Spiritual leader, followers sentenced in Buddhist cult death case

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) The Taipei District Court on Tuesday sentenced 13 people in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found at the meeting place of a Buddhist group in the city's Daan District in 2024.

In its verdict, the court sentenced the group's spiritual leader, the Buddhism writer Wang Yun (王薀), to 12 years in prison for causing bodily injuries leading to the death of the victim surnamed Tsai (蔡).

The group's chief executive, Wu Hui-chu (吳慧珠), and followers surnamed Kan (幹), Liang (梁), You (游) and Chiang (姜) received 10 years, while follower Lee Yuan-yuan (李淵源) received nine years for the same crime.

Four other members of the cult received sentences of 1.5 years to 5 years for acting as accomplices in the crime, while Taiwanese actor Lee Wei (李威), a follower who turned state's witness in the trial, and his wife both received suspended sentences.

The court said that in determining the sentences it assessed each defendant's actions in relation to Tsai's death, as well as considering whether they colluded, obstructed investigators or reached settlements with Tsai's family.

The verdict can be appealed.

The crime

Emergency services were called in 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, authorities found Tsai, a member of the religious group that gathered at the meeting place, with no vital signs.

A subsequent autopsy determined that she 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 members of the group, including the victim, going to a tea shop near the group's meeting place on the evening of July 23, 2024, as Typhoon Gaemi was dumping rain on Taipei.

Several of those present were later recorded pulling Tsai's body back from the tea shop to their usual meeting place on a trolley, dumping it there, and then leaving it without calling emergency services.

After a probe and two rounds of searches, Taipei prosecutors indicted 13 suspects over Tsai's death in March 2025.

Motive and details

In its verdict Tuesday, the Taipei District Court said Wang Yun became angry with Tsai, who managed the group's finances, over her handling of his divorce settlement, as well as complaints from other followers about her difficult personality.

Wang initiated a discussion with Tsai in which she expressed her "repentance," knelt and kowtowed to Wu, the group's chief executive, and agreed to shave her head and take vows as a nun.

Wang, however, still felt this was insufficient, and scheduled a meeting with Tsai at Water Moon Teahouse (水月草堂) on the night of July 23, 2024, near the group's meeting place in the vicinity of Technology Building MRT Station.

At the meeting, Wu, Chiang, Gan, You and Liang repeatedly forced Tsai to kneel and kowtow, by pulling, pushing and kicking her, causing Tsai to collapse, as other group members watched or stood guard outside, the verdict said.

After Tsai collapsed, Wang Yun left the teahouse, while Lee Yuan-yuan and others got a trolley and pushed Tsai back to the group's meeting place.

Later that night, at around 3 a.m., they found Tsai unconscious, but instead of calling an ambulance, they informed Wang and called several followers who were also doctors to try and revive Tsai, to no avail.

The cult members later created a group chat to discuss fabricating a cause of death for police and prosecutors. They waited until 10 a.m. to call an ambulance, by which time Tsai had died, the verdict said.

Although the defendants denied involvement during the trial, surveillance video footage, testimony from witnesses, Lee Wei and forensic experts, and seized phone records were sufficient to prove their guilt, the verdict said.

Lee Wei, 45, rose to fame after starring in the popular drama "Toast Boy's Kiss" in the 2000s. He became a devout follower of Buddhism in recent years after leaving the entertainment business.