Taichung gaming business owner Liu Shih-hui (劉世惠) was on Friday sentenced by citizen judges to life in prison for kidnapping and torturing a man to death.
In the case, which was heard in the Taichung District Court, the citizen judges reviewed evidence, including videos taken by perpetrators.
Liu, 32, and three accomplices were found guilty of “carrying weapons to confine and torture the man to death.”
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
In addition to the life sentence, Liu was deprived of his civil rights for life, while the citizen judges handed his accomplices sentences of more than 10 years each.
REPEATED ASSAULTS
Before the case was uncovered, Liu had served as the deputy head of a local branch of the “Friends of Police Association,” a mainly civilian organization headed by community leaders that provides local law enforcement with financial support and other resources.
A Taichung prosecutor said that the victim, surnamed Hsu (許), 28, was assaulted repeatedly, and his body was covered with wounds and bruises.
Liu in 2020 hired Hsu as assistant, but due to financial disputes, the duo often had arguments, the prosecutor said.
Liu on Oct. 18, 2024, brought Hsu and his two accomplices to a mansion in Taichung, where they confined Hsu and tortured him, the prosecutor said.
The perpetrators used various tools to torture Hsu, forced him to drink liquids containing narcotics and filmed their actions, the prosecutor said.
‘NO REMORSE’
Hsu’s autopsy report indicated that beating and torture caused his death, they said.
The perpetrators filmed themselves torturing Hsu, the prosecutor said, adding that they stripped him naked and used tools such as a hammer, a baseball bat, leather belts, knives, wrenches, a blowtorch, electroshock device and air gun.
They also poured alcohol and hot sauce on Hsu’s wounds, the prosecutor said.
“Liu exhibited no remorse [after Hsu’s death] and tried to cover up his crime, and he still has not settled on the amount of compensation to Hsu’s family,” the prosecutor said.
The citizen judges handed down the maximum punishment for the perpetrators. While Liu was sentenced to life in prison, Shih Ting-chang (石庭彰), 19, was sentenced to 12 years, and Liu Chi-yun (劉季昀), 37, was sentenced to 13 years and six months.
The verdict may be appealed.
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