TAIWAN – Prosecutors in Kaohsiung are expected to seek the death penalty for a man accused of abducting and killing 24-year-old Malaysian student Irene Chung, reported CNA English News.
At a press conference yesterday, Ciaotou district chief prosecutor Wang Po-tun said his office will recommend that the accused, surnamed Liang, be put to death.
The 28-year-old suspect is accused of abducting Chung as she was walking back to her dormitory at Tainan’s Chang Jung Christian University on October 28.
Arrested the next day, police said Liang confessed to strangling her with a rope and dumping the body in neighbouring Kaohsiung.
Liang is said to have a criminal record going back to junior high school.
A psychiatric assessment conducted by the Kaohsiung Municipal Kao-Syuan Psychiatric Hospital found him to be mentally competent, and concluded that he poses a high risk of recidivism, Wang was quoted as saying.
Prosecutors said Liang is believed to have attacked a woman near the same location a month before Chung’s murder.
They added that he had researched tutorials on a hangman’s knot, and prepared a noose in his car.
Meanwhile, the Chang Jung Christian University president and deans of general affairs and student affairs resigned yesterday.
President Lee Yung-lung quit first, followed by student affairs dean Tu Chia-ling and general affairs dean Yen Yi-wen.
The Education Ministry has ordered the varsity to carry out a review on campus security following Chung’s death. – The Vibes, December 26, 2020
