In a retrial, the Taiwan High Court on Thursday sentenced Lin Chun-hsiung (林春雄), 33, to death for his involvement in the sexual assault and murder of a teenage girl in 2015.
Investigators found that Lin had led a group of five people — Lin’s wife, Huang Hsiao-yun (黃曉雲), and his acquaintances Ho Wen-hsuan (何文軒), Chen Che-ju (陳哲儒) and Ku Chih-chiang (古志強) — in abducting a 14-year-old surnamed Chiu (邱).
“During the trials, Lin did not show any remorse... Rehabilitation was not the main aim behind handing down the death sentence. When comparing the punishment to similar crimes, if Lin was not given the death penalty, it … would not have conformed to society’s expectations of justice, and the values of law and order,” the ruling said.
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
The decision can be appealed.
Investigators found that Lin, who had a prior criminal record for gang-related activities, ordered his accomplices to beat up Chiu on May 17, 2015. She had minor mental disabilities and had allegedly insulted Lin’s wife.
The group took Chiu to a river park in Hsinchu County’s Jhudong Township (竹東), where they punched, kicked and struck her with rocks and motorcycle helmets, while Lin instructed Ho and Ku to rape her, investigators said.
The five then went to a local KTV where they sang and drank. The next day, they returned to the scene where they found that Chiu had died, and Lin instructed the group to douse the body in gasoline and burn it, investigators said.
In the first ruling in 2016, all five defendants were handed life sentences for murder, sexual assault and other charges, despite prosecutors seeking the death penalty.
In the second ruling, Lin and Chen were given life sentences. Ku was sentenced to 28 years in prison and Huang and Ho were sentenced to 20 years.
In Thursday’s retrial, the judges handed Lin the death sentence. Chen, Ku, and Ho were given life terms, while Huang was sentenced to 20 years.
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