The suspect surnamed Zhou who was suspected of killing his girlfriend surnamed Zheng was transferred to justice this afternoon on suspicion of murder. (Photo by reporter Liu Qinghou)
First published: 11:53
Update time: 15:10 (new suspect transferred to District Prosecutor’s Office)
Taipei City Shilin Branch investigated the case of a 39-year-old woman surnamed Zheng who was murdered and abandoned in Yangmingshan. It was found that she and the 37-year-old suspect surnamed Zhou met through the Internet and lived together. However, they had frequent quarrels after only a few months of dating. Zheng was strangled to death on the day of the negotiation with Zhou on August 16. After the crime, suspect Zhou kept driving in Tamsui to create an illusion, and used NT$100,000 to sell the vehicle used in the crime at a low price, which turned out to be the key to the police investigation. Zhou Nan was transferred at 2pm today on suspicion of murder.
Police investigation revealed that Zhou Nan and Zheng Nv met through the Internet a few months ago. When they first fell in love, Zheng Nv moved to Zhou Nan's residence in Sanchong District, New Taipei City, to live together. But in the future, with the trivial matters in life and financial pressure, the two began to quarrel constantly and gradually grew tired of each other.
In mid-August, Zheng's daughter intended to break up. On August 16, she sent a message to her sister, revealing her decision to break up with Zhou Nan. She also stated that she would move out of Zhou Nan's residence and live with her sister in the future. But that night, Zheng Nu sent another message telling her that she was going to Yangmingshan with Zhou Nan. Then she vanished from the world and was never heard from again.
Zheng's sister discovered that her sister could not be contacted at around 6 pm on August 16. She tracked the phone signal and found that the signal last appeared in the Tudukeng District of Sanzhi, New Taipei City. Zheng's sister subsequently reported the case to the police and posted her sister's information on a missing persons website. She also highly suspected that her boyfriend surnamed Zhou might be related to her sister's disappearance.
The North City Police Sergeant Lin Branch received the notification and launched an investigation. Based on a lot of information provided by Zheng's sister, it was found that Zhou Nan, who went to Yangmingshan with Zheng, was involved in serious suspicions. On the 11th, he was brought back to his residence in Sanchong for questioning. Zhou Nan initially argued that the two of them walked all the way from Tamsui to Yangmingshan that day, but there was an argument over trivial matters along the way. Zheng got out of the car in anger, and he also drove away, and his whereabouts were unknown from then on.
The police simultaneously reviewed street surveillance cameras to reconstruct Zhou's driving trajectory, and found that the two had indeed driven to Tamsui and Sanzhi, and the last location was Pingjing Street in Yangmingshan. However, the police conducted more in-depth investigations and searches, and finally found the skeletal body of Zheng, along with the rope used to commit the crime.
Based on the remains of Zheng Nu, which had turned into bones, the police concluded that Zheng Nu was strangled to death and abandoned on the day she went to Yangmingshan. After Zhou committed the crime, he drove around the Tamsui and Sanzhi areas for three or four consecutive days in an attempt to mislead the police in the direction of the case with his chaotic movements. Five days later, he sold the vehicle to Taoyuan for 100,000 yuan at a low price.
Zhou Nan confessed to the murder only after learning from another police interrogation that Zheng's body had been found. He confessed that because he suspected that his girlfriend was having a close relationship with other men, the two of them had a big argument after they went to Yangmingshan that day. He was so angry that he took out a rope and strangled Zheng to death, then abandoned the body and fled the scene. After the police interrogation, the case was transferred to the District Prosecutor's Office for investigation this afternoon on suspicion of homicide.
☆If people encounter violence in cohabiting relationships, they can call the 113 protection hotline or seek help from local government domestic violence prevention and control centers. ☆
Sister Zheng posted the information of her sister who had been missing for a few months on a missing person website to ask for help. (Reporter Liu Qinghou took photos of Bai Xunren website)
