Victim’s nephew arrested in fatal Sinjhuang stabbing

A 33-year-old man suspected of stabbing his aunt to death in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊) on Sunday was arrested yesterday in Taoyuan, police said.

The New Taipei City Police Department’s Sinjhuang Precinct said it received a call around 7 pm Sunday about a stabbing at a home on Yongan Street.

Officers arriving at the home found the victim, a 59-year- old woman surnamed Lin (林), dead in the kitchen, with more than 10 stab wounds to her neck and abdomen, police said.

Police officers escort a suspect surnamed Lee, center, to the Sinjhuang Precinct in New Taipei City yesterday.

Photo: Wu Jen-chieh, Taipei Times

The victim’s husband, who found her when he returned home from work, told police that their nephew, surnamed Lee (李), had recently moved in with them and had quarreled with Lin earlier that day.

Police used surveillance footage to track Lee’s movements after he left the home around 2 pm Sunday. He ate at a hot pot restaurant and took the MRT to Taipei Main Station, local media reported.

From there, Lee took a train to Taoyuan Station, and then allegedly switched between several forms of transport to travel to Fengming Station in New Taipei City and Neili (內壢) in Taoyuan before returning to Taoyuan Station, in an apparent attempt to evade surveillance, the reports said.

Lee was arrested around noon yesterday in Taoyuan, police said.

A preliminary investigation found that Lee was unemployed. The couple had occasionally quarreled with him over his daily habits, police said.

Lee also frequently asked for money to buy alcohol and tobacco, which had led Lin to consider asking him to move out, police said.

Police believe that on the day of the killing, Lin allegedly bumped Lee with her shoulder, which he interpreted as deliberate and insulting. Enraged, Lee allegedly went out to buy a knife, returned home and stabbed Lin to death, police said.