The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a ruling by the High Court’s Taichung branch, which handed Lin Yu-ju (林于如) the death sentence for the murder of her husband for insurance money, saying the killing was “an abominable offense.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling recommended capital punishment and deprivation of Lin’s civil rights for life.
The owner of a stinky tofu manufacturing and wholesaling business, Lin ran up huge gambling debts after being addicted to playing the lottery. She then took out insurance plans on her mother, husband and mother-in-law, the indictment said.
Lin carried out her plans to murder her mother, mother-in-law and husband, beginning in November 2008, the indictment said.
Lin was convicted of pushing her mother down a flight of stairs at home in November 2008. She claimed NT$5.06 million (then US$160,000) in insurance for her mother’s death.
She was convicted of adding powdered sleeping pills and anti-depressants to her hospitalized mother-in-law’s intravenous drip in May 2009. The mother-in-law’s death brought her a NT$7.43 million insurance payout.
In July 2009, she poisoned her husband, and poisoned him again after he was hospitalized. His death brought her NT$4.75 million.
Police launched an investigation into the deaths after the insurance companies became suspicious.
In Lin’s first trial, the Nantou District Court sentenced her to death plus two additional life terms. The High Court’s Taichung branch later changed the sentence to three life terms.
The Supreme Court later handed back the case of her husband’s murder to the High Court’s Taichung branch for retrial. The high court sentenced Lin to death. It was that ruling that was debated in front of a Supreme Court collegiate bench last month.
In arguing for leniency, Lin’s attorney said she had an IQ of just 57, her medical records showed symptoms of manic-depressive disorder — a claim certified by the Caotun (草屯) Psychiatric Center in Nantou County — and she had no prior record.
The range for average IQ is between 70 and 130.
The Supreme Court said the murders were premeditated and successfully executed, and that Lin knew how to dispose the bodies, actions that undermined her defense that she has a low IQ.
It said it did not agree that she had a spotless record before the murders, saying she had had a record for arson after setting fire to a customer’s shop after the customer bought products from another manufacturer.
Lin’s determination to kill her husband even after the botched first attempt showed that she knew what she was doing, the court ruled.
Her victims were her next of kin and her crimes could not be condoned, the Supreme Court ruling said, adding that her actions showed she was beyond redemption.
The public would not agree with giving such a defendant life imprisonment and neither could we, the court said.
The Supreme Court’s decision makes Lin the second to be sentenced to death this year, and the first woman to be put on death row in the past two decades.
Liu Yi-tsen (劉怡岑), the younger sister of Lin Yu-ju’s (林于如) husband, praised the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying that it showed justice still ruled.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS