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Murder of Pai Hsiao-yen

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Bai.
Pai Hsiao-yen
Born
Pai Hsiao-yen

(1980-06-23)23 June 1980
Fukuoka, Japan
DiedBetween 18 April and 20 April 1997(1997-04-20) (aged 16)
No. 287, Xiyun Road, Wugu Township, Taipei County, Taiwan
Cause of deathMurder (Strangulation, stomach rupture)
NationalityTaiwanese
EducationHsing Wu High School
Parents
Pai Hsiao-yen
Traditional Chinese白曉燕
Simplified Chinese白晓燕
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBái Xiǎoyàn
Wade–GilesPai Hsiao-yen

Pai Hsiao-yen (Chinese: 白曉燕; 23 June 1980 – 18–20 April 1997) was the only daughter of popular Taiwanese television host and actress Pai Bing-bing and Japanese author Ikki Kajiwara. In April 1997, Pai was kidnapped, held for ransom, and murdered by a group of people led by Chen Chien-hsing (陳進興; Chén Jìnxīng), Lin Chun-sheng (林春生; Lín Chūnshēng), and Kao Tien-meen (高天民; Gāo Tiānmín), a trio of criminals previously known to the National Police Agency. Chen, Lin, and Kao evaded a police manhunt for up to eight months, during which they abducted two other people for ransom and killed four people, including a police officer. Ultimately, Lin and Kao committed suicide during encounters with police in August and November, and Chen was arrested and executed after initiating the Alexander family hostage crisis in November.

Abduction and murder

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Pai Hsiao-yen disappeared after leaving for her school, Hsing Wu High School,[1] on the morning of April 14, 1997. Her family received a ransom note demanding US$5,000,000 (equivalent to about $9,490,000 in 2023) along with a severed piece of her finger and a photograph of a bound girl.[2]

Press in Taiwan first reported the incident on April 23, 1997, which contradicted the accepted practice of reporting the kidnapping after its resolution.[2] Some of the pre-planned ransom drops were aborted when kidnappers spotted police and media tailing Pai Bing-bing.[2] However, after the abductors negotiated with the police for 11 days and changed the locations of payment more than 20 times, the police finally decoded the communication methods used by the abductors. In the subsequent police raid, one suspect was arrested while two others escaped after an intense gun fight with the police.[citation needed]

Pai Hsiao-yen's mutilated body, weighted down with dumbbells, was found in a drainage ditch in Zhonggang Dapai, Taishan Township on April 28, 1997.[3] Investigators said that she had been dead for ten days before her body's discovery. Ransom negotiations had continued after the likely time of Pai's death; an impersonator placed a telephone call to give Pai Bing-bing the impression that her daughter was alive. Tim Healy and Laurie Underwood of Asiaweek said that Pai was "apparently tortured" before her death.[2] The photograph of her naked dead body was leaked to the mass media, including the China Times, which printed it.[4]

Four suspects were arrested, but three of the main criminals, Chen Chien-hsing (陳進興; Chén Jìnxīng), Lin Chun-sheng (林春生; Lín Chūnshēng), and Kao Tien-meen (高天民; Gāo Tiānmín) escaped. One of the arrested, Chang Chih-huei (張志輝; Zhāng Zhìhuī), Chen's brother-in-law, was suspected of involvement, but his sentence was eventually overturned due to insufficient evidence.[5][6] An island-wide manhunt began and the police were ordered to shoot and kill the suspects without warning if they showed any sign of resistance.[citation needed]

Manhunt

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While being pursued, the trio abducted Taipei County councilor Tsai Ming-tang on June 3, 1997 and robbed him of $6 million, and on August 6, they kidnapped a businessman surnamed Chen and received a ransom (his family paid the ransom without notifying the police).[7] On August 19, the trio was spotted by two police officers on Wuchang Street (五常街) in Taipei's Zhongshan District. In the ensuing shootout, one of the officers was killed and another officer was injured, while Lin was shot six times and committed suicide instead of surrendering to police.[8] The shootout drew a massive police response of over 800 officers, including the Thunder Squad, to lock down and search the district, but Kao and Chen were not found.[9]

On October 23, Kao and Chen entered the office of a plastic surgeon and demanded immediate facial reconstruction surgeries to become unrecognizable to police. When the plastic surgeon tried to explain that was not possible with the time and resources available to him, Kao and Chen, believing he was trying to stall them for the police to arrive, shot and killed the plastic surgeon, his wife, and a nurse before fleeing. Kao and Chen continued to elude police throughout early November 1997,[10] but on November 17, Kao was spotted by the police and shot himself when they attempted to apprehend him.[11]

On November 18, Chen, the last surviving criminal, broke into the residence of Colonel Edward McGill Alexander, the South African military attaché to Taipei, and took the family hostage.[12] After negotiations initiated by politician Frank Hsieh, Chen surrendered to police and was given media access, and confessed to Pai's kidnapping and other crimes.[13][14] Chen was convicted in December 1998 for kidnappings, murders, and multiple counts of sexual assaults, and was executed on October 6, 1999.[5][7]

Aftermath

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Demonstrators marched on 4 May 1997[15] and 18 May 1997,[16] demanding Premier Lien Chan's resignation,[17] partially over the rise in violent crime as evidenced by the then-unsolved murders of Pai, Peng Wan-ru,[18] and Liu Pang-yu.[citation needed] Eight media organizations, including the China Times, which ran the photograph of Pai's body, were condemned during the first protest.[4]

President Lee Teng-hui offered an apology on 15 May 1997,[19] stating Lien would be relieved of his duty as premier and the Cabinet would be reshuffled. Ma Ying-jeou, who was serving as Minister without Portfolio, resigned following the first protest.[20] Lin Fong-cheng, who was serving as Minister of the Interior, also resigned his post following the first protest.[21] Lien Chan resigned his post as Premier on 22 August 1997,[22] as did the director-general of the National Police Agency, Yao Kao-chiao.[23] Lien had repeatedly offered to resign from his other office as Vice President in the wake of the protests; eventually he retained this office until the term ended.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 劉峻谷; 唐復年; 鄭國樑; 曾增勳 (27 April 1997). "白曉燕命案始末" [Pai Bing-bing's daughter kidnapped]. United Daily News. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2009. 十七歲的白曉燕是白冰冰的獨生女，就讀林口鄉醒吾中學二年級，十四日上午七時四十五分從林口鄉忠孝路家中出門上學，但並沒有到學校。
  2. ^ a b c d Healy, Tim; Underwood, Laurie (May 16, 1997). "A mother's despair". Asiaweek. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  3. ^ Blatt, Jason (29 April 1997). "Grief as kidnap girl, 17, found dead in ditch". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Taiwan Human Rights Report 1997: The Media and Human Rights". Taiwan Association for Human Rights. 1997. Archived from the original on 5 November 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Kidnapper gets death for girl's murder". New Straits Times. Reuter. 26 December 1998. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. ^ Chuang, Jimmy (29 October 2004). "Infamous suspect Chang admits to killing woman". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. ^ a b Lin, Irene (7 October 1999). "Eight 'bandits' are executed". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  8. ^ Lin, Irene (August 31, 2000). "Would-be hero winds up in jail". Taipei Times. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  9. ^ "Taiwan: Wanted criminal shot dead in gunbattle". New Straits Times. Associated Press. 20 August 1997. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Close call for two most wanted men". New Straits Times. 5 November 1997. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  11. ^ Chen, Marlene; Williams, Scott (translator) (December 1999). "Aftershocks from the Pai Hsiao-yen Case". Taiwan Panorama. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2015. {{cite news}}: |author2= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ "Taiwan's most wanted kidnapper takes five hostage, shoots two". New Straits Times. AP. 19 November 1997. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Murder suspect takes 3 South Africans hostage in Taiwan". Herald-Journal. AP. 19 November 1997. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  14. ^ Huang, Annie (19 November 1997). "Taiwan's Most-wanted Man Gives Up". AP News Archive. AP. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  15. ^ "15,000 in demo against crime". New Straits Times. 5 May 1997. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  16. ^ "Marchers Demand That Premier Resign". Spokesman-Review. 19 May 1997. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  17. ^ "Chen Chin-hsing set to be executed". Taipei Times. 6 October 1999. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  18. ^ Furse, Jane (11 May 1997). "Taiwan in uproar over girl's killing". New York Daily News. News Wire. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  19. ^ Yu, Susan (16 May 1997). "President offers apology over social order issue". Taiwan Today. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  20. ^ Lloyd-Parry, Richard (13 July 1997). "Celebrity killings stir rage in Taiwan". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  21. ^ WuDunn, Sheryl (14 July 1997). "Crime Invades a Once-Peaceful Place". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  22. ^ Poole, Teresa (22 August 1997). "Taiwan PM quits to have electoral makeover". The Independent (UK). Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  23. ^ Huang, Sandy (16 December 2002). "KMT sours to former police head". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
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