Police in Tainan are investigating a possible murder-suicide after a man and woman were found dead yesterday at a residence in the city’s Shanhua District (善化).
A 47-year-old man surnamed Cheng (鄭) and a 55-year-old woman surnamed Lin (林) died of gunshot wounds to the head, police said, adding that a handgun was found nearby on the floor.
Residents in the neighborhood reported hearing gunshots and called for an ambulance at about 11am, police said.
Three children, aged 2 to 3, were found at Lin’s residence, and might have witnessed the incident, police added.
Neighbors said that Lin worked at home, providing private daycare services.
The incident might have been a murder-suicide, police said, adding that Cheng might have fired twice on Lin, who had two gunshot wounds, before turning the gun on himself.
Investigators said that Cheng had driven to Lin’s home and they argued over money prior to the shooting.
Lin’s daughter told prosecutors that Cheng ran a construction company, and Lin had signed an agreement for him to build a house.
She said that her mother had made advanced payments for the projects, but that Cheng had stopped construction halfway.
“He kept our money, but did not pay the subcontractors and material suppliers for the project. My parents had to find another company to finish the house, and later asked Cheng to pay some of the money back,” she was quoted as saying.
A lawsuit was filed and a local court ruled against Cheng, ordering him to pay compensation, but Cheng had not done so, the daughter said, adding that Cheng had made several threats and went to Lin’s home to harass her.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang