Severed Soul, Cold Case, Scapegoat? Unraveling the Dense Fog of One of Taiwan's Strangest Dismemberment Cases

In 1987 (Year 76 of the Republic Era), Taiwan was in a period of restless upheaval and surging "hot money." Rapid economic growth was accompanied by the nationwide craze for the "Dajiale" lottery, where countless people dreamed of overnight riches, but which also bred unforeseen evils. On a winter afternoon, December 12th of that year, an ordinary drainage ditch, the "Sheliu Ditch," in Haikou Village, Zhunan Township, Miaoli County, unexpectedly unveiled the prelude to a horrifying tragedy.

An elderly resident surnamed Wang, nearly seventy years old, was routinely dumping kitchen waste by the ditch when he was terrified by an unidentified floating object – it was the torso of a female corpse, headless and limbless! The news spread, shocking the simple town. Preliminary police examination revealed the body had been submerged for over ten days, severely decomposed, and clearly the victim of brutal dismemberment.

Who was the deceased? Was it a crime of passion? A murder for money? Or an act of revenge? Speculation ran wild. Soon, police received a missing person report for Ke Hong-yu Lan, whose description seemed to match the discovered body. Ke Hong-yu Lan was an insurance agent for Cathay Life, and moreover, the business director of the Zhunan branch. She had extensive connections and a wide social circle. She vanished after leaving her office on November 24th, carrying clients' insurance premiums and, reportedly, NT$130,000 in Dajiale winnings.

Ke Hong-yu Lan's husband was notified and rushed to the scene. Suppressing his grief and horror, he broke down before an item recovered from the scene – a piece of underwear with 13 buttons, uniquely hand-sewn by Ke Hong-yu Lan herself. This item confirmed the identity of the mutilated remains.

However, the case's development took a perplexing turn. At the time, Taiwan was grappling with another major case, the "Lu Cheng Kidnapping," facing immense pressure to solve it. Perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps to quell public panic quickly, the police soon announced that the Ke Hong-yu Lan dismemberment case was "solved concurrently" with the Lu Cheng case. The perpetrators were identified as a criminal group led by Chiu Ho-shun. Allegedly, Chiu and others confessed to the crime, detailing the abduction, murder, and dismemberment. The "confessions" of 12 suspects seemed to bring a swift conclusion to this appalling case.

But was this truly the truth? As time passed, more and more doubts surfaced:

Contradictory Testimonies: Chiu Ho-shun and his accomplices claimed they abducted Ke Hong-yu Lan on the evening of November 24th. However, multiple eyewitnesses reported seeing Ke Hong-yu Lan riding her motorcycle freely at 4:05 PM, 4:15 PM, and even around 6:00 PM that same day. This significant time discrepancy rendered the so-called "confessions" weak.

Puzzling Cause of Death: The group confessed to stabbing Ke Hong-yu Lan, but renowned Taiwanese forensic pathologist Yang Rih-song later determined, based on the body's condition, that strangulation was the more likely cause of death. Why couldn't even the fundamental cause of death align?

Missing Evidence and the Shadow of "Scientific Investigation": Upstream from the discovery site, police found a black plastic bag containing, besides Ke Hong-yu Lan's leather shoes, a butcher knife, a small cutting tool, a veterinary syringe, and a pair of "men's underwear." Some of these items, particularly those related to the butchery trade, later "mysteriously disappeared." The "scientific investigation" methods were later revealed to be marred by torture and coerced confessions. The一致 (consistent) yet flawed testimonies of the 12 suspects seemed more like pre-rehearsed statements.

The Overlooked Suspect: In the early stages, the Miaoli police had actually focused on another prime suspect – Zheng Xin-fu. Zheng was a local pig butcher who knew Ke Hong-yu Lan and owed her NT$40,000 from Dajiale debts. More suspiciously:

The day after Ke Hong-yu Lan disappeared (November 25th), Zheng was hospitalized with serious injuries (initially claiming robbery, later admitting self-inflicted wounds due to debt).

Three days after being discharged, he hastily moved out of his rented house, breaking his one-year lease after only five months and forfeiting his deposit.

Before moving, Zheng, known for being messy, uncharacteristically cleaned and washed the rental place thoroughly. Neighbors witnessed him burning items in a vacant lot; ashes contained a stationery clip, ink pad, and insurance documents matching those owned by Ke Hong-yu Lan.

The butchering tools and veterinary syringe found in the plastic bag were highly relevant to his profession; the size and brand of the men's underwear also matched his.

Police detected blood traces in Zheng Xin-fu's rented house.

Neighbors had seen Ke Hong-yu Lan visiting Zheng's home for several hours when his wife was out.

The Miaoli police's suspicion of Zheng Xin-fu was not unfounded, and they did conduct preliminary investigations. However, once the Taipei City Criminal Investigation Bureau announced the case "solved" and pointed to Chiu Ho-shun, the investigation into Zheng ceased. The crucial blood and hair evidence, unable to be definitively identified with the limited forensic technology of the time, was shelved as the case was deemed "closed."

The Mysterious Predictive Phone Call: Most chillingly, three days before Ke Hong-yu Lan's body was found, her daughter received a mysterious phone call at work. The caller knew her name and stated, "There's a dismembered person at Qingcao Haibian (Green Grass Seaside), it might be your mother." The caller then claimed, "I'm your friend, don't ask any more questions," and hung up. "Qingcao Haibian" is not an actual place name in Zhunan. Who was the caller? How did they know about the dismemberment? This remains an unsolved riddle.

Numerous signs indicate that the doubts surrounding the Ke Hong-yu Lan case are far greater than initially imagined. All clues seemed, at one point, to lead towards Zheng Xin-fu – he had the motive, the tools, the suspicious behavior, and the geographical proximity. Yet, in an era focused on case-solving metrics and under immense public pressure, these leads appear to have been conveniently swept aside. Following the Taipei CIB's declaration pinning the crime on Chiu Ho-shun's group, the Miaoli police, adhering to an unwritten rule, ceased their pursuit of Zheng to avoid contradicting their superiors.

Ultimately, who killed Ke Hong-yu Lan? Was Chiu Ho-shun made a scapegoat in this particular case? The forgotten clues, contradictory testimonies, missing evidence, and the enigmatic phone call weave a vast web of mystery that hangs heavy over Taiwan's judicial history. Over three decades have passed. Has Ke Hong-yu Lan's spirit found peace? Is there still a chance for the potentially obscured truth to see the light of day? This case, fraught with suspicion, continues to challenge every heart that seeks justice.