Kaohsiung police yesterday detained a Lingya District (苓雅) resident as the prime suspect in the murder of a man whose remains were found this week in two duffel bags dumped into the Love River (愛河).
The suspect was identified as a 60-year-old man surnamed Lo (羅), who was reportedly an acquaintance of the victim, an 80-year-old man surnamed Wang (王).
After being first taken to a police precinct, Lo was transferred to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
Lo allegedly killed the victim over a debt of about NT$100,000 according to Weng Shih-min (翁士閔), captain of the investigation unit at the Sanmin First Precinct.
Lo reportedly went to Wang’s apartment on Saturday last week to demand repayment of the debt, but the men quarreled, and Lo allegedly strangled Wang, Weng said.
“Lo denied beating or torturing the victim, but admitted to using a cleaver to cut up the body so he could dispose the remains and to cover up the crime,” Weng said.
Surveillance cameras at Wang’s apartment building showed Lo leaving and then returning later that night with two duffel bags before leaving with the bags on a motorcycle, police said.
Lo had worked as a night market food vendor, while Wang, who lived on his own, was dependent on social assistance payment from the Kaohsiung City Government, they said.
Police were able to crack the case and track down Lo by reviewing surveillance camera footage from along the Love River, finding a motorcyclist with black bags behaving suspiciously early Monday morning, Weng said.
“After that we traced the motorcycle’s movement through the streets on the morning of June 22 to identify the suspect and to find out where he was living,” Weng said. “We were also able to positively identify the victim, based on fingerprints and a DNA test.”
National Police Agency Director-General Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) arrived in Kaohsiung yesterday just in time for Weng and other police officials to announce they believed they had solved the case and detained a suspect.
“I planned to come here to check up and discuss the progress of the investigation into this serious murder. It was a pleasant surprise that the police here had worked so quickly, collecting evidence and piecing together the clues to solve this crime in about 40 hours after the remains were found,” Chen said.
“This excellent work was the result of the diligent efforts of local police investigators, with assistance from Criminal Investigation Bureau units. The suspect has been detained, and we have been able to provide Kaohsiung residents with details of the case, which has restored public order and safety,” Chen added.
Two sanitation workers cleaning along the banks of the river found one duffel bag floating in the water on Monday, and another on Tuesday.
After seeing traces of blood coming from the second bag, one worker opened it and found decomposing human remains, and the pair called police.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
RSS