Death penalty upheld for murderer of Malaysian student

Kaohsiung, Jan. 15 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch on Wednesday upheld a death sentence for a man found guilty of raping and murdering a Malaysian student in a retrial.

The sentence was upheld due to defendant Liang Yu-chih's (梁育誌) intention to kill, the cruelty of his actions and the high risk of him reoffending, the court said in a news statement.

The ruling can be appealed.

On October 28, 2020, Liang abducted the victim, a college student studying in Taiwan, when she was walking alone near her school in Tainan.

He then raped her, beat her and strangled her to death, before taking her wallet and other belongings and dumping her body in the mountainous Alian District in neighboring Kaohsiung City, according to the statement.

The statement highlighted that Liang's actions were premeditated, as he concealed himself while holding a prepared length of coarse rope, which he then used with brutal force to strangle the 24-year-old.

Liang displayed extreme cruelty during the assault, inflicting injuries that caused bleeding in multiple organs and areas of the victim's body, the statement said.

It added that the court had also found Liang guilty of attempting to rape another woman on Sept. 30, 2020, in its previous trial.

The Taiwan Ciaotou District Court handed Liang a death sentence for the two counts of rape and intentional killing, and robbery and intentional killing in March 2022.

He was also sentenced to two years for abandoning a body and 34 months for attempted rape.

The High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court upheld the sentence in March 2023.

In June of that year, the Supreme Court dismissed Liang's appeal of his sentences for abandoning a body and attempted rape.

However, it ordered a retrial of the rape and intentional homicide charges at the High Court's Kaohsiung Branch, citing flaws in the original trial.

Lee Shu-hui (李淑惠), the High Court Kaohsiung Branch administrative chief judge, said that the three judges in the case unanimously decided to uphold the death penalty.

The case was the first death sentence verdict after the Constitutional Court ruled in September 2024 that capital punishment is only constitutional for "the most serious" premeditated murders and crimes leading to death.