Probe underway after Chiayi student killed, suspect commits suicide

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a 20-year-old university student from Chiayi City on Tuesday, allegedly at the hands of her boyfriend who was later found dead after apparently jumping from the 19th floor of his apartment building.

According to the Taiwan Chiayi District Prosecutors Office, an autopsy of the victim, surnamed Lee (李), will be conducted Wednesday to determine the cause of death after she was found to have sustained 12 stab wounds and there were signs of strangulation.

She also had COVID-19.

Local police said they acted on a report at 10:30 p.m. Monday and found Lee lying on a patch of grass near a parking lot in Chiayi City.

They found that her heart had stopped and tried to revive her with CPR, but she was later pronounced dead at 11:36 p.m., according to police.

Eyewitnesses interviewed by police said they saw a man attack Lee and then flee from the scene in a car, and as rescuers were trying to save Lee, the 27-year-old suspect, surnamed Wang (汪), was driving north to his apartment in Taoyuan, where he worked as a plumber.

Wang jumped from the 19th floor of the building and died before police arrived, and a paring knife that may have been used in the attack on Lee was found in Wang's car, police said.

According to the initial findings of their investigation, police said Lee, who was studying at a university in central Taiwan, knew Wang from the Internet and the two had been seeing each other frequently in recent months.