Police are investigating an apparent suicide pact following the discovery of four bodies in Tainan’s Yenshui District (鹽水) on Wednesday.
Officials from the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday examined the bodies of the three males and one female university student, as well as their belongings, after preliminary findings indicated they committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning by burning charcoal in an enclosed room.
Tainan Sinying Precinct Police Chief Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said that after the examination of the bodies and evidence, forensic pathologists yesterday performed autopsies to verify the cause of the death and determine whether there was any possibility of foul play.
Chang said police identified the four bodies as a 25-year-old man surnamed Wu (吳), his 22-year-old girlfriend surnamed Liu (劉), a cousin of Wu’s surnamed Kuo (郭), 31, and a friend of Kuo’s, a 35-year-old man.
“Although the bodies were swollen, their clothing had not been tampered with, they displayed no signs of trauma and it appeared that no foul play was involved,” Chang said.
They left suicide notes, which mentioned that the three men were embroiled in a dispute over debt which had led to them being sued, but that it was all due to a misunderstanding and they had had to borrow money from relatives and friends for living expenses for the past year, Chang said.
Chang said Liu left a note in which she apologized to her mother for her action and said she chose to commit suicide with her boyfriend because she could not bear him going to jail.
The two were found tied by a red string in reference to the Chinese “red string of fate” lovers’ suicide mythology.
Police investigators said it was likely the men decided to die together because of the lawsuit, and because they could not pay their debts and felt life was not worth living, while Liu decided to die alongside her boyfriend.
However, Liu’s parents believed their daughter had no reason to die and that she was “brainwashed” by the men, and had asked police to investigate further.
Local residents said the men had displayed some emotional disturbance at a temple during Taoist religious ceremonies, where certain rituals call for worshipers to be possessed by forces from the spiritual realm, resulting in agitated body motions and speaking in strange voices, and that they suspected this might have contributed to their deaths.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
RSS