The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld the death sentence given to a woman convicted of robbing and murdering a couple in a high-profile case.
Hsieh Yi-han (謝依涵), 29, was sentenced to death by Taipei’s Shilin District Court in October last year.
Yesterday’s ruling upheld the original court decision that found Hsieh guilty of killing Shih Chien University assistant professor Chang Tsui-ping (張翠萍), 58, and her husband, Chen Chin-fu (陳進福), 79. The district court originally concluded that Hsieh’s motive for the murders was to obtain Chang’s jewelry collection — estimated to be worth NT$40 million (US$1.3 million at the time)
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Hsieh managed a Mama Mouth Cafe (媽媽嘴) coffee shop on the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Bali District (八里) at the time of the crimes, which led to the incident becoming known as the “Mama Mouth Cafe” (媽媽嘴咖啡店) case.
Chang and Chen lived nearby and were regular customers, befriending Hsieh over time. Over several years, Chen, a wealthy businessman, became fond of Hsieh, and reportedly considered her as his god daughter or stepdaughter.
While his wife was teaching classes or traveling abroad, Chen visited the cafe daily, investigators said. He also began to give Hsieh gifts of cash and jewelry, they added.
A court statement said Hsieh sedated the couple with drugged drinks on Feb. 16 last year, then stabbed both with a fruit knife before throwing them into the Tamsui River.
After the murders, Hsieh stole NT$350,000 from Chen and tried, but failed, to withdraw more money from his wife’s bank account by disguising herself as the murdered woman.
The couple’s bodies were discovered among mangrove trees and sand bars along the river bank on Feb. 26 and March 2 last year.
After yesterday’s verdict, Chen’s sister said that Hsieh deserved the death penalty for what she called cold-blooded murder, “but whatever the punishment, the lost lives of our love ones cannot be returned.”
She added that many questions remain unresolved in the case and that the families of the deceased suspect Hsieh had help carrying out the murders, so they have asked prosecutors to bring the accomplices to justice.
The case can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
Measures have been taken to minimize damage from Chinese espionage, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday, in response to an alleged plan to deliver a Chinook helicopter to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese-language CTWANT magazine earlier in the day reported that a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh (謝) was approached by Chinese officers with an offer to evacuate his family to Thailand in the event of a cross-strait conflict. In exchange, Hsieh was asked to fly a CH-47F Chinook helicopter to a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Taiwan Strait, the magazine said. Hsieh initially declined, but accepted after he was
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
RSS