Actor Lee Wei named as suspect in Taipei Buddhist group murder case

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) Taiwanese actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei's Da'an District last year, according to prosecutors.

Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,165) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements to prosecutors regarding the woman's suspected murder.

The home of Lee, who had retreated from the entertainment business in recent years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier that day.

Lee was previously questioned in relation to the case three times in January in the role of a witness.

Police received a tip-off in late July 2024 about a woman found lying motionless in a first-floor property on a residential block on Siwei Road in downtown Taipei.

After arriving at the scene, police found the woman surnamed Tsai (蔡), a follower of the religious group that gathered at the meeting place, with no vital signs.

A subsequent autopsy determined that the woman died of rhabdomyolysis, a complex medical condition involving the rapid dissolution of damaged or injured skeletal muscle.

It is most often caused by direct traumatic injury, according to the National Library of Medicine, a United States National Institutes of Health website.

Surveillance video footage, meanwhile, showed Lee, the religious group's chief executive surnamed Wu (吳), a woman surnamed Chiang (姜) and Tsai, going to a study session at a restaurant on the evening of July 24, as Typhoon Gaemi dumped rain on Taipei.

After the meeting, Wu, Lee and Chiang were recorded pushing Tsai's body from the restaurant back to their usual meeting place in a trolley, dumping it there, and then leaving without calling emergency services, authorities said.

After a probe and two rounds of searches, prosecutors and police concluded that Wu, Buddhism writer Wang Yun (王薀) -- who served as the group's spiritual leader -- and several others were involved in Tsai's death, and named them suspects.

Four of the 11 suspects, including Wang, have been detained due to their suspected involvement since January.

According to local media reports, Tsai had served as an accountant for the religious group, whose members were mostly white-collar professionals.

After her death, Tsai's bank deposits worth more than NT$2 million were found to be totally emptied, according to the reports.

Lee, who rose to fame after starring in the popular drama "Toast Boy's Kiss" in the 2000s, had become a devout follower of Buddhism in recent years after leaving the entertainment business.