Taiwan executes subway murderer
Print Edition
TAIWAN has executed a man convicted of killing four people in a subway stabbing spree two years ago, an attack that strengthened support for the death penalty on the island, where violent crime is rare.
Cheng Chieh, 23, was executed on Tuesday night, the justice authorities said in a statement on its website. It did not mention what method was used, but said he was sedated before the execution.
According to Taiwan’s news agency, Cheng was shot to death and that three gunshots were heard at the detention center, located outside the capital city Taipei.
Cheng’s two-minute stabbing spree on a subway train during rush hour in Taipei on May 21, 2014 left four people dead and 22 injured. The attack shocked the island, where private gun ownership is largely banned and crime levels are relatively low.
Although he later apologized to the victims and showed remorse for his crime, Cheng, who was a university student at the time of the attack, gave no explanation for the stabbing spree other than a Facebook posting in which he said he “wanted to do something big.”
Amid criticism from death penalty opponents, the justice authorities said the death sentence was necessary because of the severity of the crime and public demands to uphold social justice.
Despite a past moratorium on executions, the subway killings, along with an attack this past March in which a 3-year-old girl was decapitated in front of her mother in Taipei, have helped harden public opinion in favor of the death penalty.
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