Taiwan seeks help in finding murder suspect
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TAIWAN'S CRIMINAL Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday said it had asked its Thai counterpart for help in tracking down Hsieh Yuan-hsin, a key suspect in the murder of billionaire Shih Chia-chin.
According to police, Hsieh, Shih’s driver, allegedly abducted and killed his employer and abandoned the body. Hsieh’s two alleged accomplices – Lin Chih-hsiung, 31, and Cheng Ching-ta, 26 – were arrested on Monday night. Police believe that Hsieh fled to Thailand on August 18 using a forged passport – which he created by pasting his own photo into his cousin’s passport.
Prosecutors in the Taiwanese city of Taichung said they suspected that Hsieh had two escape plans – using his own passport to fly to Hong Kong or using a forged passport to flee to Thailand.
The CIB said it had confirmed with Thai police that Hsieh entered Thailand with his fake passport, adding that it suspected Hsieh was still in Thailand but might move on to Cambodia or Myanmar.
The passport used by Hsieh was cancelled immediately after Taiwan’s Bureau of Consular Affairs was notified of the case.
Hsieh was found to have a bank account in Hong Kong and had allegedly been to the city in May, CIB said yesterday, adding that it was still figuring out these facts’ relevance to the case.
In response to speculation that there may a fourth suspect in the murder, as recently discovered surveillance footage shows that Hsieh bought four lunchboxes on the day before the abduction took place, prosecutors said there was no reason to assume so.
The two alleged accomplices refused to answer questions after being arrested late on Mondy. Hence, the prosecutors carried out questioning yesterday morning. The pair confessed to participating in the kidnapping of Shih, but denied killing the victim, prosecutors said.
They claim to have assisted Hsieh in tying up the victim while Hsieh took all of Shih’s valuables. The three parted after Hsieh gave each of them NT$20,000 (Bt21,000), prosecutors said.
Shih was allegedly abducted by Hsieh on August 18 after being picked up at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei.
The suspects then called Shih’s family and demanded a ransom of NT$50 million. The victim was later found dead with more than 20 puncture wounds in his back in a mountainous area on the night of August 24, police said.
