The Tainan High Court yesterday handed down a life sentence to Chen Chia-fu (陳佳富), who was found guilty of murdering his sister to claim an insurance payout, avoiding the death penalty so his mother would not lose both of her children.
Chen, 37, was indicted on murder charges after evidence suggested his involvement in the decapitation of his sister, whose head was sprinkled with salt, wrapped in plastic and left in a public washroom in Chiayi County.
Three days after the head was found in Chiayi on March 15, 2013, officers arrested Chen and listed him as a prime suspect in the case, while investigators confirmed that the remains belonged to his sister, 33-year-old Chen Wan-ting (陳婉婷).
In the first ruling, by the Chiayi District Court in June last year, Chen Chia-fu was found guilty of murder and given a life sentence.
Investigators found that Chen Chia-fu, a chef, took out five life insurance policies on his sister in 2012 that were worth a total of about NT$5 million (US$151,000).
At the Tainan High Court trial, Chen Chia-fu said that the policies were financial considerations for his entire family, and although he had been diagnosed with mental illness, he did not kill his sister.
All evidence indicated that Chen Chia-fu had murdered his sister, according to court spokesperson Yeh Chu-cheng (葉居正).
“The victim’s DNA was found at Chen Chia-fu’s residence,” Yeh said. “A written message accompanying the head of the deceased in the plastic bag was consistent with his handwriting. Despite not being wealthy, Chen Chia-fu took out many insurance policies on his sister. These indicated that Chen committed the murder for the insurance payouts.”
The death penalty was initially sought during deliberation by the Tainan High Court, but the collegiate bench settled on a life term.
The bench cited human rights conventions and said it considered emotional stress on Chen’s mother, deeming it too much for her to lose her daughter and then to lose her son to the death penalty.
The bench also heard from lawyers who said that Chen Chia-fu had been an obedient son, fulfilling filial piety to his mother.
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