Kaohsiung Serial Murder Case: Defendant Sentenced to Death by Lay Judge Panel

(CNA reporter Hong Xue-gao, Kaohsiung, June 5) In the Kaohsiung serial dismemberment case, the defendant, Chang Chieh-tsung, murdered three women using the same modus operandi over a period of nearly three months from November 2024 to February 2025, and dismembered their bodies. The Kaohsiung District Court's lay judge panel today sentenced him to death for murder, damage and abandonment of corpses, and other crimes. The case can be appealed.

The Kaohsiung serial murder trial concluded, and the Kaohsiung District Court announced the verdict at 4:00 PM today in the lay judge courtroom. Chang was sentenced to death for murder, damage and abandonment of corpses, and theft, with deprivation of civil rights for life. The case can still be appealed, and the reasoning for the verdict is yet to be released.

The 74-year-old defendant Chang was living in a house in Kaohsiung's Cianjhen District owned by his nephew. He was dissatisfied that his 75-year-old sister-in-law, surnamed Chang Huang, repeatedly came to check on the property and urged him to move out. On November 29, 2024, at around noon, after his sister-in-law entered the house, he strangled her to death.

After killing his sister-in-law, Chang dismembered the body in the northern room of the house using a hammer and other sharp instruments. From around 9:00 PM that evening to 5:00 AM the next day, he transported the remains by bicycle in multiple trips and dumped them into the Cianjhen Fifth Boat Channel. He also stole an ATM card from his sister-in-law's belongings and withdrew NT$5,000.

Subsequently, starting from January 1, 2025, Chang became acquainted with a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang. On January 17, 2025, at around 4:00 PM, after the woman entered his residence, Chang strangled her to death with a cloth. He then dismembered the body in the northern room using scissors, pliers, and other sharp instruments, stored the remains in the kitchen refrigerator, and later dumped the body parts and clothing into the Fifth Boat Channel in multiple trips by bicycle. He also used the victim's EasyCard senior citizen pass to ride the Kaohsiung MRT and ferries.

Prosecutors and police believe that Chang, emboldened by not being discovered after two murders, continued his crimes. Chang then became acquainted with a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao Lin over the phone. On February 2, 2025, he invited her to his residence, strangled her to death using the same method, shaved her body hair with an electric shaver, dismembered the body with a long knife, pliers, and other tools, and dumped the remains into the Fifth Boat Channel the next day.

After the investigation, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office indicted Chang Chieh-tsung for murder, damage and abandonment of corpses, theft, illegal acquisition of money from automated payment devices, and illegal acquisition of property benefits from charging equipment, seeking the death penalty.