There was a fire in Longtan District, Taoyuan City in February last year. The female house owner died in the fire cave. When the prosecutors examined her, they found that her ribs were all broken. They chased her 39-year-old son Guo, who was unable to ask for money. He attacked his mother to death with a sharp weapon and his bare hands, and coldly set fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Taoyuan prosecutors found that he had killed a direct blood relative. After being prosecuted for the crime of respecting relatives, the Taoyuan District People's Court concluded the verdict today (3rd). Guo Nan was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes such as injuring direct blood relatives and respecting relatives to death. For the crime of forging private documents, he was sentenced to six months in prison and fined.
Guo Nan was sentenced for drunk driving, public danger and repeated domestic violence. He has been in and out of prison many times. His two sisters and younger brothers also moved out of his hometown because of his frequent domestic violence. Only his mother still lives with him. Even though Guo's mother applied for a protection order due to her son's domestic violence, Guo Nan still returned to his hometown after he was released from prison.
From the evening of February 20th to 21st last year, Guo Nan attacked his mother with a sharp weapon because he failed to ask for money, beat her in the abdomen and head, and even covered her mouth and nose, causing Guo's mother to suffer from brain damage and suffocation. On the 22nd, he placed his mother's body in the room next to the Shenming Hall on the 3rd floor of Tutiancuo, and then set fire to the room in an attempt to extinguish the evidence, and closed the iron gate on the first floor. After the firefighters extinguished the fire, they found the body of Guo's mother, which had been burned to almost carbonization. It was originally thought that Guo's mother died due to the fire. The prosecutor's examination of the body found that she had multiple fractures in the chest. Guo Nan, who had a history of domestic violence, was nowhere to be seen. They suspected that he was involved in a serious crime. Guo Nan was arrested in Zhongli four days after he fled. During this period, he even used his own name to get glasses.
The prosecutor charged Guo Nan with killing a direct blood relative, damaging a corpse, setting fire, and violating a protection order. However, the People's Judge Court changed the charge to injure a direct blood relative resulting in death.
The reasons for the judgment pointed out that based on the evidence of Guo Nan's whereabouts before and after the incident, relevant witness testimonies, on-site evidence, the victim's injuries, and forensic identification results, it was determined that during the conflict with Guo's mother, Guo Nan used a sharp weapon to cause lacerations to Guo's left upper arm near the armpit, and punched the lower abdomen and hit the head hard, and did not do so. It was found that Guo's mother suffered from major natural diseases that could cause death, and other injuries were not sufficient to explain the death. There was no positive evidence to confirm that she died from suffocation by covering her mouth and nose. Based on the evidence in the entire case, it is sufficient to conclude that Guo's mother died because Guo's man hit her head hard with his bare hands and suffered blunt external force, causing nerve axon damage.
The reasons for the judgment pointed out that from the conflict process between Guo Nan and Guo's mother, it was sufficient to conclude that he subjectively had the intention to harm Guo's mother. However, based on the existing evidence, it was impossible to conclude that he aimed to stab his mother in the heart, nor could it be concluded that the injury was caused by Guo's mother dodging an attack intended to stab her heart. Therefore, Guo Nan could not be determined to have murderous intent based solely on the injury.
As for Guo Nan, he punched Guo's mother in the lower abdomen and head with his bare hands, causing serious injuries and eventually causing Guo's mother's death. However, the evidence in the entire case was not enough to rule out that Guo Nan intentionally continued the violence based on the injury, rather than direct or indirect intention to kill Guo's mother. Therefore, the People's Court found that what Guo Nan did should be found guilty of injuring a direct blood relative to death, rather than killing a direct blood relative.
Today's trial concluded that he was sentenced to eight months in prison for violating a protection order, 19 years and April in prison for injuring a direct blood relative to death, and 10 years in prison for attempting to set fire to a house currently used by others. A total of 25 years in prison should be served. He was also sentenced to six months in prison for forging documents and was fined.
