An Australian man who became seriously ill after ingesting rat poison that prosecutors allege was fed to him by his Taiwanese romantic partner testified in the woman’s trial for attempted murder in Taipei yesterday.
The victim, Alex Shorey, was a 24-year-old exchange student in Taiwan in 2023 when he was allegedly poisoned with the rodenticide “superwarfarin” weeks before he was scheduled to return home to Australia.
After ending up in intensive care, Shorey departed Taiwan on a medical evacuation flight, while his partner, a woman in her late 40s surnamed Yang (楊), was charged with attempted murder in December 2024.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
During testimony in the trial at the Taipei District Court yesterday, Shorey said he and Yang got along well in the early stages of their relationship.
At the time, Shorey said, Yang said she wanted to be in an open relationship, which he assumed was because she missed her husband, who had recently died under mysterious circumstances.
An investigation into the December 2022 death of Yang’s husband, a British national, following what was diagnosed as a urinary tract infection, was dropped by prosecutors in January due to insufficient evidence.
According to Shorey, Yang subsequently took his passport, making it impossible for him to withdraw money sent by his family, and giving her more control over his daily life.
Shorey said he had told Yang in March 2023 that he was planning to return to Australia in April.
Only two days later, he became seriously ill with nosebleeds, vomiting, and bloody urine after drinking a glass of grape juice Yang gave him, which he recalled had a strange taste.
In the hospital, Shorey said that Yang had cut off his doctors when they tried to communicate with him in English. Yang insisted that they explain his situation in Chinese and allow her to translate for him.
After being released from hospital, Shorey said he had stayed with Yang, as he was still in poor health. In early April, his father, a doctor, flew out to Taiwan to be with him as he recovered.
On April 16, Shorey said, Yang gave him a grass jelly beverage. The following day, he was rushed to the hospital after being unable to get out of bed, ultimately ending up in intensive care.
According to prosecutors, Shorey’s mother found an empty container of rodenticide in a wardrobe at Yang’s residence when packing her son’s things on May 1. This was consistent with what a doctor privately told him may have caused his illness after his first hospitalization.
Shorey ultimately left Taiwan on a medivac flight on May 3, 2023.
In their indictment, prosecutors said they are seeking a prison term of at least 8 years for Yang.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS