Autopsies of the bodies of two children suspected of having been killed by their father found that they had both suffered physical trauma, the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said on Tuesday.
Coroners found that one of the children, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, had a stab wound in his neck, while his 18-month-old brother appeared to have been strangled, the office said.
The findings would be passed on to the Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the exact cause of death, prosecutors said.
The children’s father, a 25-year-old air force mechanic identified only by his surname, Hsiao (蕭), was the main suspect in the killing, the office said, adding that Hsiao is in intensive care following an apparent suicide attempt.
The bodies of the two children were found on Sunday morning, when paramedics rushed to an apartment building in the city’s Tanzi District (潭子), where a man reportedly had fallen from the roof.
While Hsiao was being rushed to a nearby hospital, police went to his home on the third floor of the building and found the two children on a bed, covered with a bloodstained sheet.
Investigators later found a note, believed to have been written by Hsiao, and a knife that they think was the murder weapon used on the older child.
In the note, the writer talked of refusing to sign divorce papers and of leaving the family quietly.
Local media reports said that Hsiao’s wife, surnamed Liu (劉), had in December asked to end the marriage after years of quarrels.
The latest quarrel took place at their home in Tanzi in the early hours of Sunday.
Liu left the apartment after the fight with her husband, and he allegedly murdered the two small children, then jumped from the roof of in an apparent suicide attempt, police said.
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