Kaohsiung man sentenced to death for murdering neighbors

Kaohsiung, March 10 (CNA) The Kaohsiung District Court on Monday sentenced to death a man convicted of fatally stabbing a couple in an upstairs apartment that he believed frequently made too much noise.

According to prosecutors, the man, surnamed Wu (吳), was a 63-year-old resident of Kaohsiung's Lingya District at the time of the murders in September 2023.

On the morning of Sept. 15, Wu walked into the apartment of his upstairs neighbors and repeatedly stabbed a 35-year-old woman surnamed Tsai (蔡) in the living room as she was preparing to take her two young children to school.

In front of the children, Wu then walked into a bedroom and stabbed Tsai's 36-year-old husband, surnamed Lo (羅), as he slept. Both Tsai and Lo were declared dead at the scene, prosecutors said.

After committing the murders, Wu returned home to change clothes and then went to the Kaohsiung side of the Wanda Bridge -- which spans the Gaoping River between Kaohsiung and Pingtung -- and disposed of the bloody clothes and murder weapon.

He was later tracked down in Pingtung's Fangliao District, where he was arrested and admitted to the murders after police surrounded him on his motorcycle.

After being handed over to prosecutors, however, Wu refused to speak on multiple occasions while being interrogated. He also denied committing the murders during court proceedings last month.

In its ruling Monday, the district court sentenced Wu to death, as requested by prosecutors, stating that he was fully in control of his mental faculties and had committed the murders in a premeditated fashion.

The verdict can be appealed.

As of the end of January, there were 36 prisoners on death row in Taiwan.