Nantou County judges yesterday ordered the detention of a man suspected of murdering two couples in an Aboriginal village with poison.
Lin Ching-yi (林敬儀), 55, his wife Wang Mei-yung (王美永), 48, and another couple living in an Aboriginal village in Sinyi Township (信義), Nantou County, died after dining together at Lin’s home on July 15.
Announcing they had solved the case, investigators said the four victims had a look of pain on their faces and had myosis, a condition where the pupil constricts abnormally, usually following the consumption of drugs.
Photo: CNA
Investigators said they suspected the victims had ingested neurotoxins contained in the food or wine.
Investigators said residents in the Aboriginal villages panicked after the incident. For a while, homemade alcohol, pigsties and well water were considered possible sources of the unknown poison. Local police visited households in the area and told residents to avoid drinking or eating anything suspicious.
Nantou prosecutors said they had a breakthrough after they found that Wang had had a former boyfriend named Chu Ming-fu (朱明福).
Prosecutors arrested Chu on Saturday.
Prosecutors said Chu had confessed to poisoning Wang and her husband.
Prosecutors said Chu told them he and Wang dated last year. However, after he moved to Pingtung County for work, Wang married Lin in February. Chu allegedly told investigators he resented it and decided to take revenge.
Chu told prosecutors that on June 30 he gave Wang six bottles of rice wine, adding that he had poured 10 mililiters of 2-Chloroethanol in one bottle.
Prosecutors said that 2--Chloroethanol was a highly toxic substance that could cause death if even a very small amount was ingested.
Prosecutors said forensics experts discovered traces of 2-Chloroethanol in the victims’ bodies, but that initially they did not believe the substance had caused their deaths.
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