for “aircraft air/surface weapons,” to be delivered to the air force's Seventh Tactical Flight Wing stationed at the Taitung Air Force Base. The sale is scheduled to take place over nine years, with delivery completed by Nov. 30, 2032. Considering the recipient, analysts believe they are likely air-to-air or air-to-surface missiles for the military’s 66 upgraded Block 70 F-16V jets awaiting
RSS