Chen Hsiu-chiang (陳修將), convener of the 76 Monks volunteer funeral services group, was arrested on Monday night after almost a year as a fugitive, having been sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in prison for beating and killing a woman in 2021.
Following a lengthy investigation, Changhua County police apprehended Chen at a rented residence in the county’s Yuanlin City (員林).
Chen’s sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in April last year, finding him guilty of injury resulting in death under Article 277 of the Criminal Code.
Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times
The woman, surnamed Hu (胡), was an employee at a funeral parlor Chen operated and the two had an extra-marital affair, the court said.
In October 2021, Chen took Hu to a Changhua motel while evading debt collectors, it said.
He suspected she was involved with another man and beat her multiple times, resulting in her death, it said.
Hu had cerebral bleeding, spat brown liquid and had bruises all over her body, the court said.
Chen denied the assault upon his arrest, but he was found guilty by the Changhua District Court of causing injury resulting in death in the first trial and the Taichung branch of the High Court in the second trial, which set bail at NT$300,000.
The Supreme Court in April last year finalized the sentence, but Chen failed to report to serve his sentence by the deadline of May 31 last year.
Prosecutors in July last year applied to confiscate his bail, which was granted on July 29 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Chen’s prosecution period was extended until 2064.
The 76 Monks is a nonprofit organization formed by funeral professionals to provide volunteer embalming services.
The organization helped in the aftermath the 2014 Penghu County airplane crash, the 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions and the 2021 derailment of a Taroko Express train in Hualien County.
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