Kaohsiung: A 74-year-old man was sentenced to death on Friday for killing three women in separate incidents between 2024 and 2025, following convictions for murder, desecration, and abandonment of corpses, according to a court ruling.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Kaohsiung District Court, composed of a panel of three professional and six citizen judges, also convicted Chang Chieh-tsung of theft, including illegally withdrawing NT$5,000 using a victim's debit card. Chang was also sentenced to the deprivation of his civil rights for life. The ruling can be appealed.

The court stated that Chang strangled his sister-in-law, surnamed Chang Huang, to death at his residence around noon on Nov. 29, 2024. Chang Huang had repeatedly attempted to get her brother-in-law to move out of the property, which was owned by her son. Late that night, Chang dismembered the 75-year-old victim's body and made several trips by bicycle to dispose of the remains in a river.

The court further revealed that Chang later used a cloth to strangle another 75-year-old woman, also surnamed Chang, to death at the residence on Jan. 17, 2025, about two weeks after they met. He then used the same method on Feb. 2 that year to kill a 71-year-old woman, Chao Lin, whom he had met over the phone. As with his first victim, Chang dismembered both bodies and dumped the remains in a river over several trips.

Chang showed no visible reaction upon hearing the verdict, keeping his head bowed in silence the entire time during the hearing. As the judges finished reading the verdict in court and ordered the defendant to be remanded into custody, three male relatives of two of the victims rushed forward to shove Chang to the ground, and repeatedly punched and kicked him in the head. "A death sentence is exactly what he deserves," was heard shouted from the area where the victims' families were gathered.

The ensuing chaos prompted several bailiffs to rush into the courtroom to break up the melee, after which Chang was remanded to the detention center.