Zhou Jinyi, the suspect involved in strangling his girlfriend surnamed Zheng, was escorted and transferred by the police. (Photo by reporter Liu Qinghou)
First published 21:26
Update time 23:42
Zhou Jinyi, the suspect suspected of strangling his girlfriend named Zheng who lived with him and abandoning her body in Yangmingshan, was suspected of covering up the crime after committing the crime. Not only did he pretend to report his girlfriend missing to the police, but he also deliberately drove around Tamsui and other places to create the illusion that he was looking for her. After a hearing this evening (12th), the Shilin District Prosecutor's Office determined that Zhou Nan was guilty of serious crimes such as murder and abandoning corpses, and that he was at risk of fleeing, destroying evidence, and colluding. He applied to the court for detention and prohibition. At about 11 o'clock in the evening, the Shilin Academy ruled that he should be detained and prohibited.
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Police investigation revealed that Zhou Nan has been hanging out in the Sanchong area of New Taipei City for many years. He claims to be a member of the Tiandao League and has been involved in cases of injury, theft, robbery, and intimidation for more than ten years. In 2015, he was also involved in a case in which a scrivener surnamed Lin was threatened to steal 3 million yuan.
Mr. Zhou is a good talker and has a burly figure. Although he has no fixed job in recent years and only relies on odd jobs to make a living, he still met Ms. Zheng through an online chat room. The two later dated and lived together. It is understood that the relationship between the two changed after they got together, and Zheng Nv had the idea of breaking up, and the two parties had a dispute.
The Shilin District Prosecutor's Office stated that the Shilin Branch reported to the prosecutors yesterday (11th) that Zheng had been out of contact for many days and was believed to have been murdered. The prosecutor immediately assigned the chief prosecutor of the major criminal case team Lin Siyin and prosecutor Chen Ziwen to form a task force with the Shilin Branch to trace the whereabouts of Zheng.
In order to clarify the case and preserve evidence as quickly as possible, the prosecutor issued a warrant to arrest Mr. Zhou and simultaneously directed the police to search for possible locations where the body was abandoned. Last night, the body of Ms. Zheng was found in the area of Pingjing Street, Shilin District, Taipei City. The prosecutor completed the examination at noon today.
After the task force continued to collect evidence and prosecutors interrogated, the prosecutors initially determined that due to a verbal dispute with Zheng Nv, Zhou Nan was suspected of strangling Zheng Nv with a rope near the location where the body was found on the evening of August 16, and then discarding the body.
Police investigation revealed that after committing the crime, Mr. Zhou was suspected to have deliberately driven around the Tamsui area of New Taipei City to create the illusion of searching for his girlfriend. Later, he even took the initiative to report the case to the police station, claiming that Ms. Zheng was missing.
Not only that, Zhou Nan also packed up all the belongings that Zheng Nv left in the rental house where they lived together and sent them back to Zheng Nv's sister. He also canceled and re-registered the LINE account he originally used. He is suspected of creating the illusion that the two had broken up and Zheng Nv left on her own in an attempt to avoid police investigation.
The prosecutor believes that Zhou Nan is involved in serious crimes such as homicide and abandonment of corpses under the Criminal Code. Among them, homicide is a felony with the minimum penalty of more than 5 years in prison. There are considerable reasons to believe that he is in danger of fleeing. There are also facts that are sufficient to destroy evidence and collude with witnesses. It is necessary to detain him. Tonight, he will apply to the court for detention prohibition in accordance with the law.
