TAIWAN: DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR MURDERS

September 8, 2015: The Taiwan High Court upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of the 2013 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her mother.
The ruling said the man, surnamed Huang, now 21, was devoid of conscience and had no regard for human life, and that it was possible that he would murder again if he were to go free.
The Taiwan High Court therefore upheld the death sentence from the first ruling by the New Taipei City District Court, which found Huang guilty of rape and the double murder, and also stripped him of his civil rights for life.
Huang was 19 and was serving his compulsory military service when he committed the crime in September 2013.
Huang’s ex-girlfriend was a college student who worked part-time and Huang had withdrawn NT$200,000 from her bank account without her consent, the ruling said.
He was angered when she later demanded the money back, especially because they had broken up and she was seeing someone else, the ruling said.
Huang allegedly wore a hood to conceal his face as he sneaked into his ex-girlfriend’s home in New Taipei City. When he was discovered by her mother, Huang strangled her to death with rope. When his ex-girlfriend returned home, Huang overpowered her and tied her up, before raping and strangling her, while he also stole NT$10,000 from the house, the ruling said. (Sources: taipeitimes.com, 09/09/2015)