Taiwanese man Hong Zhenkai was dissatisfied with his girlfriend surnamed Hu and after the breakup she dated a male colleague surnamed Ye. Three years ago, he came home from work and stabbed Ye in the right chest with a fruit knife. After both parties dragged him, he stabbed Ye six times in the back. He lay down on the ground and then set himself on fire. The Supreme Court has now sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder.
Hong Zhenkai was dissatisfied with Ye because she dated Ye after Hu’s breakup and tried to get Hu back. At about 4 a.m. on December 29, 2021, he hid the fruit knife in his coat and rode a motorcycle to Ye’s workplace. While waiting, following Ye after work, taking advantage of the opportunity to stop at a red light, he got out of the car and asked to chat with Ye. There was a disagreement between the two and a scuffle broke out.
Hong Zhenkai first stabbed Ye’s right chest with a fruit knife, and then the two continued to struggle. Hong also stabbed Ye in the back six times, causing Ye to gasp and hemothorax. Although it was still breathing, it went limp and fell down the grassy slope onto the sidewalk. Hong watched as the doctor stepped forward to palpate and press Patti’s pulse, mistakenly assuming that Patti was dead.
Hong Zhenkai was worried that his crime would be exposed, so he put Ye Heng on the pedals of the motorcycle and drove away from the scene. On the way, the motorcycle hit a light pole on the sidewalk and fell to the right, spilling gasoline. Hong Zhenkai saw gasoline flowing from the area and reaching Ye’s chest and head. He took a lighter to the oil leakage area of the locomotive and set it on fire. Ultimately it was burnt alive.
Hong confessed to the murder, but argued that he took out the fruit knife to stab someone because he was pressured by Ye, and that he forcefully threw the lighter on the ground to start the fire. However, the court did not accept this belief. The first instance found that Hong opened fire because he was unsure of the intent to kill. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder and deprived of public rights for life.
The case was appealed. During a court hearing, Ye’s father once said, “Such a cruel person should be given the death penalty.” The second trial held that the first trial did not inspect surveillance video footage of the ignition scene and failed to identify the severity of Ye’s injuries when he was murdered. The second trial held that Hong had direct intent to commit murder and arson, but that the crime did not meet the “most aggravating circumstances”. Therefore, the first instance verdict was annulled and Hong was nevertheless sentenced to life imprisonment.
Both the prosecutor and Hong appealed. The prosecutor believed that Hong’s crime was the most serious crime. After sentencing evaluation, Hong was released from prison on parole in the future and may be reinstated.Violent crimeHowever, the death penalty was not imposed in the second instance, which violated the principle of proportionality; Hong argued that he killed Ye because of long-term emotional grievances, and that it was not an indiscriminate killing. The harm to society was minimal, and he should be given 15 years’ imprisonment as an appropriate punishment.
The Supreme Court held that the evidence and reasons for conviction were described in detail in the second instance. The prosecutor’s and Hong’s appeals were groundless or unreasonable, and the second instance’s decision was not illegal. It dismissed the appeal and ended the entire case.
Taiwan(tagstotranslate)violent crime