The Hsinchu District Court yesterday convicted five people and gave them life sentences for the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Hsinchu County’s Jhudong Township (竹東) last year.
Investigators said Lin Chun-hsiung (林春雄), now 32, led a group of people in abducting a 14-year-old surnamed Chiu (邱), after an apparent verbal dispute between Chiu and another girl, who was a daughter of Lin’s neighbor.
Lin, along with his wife, Huang Hsiao-yun (黃曉雲), 28, had three other men as accomplices: Ho Wen-hsuan (何文軒), 20, Chen Che-ju (陳哲儒), 27, and Ku Chih-chiang (古志強), 23.
Since they were apprehended in May last year, all five had been detained in Hsinchu City, after prosecutors laid charges of murder, sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse against them.
The court ruling cited the severe violence and cruelty of the crime when it handed down life sentences for the five suspects.
It also deprived them of their civil rights for life.
Investigators said Lin, who had a prior criminal record for gang-related activities, ordered his accomplices to beat up Chiu, and the group brought along two youngsters, aged 11 and nine, to witness the beating.
They said the assailants punched, kicked and struck Chiu with rocks and motorcycle helmets, while Ho and Ku raped the victim on Lin’s instruction after she was beaten.
Lin allegedly then told the two youngsters to pick up rocks and stone Chiu, threatening to hurt them if they did not comply.
Police said that the five adults then left the park and went to a local KTV, where they spent several hours drinking and singing.
They returned the next day to the scene, at an outdoor park near a road bridge in Jhudong Township, and found Chiu had died, according to the police report.
In an attempt to conceal the crime, Lin instructed the group to purchase gasoline and returned to the scene of the murder, where they doused the teenager’s body with gasoline and burned it, the police report said.
Chiu’s charred body was later found during a search after her family reported her missing to the police.
Her remains were identified by family members based on clothing and physical traits.
According to Chiu’s family, the teen had minor mental disabilities, which affected her verbal and social skills, and she was sometimes bullied at school.
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