The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling that sentenced a man in Tainan to 20 years in prison for killing his bedridden mother who had dementia.
The ruling was final.
The court filing said the 58-year-old man, surnamed Hsu (許), stabbed his mother, 80, three times with a knife on Dec. 12, 2023.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei
The investigation found that Hsu’s mother at about 5am that day deliberately fell on the floor and refused to get up, and Hsu in a fit of anger took a kitchen knife and stabbed her three times in the chest, it said.
Hsu at about 6am texted his sister saying, “there is no more pain,” and tried to cut his neck in an apparent attempt to commit suicide, investigators said.
He later left the house on a bicycle, and at about 7am texted again, saying: “I have killed our mother. You come and recover the body.”
The woman then called their eldest sister, who lived with their mother, to tell her to call for an ambulance.
Hsu’s mother was taken to the hospital, but was pronounced dead at about 8am due to bleeding and a collapsed lung.
Police tracked down Hsu the same day on a road in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁). He had a knife on him and was detained for questioning.
Tainan prosecutors charged Hsu with homicide of a family member, which carries a maximum punishment of death penalty or life in prison.
During the initial trial, Hsu admitted to his crime, and family members testified that he had taken care of his mother, who had chronic illnesses due to two strokes and had dementia, for one-and-a-half years, saying he had looked after her at home and taken her to physical therapy sessions.
“Family members told the court that Hsu was not an ungrateful son who did not have filial piety,” the court filing said. “He did not have professional training in looking after the elderly and was the mother’s primary caregiver, which had taken a toll on him physically and mentally.”
Most of Hsu’s family members were understanding and forgave him, as the mother had suffered two strokes, and had dementia and mobility issues, they said.
Citizen judges in the first ruling took into consideration the circumstances of the case and handed him a 20-year term.
The ruling was upheld by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
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