A woman has been sentenced to 14-and-a-half-years in prison for murdering a Thai domestic helper she hired illegally last year, the Keelung District Court said on Thursday.
The Keelung resident, surnamed Lin (林), posted an advert on Facebook on May 6 last year to hire a domestic helper, the court said in a statement following the ruling.
Thai national Suthida Sansang answered the ad and they met at Lin’s home later that day, it said.
Photo: Wu Sheng-ju, Taipei Times
On May 10, Lin took Suthida Sansang to Dawulun Fort in a mountainous area of Keelung bordering New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里), where she attempted to leave the illegally hired worker, it said.
However, Suthida Sansang refused to remain in the rural area and the two began to argue, the court said, adding that Lin hit her with a helmet and stabbed her several times.
The Thai woman ran away and hid, while Lin disposed of the knife and Suthida Sansang’s mobile phone before leaving the scene, the court said.
Suthida Sansang bled to death.
Lin during the trial admitted to attacking Suthida Sansang, but denied intending to kill the woman, the court said.
Lin has not paid the woman’s family reasonable compensation, despite having apologized to them for the death, it added.
Lin used greater than normal force to hit and stab the woman in specific parts of her body and abandoned her, the court said.
The three bench judges and six citizen judges decided on the 14-and-a-half-year prison term for the murder, which carries a minimum term of 10 years, because Lin is a single mother with young children following her divorce from her Taiwanese husband, the statement said.
They also took into consideration Lin’s drug addiction and the fact she was a migrant worker from Thailand herself before getting married, it said.
The ruling can be appealed.
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