Man faces eight years for trying to kill Indonesian lover

A Taiwanese businessman, 60, is facing eight years in prison after losing his appeal in the Taiwan High Court in Taichung on Tuesday against a conviction last year for attempted murder of his live-in Indonesian girlfriend.

In August 2015, the Indonesian woman, with whom Shen Lien-wang had fathered a son, wanted to break up with the man, the owner of a well-known sausage stall in a night market in Taichung, Taiwan Apple Daily reported.

While she was moving her personal belongings out from their apartment, Shen became infuriated and took away her mobile phone and car keys.

A month later in September, Shen invited her to return to the apartment so he could give back her car keys. A heated dispute then broke out between the pair. Shen knocked her unconscious with an iron rod and put her inside a refrigerator.

The victim woke up and kicked open the refrigerator door, but soon Shen locked her in again after beating her with the metal rod.

With noises suggesting the man might have left the unit, the woman tried to free herself again. However, Shen returned, knocked her out again and shut her in the fridge for the third time.

During the struggle, neighbors heard the woman screaming for help. Police and firefighters arrived at the scene and rescued the woman after being trapped in the fridge for 28 minutes, which almost claimed her life.

The High Court found that Shen had behaved cruelly and lacked remorse, and hence his appeal against the attempted-murder conviction was rejected. He faces a sentence of eight years in jail, or a NT$150,000 (US$5,100) fine in lieu of imprisonment.

Shen is also the prime suspect in the murder of another ex-girlfriend, this one a Chinese national whose body was found in 2005. That case is pending trial at the Taichung District Court.