A Taiwanese court recently upheld the life sentence of a 39 year-old man who murdered his sister for an insurance payout in the infamous “pickled head murder” case, reports the China Post.
Chen Chia-fu was arrested in 2012 after he killed and dismembered his younger sister for $216,441 of insurance collection money. The case garnered worldwide attention when it was discovered that Chen rubbed his sister’s head in “several layers” of salt.
This pickled head is the only anatomical part of hers that has been discovered to this day.
In fact, police were only alerted of the murder when they received a note from “a good person” claiming that the body of a disappeared woman had been placed in a public toilet near a temple in Shueishang Township. The note also requested a proper burial for her remains.
Officials arrested Chen when video surveillance showed him carrying oddly shaped bags around Chiayi county, where he had traveled by train from Taipei. It was later revealed that he had purchased at least four separate insurance policies on his sister prior to this incident.
Chen was originally spared the death penalty because he grew up in an “abnormal” family prone to violence and mental disorders, and had no criminal record.
While Chen maintains his innocence, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision ordering him to life in prison.
"The court rejected the appeal due to insufficient reason for the defendant's claim of a lack of evidence to convict him of murder," the Supreme Court said in a statement.
While prosecutors lobbied for the death penalty, the Supreme Court denied the request arguing that the loss of two children would be too hard on Chen’s mother.
