The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a guilty verdict against convicted murderer Wu Kuo-hsin (吳國新), sentencing him to 15 years in prison for killing his girlfriend, but the victim’s family said the punishment was too lenient.
The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
Kuo, 35, in August last year stabbed his girlfriend, surnamed Chen (陳), 34, to death with a switchblade.
Evidence showed that Kuo was depressed at the time of the murder, the court said in its ruling, adding that he admitted to the killing and is considered to be capable of rehabilitation.
Kuo was unemployed at the time of the murder, but had previously worked as a security guard at a residential building, it said.
Kuo found Chen at her place of work and they started to talk, but they later got into an argument, investigators said.
Kuo stabbed Chen three times in the chest and seven times in the back as she tried to flee, they said.
Chen ran to a nearby gas station, where she collapsed from blood loss, and Kuo prevented paramedics from reaching her, the investigators said, adding that the standoff lasted a few minutes before police officers subdued him.
Chen’s family denounced the court, saying that the sentence was too lenient for such a horrible crime, adding that the minimum punishment should be life in prison.
“We did not see anything about Kuo that would justify such a light sentence. He shall not be forgiven for the murder,” the family said.
“Kuo had asked for the death sentence at the beginning of the trial, so why did the judges not give it to him?” a family member told reporters outside the courtroom.
The verdict was also criticized on social media, with many posters saying that Kuo should have been jailed for life or sentenced to death.
Being depressed is no excuse for committing murder, one poster said, while another said he has been depressed, but did not stab anyone to death.
Some netizens called the verdict another ruling by “dinosaur judges,” saying that they are out of touch with people’s feelings and show leniency to offenders of severe crimes, but give little consideration to the victims.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition