The Taitung District Court has approved the detention of 10 suspects linked to the death of a 21-year-old man who was found dead in an apartment earlier this week, according to a statement issued by the court on Saturday.
Prosecutors had filed a motion to detain the suspects, including a 25-year-old man identified by his last name Chen (?), and hold them incommunicado to keep them from fleeing the country amid the ongoing investigation.
The Taitung District Court agreed to the detention of seven adult suspects, while three other suspects, who were minors, were ordered detained by the Juvenile Court under the district court, according to the statement.
The victim, a man surnamed Lee (?), was found dead in the bathroom of Chen’s apartment on Taiping Road in Beinan Township after a report was received from a caller on Wednesday saying that a man had collapsed.
When emergency rescuers arrived at the scene, they found Lee had suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and he was pronounced dead by a hospital later in the day after attempts to resuscitate him failed, according to the county’s Fire Department.
Lee was found with multiple external injuries, including bruises around his wrists indicating that he had been tied down prior to his death, the department said at the time.
Chen, who was the one who called for help, was picked up several hours later by the police for questioning for his alleged involvement in the case.
The suspect confessed to carrying out the crime with nine other accomplices, police said.
Chen claimed Lee had owed him money and the two had arranged to meet at Chen’s house on Tuesday. When Lee arrived, Chen and his accomplices tied him down with a nylon rope to teach him a lesson and then roughed him up, according to police.
No further information was released on what may have happened between the time Lee was tied up and his death.
After questioning, the case was handed over to the Taitung District Prosecutors Office, which said the 10 suspects were being investigated for suspicion of causing injury leading to death and for offenses against personal liberty.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel