Manager of talent agency killed in Taichung

Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) A man identified as the manager of a talent agency was killed in Taichung on Monday, possibly in revenge for allegedly sexually harassing the girlfriend of the assailant.

The case transpired at 10:27 a.m. on Monday after the man stepped out of a FamilyMart convenience store on Nanyang Road in Taiching's Fengyuan District.

The man, later identified as Chan Chih-neng (詹智能), was attacked by a man only identified by his surname Huang (黃) with a watermelon knife, which has a longer blade than normal.

Chan was rushed to a nearby hospital following the incident, but was found to be dead on arrival. His multiple knife wounds making any attempt to resuscitate him futile.

An hour following the incident, Huang took a taxi to the Yongxing Precinct in Taichung's North District to turn himself in to the police with his weapon.

In the subsequent investigation conducted by Taichung prosecutors, Chan was revealed to be the general manager of Taiwan's Mugen Entertainment talent company which had famously signed Korean cheerleaders Ha Ji-won and Woo Su-han, who now perform with the Rakuten Monkeys baseball team in Taoyuan.

Video footage from nearby surveillance cameras showed that Huang tailed Chan's car to the convenience store in a black vehicle.

After parking his vehicle, he and a passenger got out of the car before Huang approached Chan's own ride and lingered there.

When Chan left the FamilyMart, Huang could be seen in the video footage retrieving a watermelon knife from a bag and then stabbing Chan.

Both men were then seen struggling into the convenience store before Huang exited the store alone while putting the knife into a bag.

While Huang later drove away, the passenger that was with him did not enter the vehicle.

During his interrogation, Huang said he went to the police station in a taxi and not the black vehicle because the car used in the incident was borrowed from a friend.

Huang also apparently said that he was from the northern part of Taiwan and went all the way to Taichung to attack Chan because the deceased had sexually harassed Huang's girlfriend.

According to authorities, the police also asked the passenger, identified as a 53-year-old man surnamed Kang (康), to speak with them to determine whether or not he was an accomplice.

Authorities said prosecutors will be treating the case as a homicide.

Additionally, an autopsy will be scheduled at a later date to help prosecutors determine the actual cause of Chan's death.