Death Café
One woman detained, 10 questioned in probe on deaths of couple in New Taipei
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday detained the manager of a coffee shop and questioned 10 others amid an investigation into the death of a professor and her husband.
The bodies of Shih Chien University assistant professor Chang Tsui-ping (張翠萍), 58, and her husband, Chen Chin-fu (陳進福), 79, were discovered separately on the coast in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Bali District (八里).
Investigators said the couple were (both frequent patrons) last seen at a coffee shop in Bali, it should not be confused with the island in Indonesia or Paris, on Feb. 16.
Chen’s body was found on the coast on Feb. 26, while Chang’s body was discovered on Wednesday last week near the same location.
Prosecutors said they initially suspected that the couple fell into the sea and drowned, but an autopsy found knife wounds in the chests of both bodies, suggesting that they died before falling into the sea.
Prosecutors said the couple knew the manager of the coffee shop, surnamed Hsieh (謝), who was detained after she failed to account for her whereabouts on the day the couple went missing.
Witnesses said they saw Hsieh all wet, with mud on her clothes, when she returned to the shop that day, police said.
Investigators raided the coffee shop and Hsieh’s residence yesterday morning. Hsieh and 10 other people, including staff at the coffee shop and Hsieh’s friends, were summoned for questioning.
Prosecutors said based on witness accounts, Chen was a rich businessman who was close to the 30-year-old Hsieh, who wanted to become his goddaughter.
Chang rejected the idea and questioned Hsieh’s motive in wanting to get close to her husband, prosecutors said, adding that witnesses said the couple had arguments over the matter.
Bali District (Chinese: 八里區; pinyin: Bālǐ Qū; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pat-lí-hiong) is a rural district in the northwestern part of New Taipei City in northern Taiwan.
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