The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a life sentence handed to Chen Po-chien (陳伯謙), 40, for the rape and murder of a woman at Taipei’s Huashan Creative Park (華山創意園區) in 2018.
Due to the viciousness of the crime, which included dismembering the body and disposing of it on Yangmingshan (陽明山), and lack of remorse, the Taipei District Court in its first ruling in August 2019 imposed the maximum death penalty.
The High Court in April last year overturned the ruling, instead sentencing Chen to life in prison.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Seeking capital punishment, the victim’s family appealed, resulting in yesterday’s Supreme Court verdict, which is final and cannot be appealed.
“Taiwan’s justice system is dead,” the victim’s father, surnamed Kao (高), told reporters after the ruling, condemning the judges for manipulating the law to overturn the original death sentence.
“Past psychiatric evaluations showed a near-zero chance Chen could be rehabilitated, but the judges deceived the public by saying the contrary,” Kao said. “We cannot accept this ruling.”
Separately, the Nantou District Court yesterday ordered a man in Puli Township (埔里鎮) who shot another man with a modified handgun last year to pay NT$2.93 million (US$105,078) in compensation to the victim.
The case was also allegedly a romantic triangle, as the Puli man, surnamed Chang (張), 47, believed his ex-girlfriend was seeing the other man, surnamed Pan (潘), 42, also from the Puli area.
The decision can be appealed.
Also yesterday, New Taipei City police said that a fitness instructor surnamed Chang (張) would face homicide charges after allegedly strangling his girlfriend to death.
Chang, 35, was reportedly in a relationship with a woman surnamed Huang (黃), 28, as they had been cohabiting for the past nine months in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
Neighbors told police that they heard the two quarreling on Tuesday afternoon, then saw the woman go out to buy dinner and return in the early evening.
A friend of Chang received a call from him later that night, allegedly requesting assistance with funeral arrangements. This prompted concern from the friend, who provided the address to police.
Police and firefighters had to break down the door, as Chang refused to let them in while brandishing a knife.
After gaining entry, they found the girlfriend’s body on the bed.
Chang was still wielding the knife with two stab wounds on his chest, leading police to believe the wounds were self-inflicted.
Police yesterday reported that Huang was pronounced dead at a hospital, while Chang was in a stable condition.
The woman got to know Chang when she took a job at the same gym and they entered into a relationship, police said.
It is alleged that Chang quit his fitness instructor job a month ago, while Huang had reportedly planned to move out since she started dating another man.
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
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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