The Taiwan High Court today upheld the life sentence of a Filipino migrant worker convicted of murdering his compatriot girlfriend and cutting her into pieces in Taoyuan two years ago.
The verdict against Mark Dave Velasco, who is in his 30s, can still be appealed, the court said.
The 30-year-old man had been in a relationship with his girlfriend, a fellow Filipino migrant worker named Red Michelle Selda, for two years.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
On the afternoon of July 17, 2023, the man pinned his girlfriend down on the bed in their shared apartment in Taoyuan's Zhongli District, following an argument.
He then strangled her until she became immobile, and stabbed her multiple times in the abdomen, chest and neck with a screwdriver, leading to massive bleeding.
In an attempt to destroy evidence, he used a meat cleaver to cut her internal organs and flesh into small pieces, which he flushed down the toilet.
He later washed the remains with bleach and placed some bones and bloodstained clothing into bags, which he discarded in a company dormitory trash bin in Bade District, before returning to their apartment to clean up and steal her wallet and phone.
The case came to light when Selda's employer and intermediary visited her apartment after she failed to report to work and discovered her dismembered body.
Velasco was arrested and indicted for murder in September last year.
In his first trial held in November last year, the Taoyuan District Court said that despite admitting to the crime, he had neither reached a settlement with his girlfriend's family nor shown remorse.
Due to the cruelty of his actions, the man was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, destruction of a corpse and theft.
He later appealed the case, but the High Court ruled yesterday that it upheld the lower court's decision, finding no issues with its judgment.
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