Taipei man's life sentence for stabbing ex-girlfriend to death upheld

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday upheld a life sentence and lifetime deprivation of civil rights given to a man who murdered his ex-girlfriend by stabbing her 19 times in public.

The ruling upheld a Shihlin District Court verdict finding Su Shih-hsin (宿世新) guilty of homicide. The ruling can be appealed.

According to the district court's verdict, Su had repeatedly injured his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Tsai (蔡), after she ended their relationship. On Nov. 25, 2024, he went to her workplace to confront her.

After the two argued beside a street, Su pulled out a switchblade he had been carrying, pushed Tsai against a nearby wall and stabbed her several times in the chest and abdomen, the court found.

When Tsai tried to get up and leave while calling for help, Su pushed her to the ground and stabbed her in the back.

After stabbing Tsai 19 times in total, Su stabbed himself in the left side of the chest, according to the verdict.

A passerby who heard Tsai's cries for help threw a traffic cone at Su, disarming him. Other bystanders prevented Su from retrieving the knife and called the police, who arrested him at the scene after hearing witnesses' accounts of the attack.

Tsai died later that evening despite receiving medical treatment, the court said.

The court found that Su had deliberately carried out a violent attack on Tsai with a lethal weapon, rejecting his claims that he had not intended to kill her and had not foreseen the consequences of his actions.