The Supreme Court has upheld 16-year and 15-year-and-a-half prison sentences handed to two Bamboo Union members involved in the 2020 shooting of internet celebrity Holger Chen (???).
Taiwan’s highest appellate court rejected appeals from Chen’s attacker, Liu Cheng-hao (???), and Shih Chun-chi (???), who instructed Liu to carry out the failed alleged contract killing.
Shih and Liu, both members of the Baohe chapter of the Bamboo Union organized crime group, were given combined sentences of 16 years and 15 and a half years, respectively, after being found guilty of the attempted murder of Chen, as well as separate charges of extortion and kidnapping for ransom.
In the early hours of Aug. 28, 2020, Chen, a popular YouTuber, was shot three outside a fitness center he founded in New Taipei’s Linkou District.
According to witnesses at the scene, the shooting occurred at 2:23 a.m., when Liu fired three rounds at Chen at the entrance to G.K. Fitness Club on Renai Road in Linkou, hitting him twice in the arm and leg.
Chen, who survived the attack, remained conscious throughout the incident and even began a livestream as he lay on the ground waiting for medical help to arrive, later undergoing surgery at Linkou’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
New Taipei police later confirmed Liu as a suspect in the crime by reviewing surveillance camera footage and interviewing a taxi driver who had taken Liu to G.K. Fitness Club.
At the time of the shooting, police said that Shih had instructed Liu to carry out the attack as part of a contract killing.
According to police, Shih, a ranking member in the Baohe chapter, refused to reveal who had hired the group to murder Chen.
In July 2021, the New Taipei District court sentenced Liu to six years in prison and Shih five after finding the pair guilty of attempted murder.
They were also concurrently found guilty on separate extortion and kidnapping-for-ransom charges dating back prior to the shooting of Chen, with the district court tacking on an additional 10 years to Liu’s sentence and 13 years and six months to Shih’s.
In August 2022, the Taiwan High Court revised Liu’s combined 16-year sentence down to 15 years and six months and Shih’s 18-year sentence to 16 years on appeal after both men reached a settlement with some of their victims during a collegial panel hearing.
Following the high court’s ruling, the defendants filed another appeal, which was rejected on Thursday by the Supreme Court on the grounds that the earlier trial and sentences handed down were in full compliance with the law.
The Supreme Court also upheld the sentences handed to Baohe chapter leaders Lin Hsiu-po (???) and Liang Chih-sheng (???) for their involvement in the extortion and kidnapping-for-ransom cases.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel