The High Court on Wednesday sentenced a 69-year-old man found guilty of killing his former wife in 2018 to life in prison, reversing a lower court’s death sentence.
The man, Chen Teng-ke (陳登科), and his former wife, surnamed Chien Mei-chu (簡美珠), had been married for nearly 30 years before divorcing in 2016, which led to a bitter dispute over division of their assets.
At his Taoyuan residence on May 25, 2018, Chen, in a fit of anger, stabbed Chien to death. He then used a cleaver and a hammer to dismember the body, put the parts into seven plastic bags and placed them in a refrigerator, an official investigation said.
In the first ruling the Taoyuan District Court gave Chen the death penalty, citing the vicious nature of the murder, with Chen beheading and dismembering his former wife’s body and showing no remorse.
In the second ruling on Wednesday, the High Court reduced the sentence, saying Chen had suffered depression and emotional stress from the divorce and dispute over assets, as well as an alcohol problem.
The judges said that excessive drinking due to depression had affected Chen’s judgement.
Separately, the High Court on Wednesday reduced the prison sentence of a woman convicted of matricide by two years to 16. The woman, a 44-year-old Taipei resident surnamed Lin, lived with her 73-year-old mother in Tianmu (天母). The two often quarreled, with Lin saying she believed her mother took her things and had placed a death curse on her.
In March last year, during another argument, Lin hit her mother with a blunt object and strangled her to death, investigators said.
A psychiatric evaluation showed that Lin has schizophrenia, and has for years experienced paranoia, hallucinations and delusions.
Investigators quoted her as saying that there was a voice inside her head which at times controlled her actions.
In the first ruling, the Shilin District Court found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to 18 years in prison.
In the second ruling, the High Cout reduced the sentence, saying she had schizophrenia, with symptoms of paranoia, hallucinations and delusions, which affected her mental state.
However, the judges said she still had the ability to control her actions when the murder took place.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS