The controversy over the end of the Kaohsiung Prison siege shows no signs of ending as retired coroner Kao Ta-cheng (高大成) reiterated his opinion that four of the inmates were likely “murdered” and did not commit suicide as was stated in the official report.
Kaohsiung Prison Warden Chen Shih-chih (陳世志) has demanded that the former coroner make an apology, or he would sue for compensation for damage to his reputation.
Kao, regarded as the nation’s top forensic expert, has referred to a number of what he described as discrepancies in Chen’s version of the jailbreak attempt and hostage-taking incident two weeks ago.
“Details of what happened as reported by Chen kept on changing. There are lots of questions on what actually took place through the whole chain of events,” Kao said in a lecture at the Tokyo chapter of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance in Japan on Sunday.
“The layout and postures of the six inmates’ bodies did not look like suicide, but display signs of being killed by others. In my estimation, originally, just two inmates plotted the jailbreak, but the other four joined later,” Kao said. “This led to complications for the plot. The four inmates who got involved later on were likely murdered by the others.”
Kao said the outcome seemed to have been the result of help from prison officials.
“Due to the complications, prison officials [might have] told the plot’s two main leaders to ‘solve the problem on their own,’ and so they killed the other four inmates,” Kao said.
His remarks in Tokyo were similar to questions raised in a Next Magazine story published on Tuesday last week and comments Kao made that same day. Kao last week also said that the Ministry of Justice had obtained information that indicated that there were many problems inside the prison and that “lots of things went wrong” at the facility, but he did not elaborate.
Chen said that Kao’s remarks were based on speculation and had tarnished his reputation, forcing him to consider suing Kao.
“I was right there at the scene and witnessed it happening through a glass door. The six inmates took their own lives by firing their [weapons],” Chen said when interviewed by reporters on Monday.
Kao was not at the prison and did not take part in postmortem examinations of the bodies, yet continues to talk to reporters and cast doubt on the events of the siege, Chen added.
“This is all too much. Kao has exceeded the boundary of merely commenting on the news. Therefore, I will assess the situation with my lawyer, and we will consider launching a lawsuit against Kao to seek damages,” Chen said.
On Thursday last week, Chen said he was considering legal actiona gainst the magazine.
Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday that Chen was holding a 9mm handgun when he walked out at the end of the prison drama.
Chen reportedly told journalists at the time that the gun was handed to him by one of the six inmates before they shot themselves. Eyewitnesses said the firearm’s cartridge appeared to be empty, and there were no traces of gunpowder or signs that the gun had been fired recently.
The handgun and other weapons seized in the aftermath of the siege were all handed over to the criminal investigation unit.
When asked about it yesterday, Chen denied having held a gun when he walked out at the end of the siege.
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