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Taiwan's top court upheld a life sentence handed down to a man who murdered his sister and pickled her head in a gruesome crime that shocked the island. Photo: AFP
Taiwan's top court upheld a life sentence handed down to a man who murdered his sister and pickled her head in a gruesome crime that shocked the island.
Chen Chia-fu, 39, was arrested and later indicted on suspicion of murdering and dismembering his sister in 2012 for an insurance payout of around $200,000. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty saying that Chen showed no remorse.
A district court in 2014 sentenced him to life in prison on the grounds that he had no prior criminal record and grew up in an "abnormal" family with a history of violence and mental disorders.
Both prosecutors and Chen, who had pleaded not guilty, appealed to the high court over the ruling, and then the supreme court, which both maintained the previous sentencing.
"The court rejected the appeal due to insufficient reason for the defendant's claim of a lack of evidence to convict him of murder," the supreme court said in a statement, adding that it also disagreed with prosecutors' request for a death sentence, who had earlier argued "there is no chance and no need to reform" Chen.
The "pickled head case" came to light in March 2013 after police in southern Chiayi county received a note claiming that the body of the woman, who had been missing since December 2012, was in a public toilet near a temple. It also asked for a "proper burial" for her.
The note, which led to the discovery of her head, became critical evidence as the writing matched Chen's, prosecutors said. The rest of the victim's body is yet to be located.
Chen was arrested after police found surveillance footage showing him with bags carrying unidentified objects in Chiayi.
He was also found to have bought at least four insurance policies for the 36-year-old woman, according to prosecutors.
The police suspected Chen of taking a train from Taipei, where the siblings lived, to southern Taiwan possibly to dispose of her head in a secure location.
Cook who murdered own sister to serve life sentence
2015/04/30 20:27:35
Taipei, April 30 (CNA) A cook who had murdered his own sister for insurance claims was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday, after the Supreme Court maintained an earlier ruling and rejected an appeal against it out of concerns for the murderer's mother.
The court rejected the appeal by Chiayi prosecutors, who requested the death penalty, out of concerns for Chen Chia-fu's mother, saying the request would deprive her of another one of her children.
During an earlier ruling in June last year, the Chiayi District Court sentenced the 37-year-old to life imprisonment, saying life imprisonment would better serve to punish and reform Chen than the death penalty.
The murder was brought to light after discovery of the head, marinated with salt, of the younger sister of Chen, in a public restroom near a temple in Shueishang Township in the southwestern county of Chiayi in March of 2013.
Chen, who lived with his mentally ill sister Chen Wan-ting in the northern city of New Taipei, told the police he killed his sister in late 2012 because he was angry about her, saying she often flirted with taxi drivers, which was the cause of constant arguments.
However, investigators found that Chen, since late 2011, had insured the victim to multiple policies totaling NT$6.67 million (US$216,441).
The case drew much attention in the media due to Chen's bizarre behavior, with him traveling from New Taipei in the north by train to Chiayi in the south to dispose of his sister's head, only later to leave a message to the police with clues to its location.
Chen had claimed he was mentally ill during the trial at Taiwan High Court's branch in the southern city of Tainan in January this year, but the court ruled out any major disorders citing hospital examinations.
