The Tainan District Court yesterday approved detaining Wu Mao-teng (吳茂騰) with restricted communication as police continue to investigate the murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend.
During questioning, the 30-year-old Wu allegedly admitted strangling his girlfriend, surnamed Chang (張), on Jan. 8 and using a hacksaw to cut her body into seven pieces, which he then stuffed into large plastic bags for disposal in an attempt to cover up the crime, Tainan police investigator Lee Kun-ye (李昆燁) said yesterday.
Chang’s teenage son on Jan. 24 reported his 42-year-old mother was missing and Lee was assigned to head the investigation.
Wu was employed at a metalworking factory that produced screws and bolts, and met Chang, who worked at a nightclub, through an online dating site, police reports said.
Wu was living with Chang at her apartment, but reportedly had relationships with at least four other women, police said.
Wu allegedly strangled Chang to death at her apartment after they had an argument and an angry Wu threatened to end the relationship, police said.
Media reports about Wu’s arrest and the investigation apparently surprised many of his friends and associates, who described him as a friendly, outgoing man with a sunny personality, who was always polite, Lee said.
Store security camera footage from Jan. 9 showed Wu purchasing a hacksaw and other tools as well as cleaning products, Lee said.
He then returned to Chang’s apartment, dismembered her corpse in the bathroom and cleaned the apartment to remove any traces of blood or body parts, Lee said.
Wu became the prime suspect as police investigated Chang’s disappearance, and they began to follow him and trace his earlier movements, police said.
Wu behaved normally, but had dalliances with three other women while he was under surveillance.
After allegedly confessing to the killing Chang, Wu led police to a vacant lot near Barclay Memorial Park (巴克禮公園), where the bags containing Chang’s body parts were found, police said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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