The Supreme Court today upheld the sentence for Chen Po-yan (陳柏諺), who was found guilty of murdering a Malaysian student in 2022, rejecting an appeal by prosecutors to sentence him to death.
The ruling is final.
The High Court in March reduced the sentence for Chen from life imprisonment to 18 years and 10 months after the Supreme Court overturned the High Court’s initial ruling and sent the case back for a retrial.
Photo: CNA
The High Court had ruled that Chen qualified for a reduced sentence as he had confessed and shown remorse, the Supreme Court said.
Chen’s confession meant that public resources were not wasted and innocent people were not dragged into the case, the Supreme Court said.
The High Court ruled in accordance with Constitutional Court Judgement No. 8, taking into consideration that the murder was the result of a financial dispute and was not planned, and that Chen did not physically abuse the victim, resulting in further suffering, the Supreme Court said.
It could not be considered “the most serious” of premeditated crimes and therefore the court could not impose the death penalty, the Supreme Court said, adding that the jail sentence was proportional.
Prosecutors have no legal ground to request the death penalty, the Supreme Court said, rejecting their appeal.
The victim, a Malaysian woman surnamed Chai (蔡), was 24 years old at the time of her death and a student at a university in Taipei.
Chen first contacted Chai on Instagram in April 2022, then again on Oct. 3 that year. He invited her to dinner on Oct. 7, after which he visited her rented accommodation multiple times, investigators found.
On Oct. 13, Chen demanded Chai repay NT$99,999 that he had lent her, and when she refused, he strangled her and smothered her with a pillow, causing her to suffocate to death, investigators found.
Chen then attempted suicide, and as police and firefighters were reviving him, he reportedly confessed to the crime.
Additional reporting by Hollie Younger and Yang Kuo-wen
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