The New Taipei District Court yesterday handed a life sentence to a man for the strangulation and murder of his neighbor, while the victim’s family criticized the court for not giving him the death penalty.
The court found Hsu Chih-ming (許志銘), 45, guilty for killing a woman surnamed Kuo (郭), 69, last year.
The judges sentenced Hsu to four months for robbery, eight months for forcible entry into a residence, 10 months for abandoning a corpse and life in prison for murder. It also deprived him of his civil rights for life.
It was the first ruling in the case and can still be appealed.
Hsu, who worked as a driver for hire, rented a parking space from Kuo and discovered that she owned several properties, the investigation found.
After taking out loans, Hsu accumulated NT$800,000 in debt. He had twice stolen money from Kuo’s home and gotten away with it, investigators said.
In December last year, Hsu needed to pay back a loan, so he went to Kuo’s house and used a metal bar to knock her unconscious, the investigation found.
Hsu strangled Kuo to death using a rubber hose and stole NT$59,000, before loading the body into his car to dump it on the roadside in a rural area, the investigation found.
The body was discovered the following day, and police gathered evidence pointing to Hsu as the prime suspect.
Hsu eventually admitted to the killing, but said it happened in a fit of anger, because Kuo refused to help him when he asked to borrow money, investigators said.
The life term given to Hsu was too lenient, Kuo’s brother said, adding that the justice system needs to change and come down hard on murderers.
“We are not satisfied with the ruling. It seems that the justice system only serves to protect criminals’ rights,” Kuo’s nephew said. “How about the victims and their rights? Do they deserve to die?”
The ruling said that the defendant was cruel and callous and had no regard for human life, but gave him a life sentence on the possibility that he could be rehabilitated, considering he had no prior criminal record and had run up expenses while trying to raise his family.
He has a wife and two children.
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