Death Sentence Upheld in Malaysian Student's Murder 長榮大學馬國女大生命案 被告二審仍判死

The death sentence has been upheld for a murderer surnamed Liang, who killed a female Malaysian student studying in Taiwan in 2020. The victim's mother said the justice is served while the case can still be appealed.

In January this year, the mother of the female Malaysian student attended the Taiwan High Court hearing in Kaohsiung. She did not say a word when faced with questions, but cried in court about her daughter being murdered, hoping that the judiciary will not let the defendant surnamed Liang escape the death penalty. The verdict from the second instance trial was announced on the 23rd.

Chiu Ming-hung, Director, Administrative Court, Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch: “The suspect sparked public panic. During the trial, there was no remorse from the defendant. The original trial and this court both conclude that the defendant may commit the same crime again.”

Liang's death sentence was upheld by the high court. The judge believes that there was an error in the determination of crime facts in the first instance trial. Hence, the second instance trial revoked the original sentence. It still found Liang committing a serious crime and sentenced him to death.

Chiu Ming-hung, Director, Administrative Court, Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch: “We believe he strangled her when he forcefully raped her. The victim's death was caused by strangling.”

Although Liang argued that he did not intend to kill the woman, he did try to rape another woman before committing this crime. He continued to improve his criminal methods after he failed. Doctors concluded there would be a high risk of him committing the same crime after his second psychiatric evaluation. Therefore, the death penalty was upheld. Family members of the murdered Malaysian female student did not appear in court for the trial. They only responded via text messages thanking people for their concern and justice was served. The sentence can be appealed.

今（2023）年1月，從馬來西亞來到台灣出席高雄高分院辯論庭的馬國女大生母親，當時面對提問不發一語。但當天在法庭上，泣訴女兒遭殺害的過程，希望司法別讓梁姓被告逃過死刑。二審宣判結果也在23日出爐。

高雄高分院行政庭長邱明弘表示：「犯嫌引發了社會大眾的恐慌，審理中也未見被告有悔意。原審以及本院都曾將被告送再犯可能性的鑑定，結果均認為被告再犯的可能性是高的。」

梁姓被告維持死刑，性侵其他女子未遂以及遺棄屍體罪駁回上訴，維持原判。法官認為，殺害女大生的部份，一審在犯罪事實的認定跟論罪的部份有違誤，所以二審撤銷改判；但還是認定梁姓男子犯下情節最重大的罪，判死刑、褫奪公權終身。

高雄高分院行政庭長邱明弘指出：「認為說應該在實施強制性交時就有勒斃，意思就是有勒緊繩索的行為，而造成被害人的死亡。」

合議庭認為，梁姓男子雖辯稱沒有故意殺人，但他犯下馬國女大案前，就意圖侵犯另外一名女子，失敗後還精進犯罪手法，顯見是預謀性犯案，犯案後也沒見悔意。經二次精神鑑定，再犯率屬「高危險」，並無教化可能，維持死刑。馬國女大生家屬未到庭聆判，僅透過簡訊回應「謝謝關心，正義得以伸張」，不願再多談，全案仍可再上訴。