The Cannibalism Case: Insurance Employee Missing After Dinner, Discovered Remains Lack Internal Organs

Twenty-two years ago, a series of extremely vicious and heinous crimes occurred in Taiwan, which remain among the most discussed cases in Taiwan's criminal history to this day. A seemingly harmless, perverted man murdered multiple people and consumed their flesh, employing exceedingly cruel methods. However, regarding the exact number of victims, precisely how many bodies were cannibalized, and the deeply unsettling speculations surrounding this "series of cases," there has never been a unified consensus, not even among the Taiwanese police themselves. Perhaps these mysteries will never be solved.

01

On the evening of Sunday, December 7, 2003, Shi Jinchi, a 27-year-old employee at Cathay Life Insurance in Taichung City, was eating hot pot with her younger brother, Shi Kunzhi, at a small restaurant in Xitun District. Around 8:14 PM, her mobile phone rang. Shi Jinchi quickly stepped aside to answer it.

Half a minute later, she returned to the table and told Shi Kunzhi, "I have to stop eating. Director Hong called and asked me to go over and report on my recent performance." "Should I drive you to the company now?" Shi Kunzhi asked, noticing his sister's anxious expression as he stood up.

"No need. I have to go to Master Chen's repair shop near Tunghai University first. Just drive me back to your apartment to get my scooter; I can go by myself," Shi Jinchi replied, starting to gather her things. Shi Kunzhi followed her out of the restaurant.

At 8:21 PM, the siblings drove towards Shi Kunzhi's apartment. Less than three minutes after setting off, just as they reached the intersection of Youyuan South Road and Xinxing Road, Shi Jinchi's phone rang again. Shi Kunzhi didn't overhear the specific conversation, only remembering Shi Jinchi nonchalantly saying after hanging up, "That was Master Chen's apprentice. He asked me to come over when I have time to discuss an insurance policy." She then started looking through documents in her bag and said no more.

Shi Jinchi was born in 1976 into an ordinary working-class family in Longjing District, Taichung City, Taiwan. After graduating from Tunghai University in Taichung at 23, she joined Cathay Life Insurance as a salesperson specializing in women's insurance policies. During this time, she began dating a boyfriend, Mr. Xu.

The young couple was deeply in love and worked very hard, often promoting business together after work. Shi Jinchi, naturally outgoing, had always been very popular. During her studies, she not only got along well with teachers and classmates but was also quite familiar with Chen Jin-huo, the owner of the scooter shop near Tunghai University. Chen had indeed helped Shi Jinchi by introducing several clients to her for insurance purchases, something her brother Shi Kunzhi was aware of.

Moreover, Shi Kunzhi had met this Master Chen several times and recalled the 39-year-old middle-aged man as a seemingly harmless "honest person." Therefore, even though it was approaching 9 PM, Shi Kunzhi didn't insist on accompanying his sister. He dropped her off at his rented apartment building and then left for a gathering at a friend's house.

But Shi Kunzhi could never have imagined that this would be the last time he saw his sister alive.

02

On Monday, December 8, 2003, Cathay Life Insurance opened as usual, but none of Shi Jinchi's colleagues saw her throughout the morning, and her mobile phone was unreachable. Her boyfriend, also a salesperson at the company, grew worried and called Shi Jinchi's mother to ask if she had returned home or was sick. However, Mrs. Shi said that Shi Jinchi had mentioned going out for hot pot with her brother Shi Kunzhi on Sunday evening and hadn't come back since. She had assumed Shi Jinchi stayed overnight at Shi Kunzhi's apartment, so she hadn't been overly concerned.

After hanging up, Shi Jinchi's boyfriend immediately called Shi Kunzhi's mobile, only to hear that he hadn't seen Shi Jinchi either. Shi Kunzhi stated clearly that he remembered returning home after drinking around 11 PM on December 7th and going into the room where his sister usually slept to get some cold medicine; there was no one there at the time. When he woke up around 6 AM, he found the door to that room ajar, but still saw no sign of her. Shi Kunzhi was certain his sister had never returned, but he had assumed she went back to their parents' house and hadn't thought much of it.

Shi Jinchi didn't have a fixed place to stay. Due to her work, she usually lived in her brother Shi Kunzhi's rented apartment, which was closer to the insurance company. She would typically return to her parents' home only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. However, if she needed to get up early the next day to discuss insurance business, she would sometimes stay at her brother's apartment on weekends, and occasionally even spent the night at her boyfriend Mr. Xu's place. Over time, the Shi family grew accustomed to this, so no one called to check on her when she didn't show up that night.

But now, Shi Jinchi hadn't gone home, hadn't been to her brother's apartment, nor spent the night with her boyfriend. Furthermore, she was usually diligent and never missed work, yet she had been completely out of contact all morning. This made both Mr. Xu and Shi Kunzhi realize she might be in trouble. They arranged to meet at the Shi family home to discuss what to do.

Unfortunately, less than 24 hours had passed since Shi Jinchi's disappearance, so the family did not yet report it to the police.

Shi Kunzhi suddenly remembered the two phone calls his sister received the previous night and mentioned them. After a brief discussion, the Shi family decided to first contact her supervisor, Hong Wentong, and then visit Chen Jin-huo's scooter shop on Tunghai Road in Taichung City to inquire about the situation.

Insurance supervisor Hong Wentong confirmed that he had indeed called Shi Jinchi at 8:14 PM on the 7th to ask her to report her performance, but their call lasted only tens of seconds, and he had not asked her to come to the company that night. He stated he stayed at the company until 11:20 PM on December 7th and left, during which time he did not see Shi Jinchi nor contact her again.

Having no other leads, Shi Kunzhi and Shi Jinchi's boyfriend left the insurance company and headed towards Chen Jin-huo's scooter shop on Tunghai Road. Just as they were about to arrive, at a fork in the road less than 200 meters from the shop, Shi Kunzhi suddenly spotted his sister's scooter parked next to a convenience store. According to the store owner, the scooter had been there since early morning. It had been blocking his business, so he had moved it slightly.

This discovery sent a chill down their spines. Shi Jinchi hadn't returned all night, her phone was unreachable, and her scooter was parked by the roadside. Something serious must have happened. They quickly ran towards Chen Jin-huo's scooter shop.

The shop had three floors: the ground floor for repairs, and the second and third floors for living and storage. At that moment, both Chen Jin-huo and his 20-year-old apprentice, Guang De-qiang, were present. Shi Kunzhi got straight to the point, asking about his sister's whereabouts. Chen Jin-huo, however, calmly stated that while he had initially arranged to meet Shi Jinchi to discuss insurance, he had to attend to something urgent and had notified her on the evening of the 7th to reschedule. He claimed he had left early and hadn't seen Shi Jinchi since.

Shi Kunzhi distinctly remembered hearing his sister say at 8:21 PM that the call was from Chen Jin-huo's apprentice, Guang De-qiang, asking her to come over to discuss business. Why was Chen Jin-huo now saying he had already notified Shi Jinchi to cancel the meeting that evening? And why was her scooter parked nearby?

Faced with Shi Kunzhi's questions, both Chen and his apprentice initially looked uneasy and remained silent for a moment. But soon, Chen Jin-huo calmly explained that the insurance policy was for a Ms. Li, whom both he and his apprentice knew. The meeting was indeed planned for 9 PM on the 7th, but that afternoon, Ms. Li had come to the shop saying something urgent had come up and asked Chen to inform Shi Jinchi to cancel. His apprentice, Guang De-qiang, wasn't in the shop at the time and was unaware of the cancellation, assuming the original meeting time still stood, hence the call at 8:21 PM, causing the misunderstanding.

The apprentice, Guang De-qiang, standing nearby, chimed in agreement, adding that after his master Chen Jin-huo learned about the situation, he specifically instructed him to wait at the shop for Shi Jinchi to explain in person. He claimed that when Shi Jinchi arrived around 9 PM, they didn't enter the shop but merely spoke for a few minutes at the entrance before parting ways. As for why Shi Jinchi's scooter was parked nearby, Guang De-qiang didn't know; perhaps she had mistaken the address or parked in the wrong spot when she arrived, because he saw her approaching on foot.

Although Shi Kunzhi didn't believe their explanation, he couldn't point out any obvious flaws. After a brief look around the area yielded no discoveries, he could only leave dejectedly with Shi Jinchi's boyfriend.

By December 11th, Shi Jinchi had been missing for four days and still hadn't appeared. Her frantic family searched everywhere. Shi's parents even thought she might have gotten drunk at a social event, had a car accident, and been injured, so they checked various hospitals and clinics in Taichung, but found nothing. Finally, on the evening of December 12th, after five days without seeing Shi Jinchi, the family chose to report her missing to the police.

03

Upon receiving the report, the police quickly reviewed the case details. They confirmed that between 8 PM on December 7th and 9 AM the next day, Shi Jinchi's phone records only showed calls with Hong Wentong and Guang De-qiang. Finding the situation highly suspicious, Chen Shi-xiong, captain of the precinct's criminal investigation division, immediately dispatched officers to investigate both the scooter shop and Hong Wentong's residence.

The team investigating Hong Wentong found nothing. Company security and guards corroborated his statement. Surveillance footage from a camera near Hong's residence at 11:44 PM showed him returning home alone, and he didn't leave until after 7 AM the next morning. His suspicion was promptly cleared.

Meanwhile, the team investigating Chen Jin-huo quickly made discoveries. When they arrived at the scooter shop, the rolling shutter was down, and no one answered their knocks. Neighbors reported that Chen Jin-huo hadn't opened the shop for two days and had done a major cleanup before leaving, suggesting he might have fled guiltily. The investigators had no choice but to call the fire department to pry open the shutter and conduct a forced search.

Inside, the ground floor workshop was messy but showed no immediate signs of anything unusual. Upstairs on the second and third floors, there were no signs of bloodstains or struggle either, except for a few pieces of what looked like deep-fried meat found near the gas stove in the second-floor kitchen. Had Chen Jin-huo left town suddenly due to an emergency? Was it true, as he and his apprentice claimed, that they hadn't seen Shi Jinchi and were unrelated to her disappearance?

Just as the investigators were preparing to leave, Detective Wu Weiyi, who was examining the third floor, noticed something odd. He approached a water tank placed directly opposite the toilet. Knocking on the stainless steel exterior, the sound suggested it contained solid objects in addition to water. Relying on years of experience, Wu suspected something sinister was hidden inside and immediately shouted to his colleagues, "Quick, come here! There's something in here!"

Several investigators rushed over and together lifted the sealed lid off the water tank. Instantly, the putrid stench of a corpse filled the air. Holding their breath, they carefully lifted two plastic bags containing objects from the tank. Upon opening them, a horrific sight met their eyes:

The two bags contained the foul-smelling remains of a human body, severed at the waist (one bag held the limbs and head, the other the torso). Only the palms, soles, shoulder blades, and parts of the face still had some skin and flesh attached. The skin and muscle tissue from the chest, abdomen, thighs, arms, and back were entirely gone, and the internal organs were also missing.

Despite being mentally prepared, Captain Chen Shi-xiong and the other investigators on site felt their scalps tingle with horror at the gruesome scene. They immediately reported the situation to their superiors. Subsequently, Taichung City police cordoned off the streets near the crime scene.

A large contingent of police arrived at the scooter shop and conducted a more thorough search. They soon found a destroyed mobile phone in a ground-floor trash can and took it back to the station (later confirmed not to be victim Shi Jinchi's). However, they never located the missing internal organs and muscle tissue, nor the victim's clothing or personal belongings.

The exposure of the murder immediately caused a huge sensation in Taiwan. It was obvious that, regardless of whether the victim was the missing Shi Jinchi (DNA testing was pending, and the face was unrecognizable), Chen Jin-huo and his apprentice Guang De-qiang were the prime suspects related to these remains. But where were they now?

04

Police investigation revealed that Chen Jin-huo had a very simple social life with virtually no friends. Due to strained relations with his family, he hadn't returned to his hometown of Xinzhuang Village for a long time. The only person he was relatively close to, his younger brother, had suddenly disappeared a year earlier. Therefore, the only likely place he could have gone was his ex-wife Huang Mouling's home.

Chen Jin-huo and Huang Mouling had three children together, and he often visited her place after their divorce to see the kids. Police immediately organized two teams: one went to Dajia Township, where the ex-wife lived, to arrest Chen Jin-huo, while the other tracked his apprentice, Guang De-qiang.

Sure enough, when investigators arrived at Huang Mouling's residence, they found Chen Jin-huo sitting inside, idly smoking. He offered no resistance when arrested and calmly got into the police car. Investigators then found a necklace inlaid with ten diamonds on his person – a token of love given to Shi Jinchi by her boyfriend. They also found a SIM card registered to Shi Jinchi in his pocket.

Around the same time, Guang De-qiang was located by police at the home of his girlfriend, Ms. Li.

Although the suspects were apprehended, the interrogation did not proceed smoothly. Guang De-qiang was very timid, almost "slow," stuttering and giving incoherent answers to police questions, essentially claiming he knew nothing about the matter and was unrelated to Shi Jinchi's disappearance. Chen Jin-huo, on the other hand, was cunning and experienced, refusing to answer any questions, simply saying "I don't know" to everything.

Despite finding the "suspected" remains of the missing person and recovering her belongings, some body parts were still missing. The main suspect, Chen Jin-huo, refused to talk, and it wasn't yet clear if Guang De-qiang was connected to the remains. The investigating officers were facing a difficult situation.

Fortunately, on the evening of December 16th, they received a call from a citizen named Zhao Yin-chang, who identified himself as a friend of Guang De-qiang and owned a computer shop. He reported that on December 8th at 1:04 PM, the day after the incident, Guang De-qiang had come to his shop with his girlfriend to sell a laptop computer, eventually selling it to him for NT$10,000.

Zhao Yin-chang knew Guang De-qiang's situation well and was aware he couldn't possibly own a laptop. Furthermore, Guang initially only asked for help unlocking the login password. If it were his legally owned laptop, why wouldn't he know the password? Therefore, after seeing the news about the case, Zhao suspected the laptop might belong to the victim.

Acting on this tip, investigators went to the computer shop overnight to collect the evidence. The Shi family identified the laptop as belonging to Shi Jinchi. More importantly, just 12 hours later, the forensic DNA test results came back, confirming that the remains found in the water tank were indeed those of the missing 27-year-old insurance agent, Shi Jinchi.

The victim was confirmed dead, the last call was made to Guang De-qiang, and her belongings were found in his possession. At this point, the task force was certain that Guang De-qiang was inextricably linked to the case.

Faced with overwhelming evidence, Guang De-qiang, knowing he could no longer deny involvement, confessed first. However, he claimed he did not participate in the murder itself, but had done wrong only after being threatened by his master, Chen Jin-huo.

According to Guang De-qiang's testimony, it was indeed he who wanted to buy insurance for his girlfriend, Ms. Li, and everything he and Chen had told Shi Kunzhi at the shop previously were lies. Around 9 PM on December 7th, Shi Jinchi arrived on time for the appointment. Guang was on the ground floor repairing a vehicle, wearing a newly bought pair of black gloves. They began discussing the policy right there in the shop.

Less than five minutes into their conversation, Chen Jin-huo, sitting nearby, secretly pressed a remote control to close the shop's rolling shutter. Shi Jinchi noticed and stood up, questioning why the door was being closed. Chen Jin-huo laughed and replied, "It's windy, closing the door keeps it warm." He then stood up, turned the shop's stereo volume to maximum, and suddenly approached Shi Jinchi, making the shameless demand for sex.

Shi Jinchi refused and tried to escape, but Chen Jin-huo grabbed a nearby wooden stick and struck her hard in the waist. As Shi Jinchi crouched on the ground in pain, he quickly found a red Boy Scout rope and strangled her until she passed out. He then threatened Guang De-qiang to help carry the unconscious Shi Jinchi to the third-floor bathroom, even urging Guang to assault her. Guang, already subservient to Chen and overcome by lust, "muddle-headedly" raped her.

Around 9:30 PM, after satisfying their urges, Chen Jin-huo first instructed Guang to help hold Shi Jinchi down while he jumped onto her abdomen and stomped on it repeatedly, claiming this would expel any remaining semen and prevent Guang's DNA from being found if the body was discovered. He then gave Guang a ring Shi Jinchi was wearing and told him to immediately take it to a jewelry store on Youyuan South Road to sell it. He also instructed Guang to move Shi Jinchi's scooter away to avoid attracting attention.

Guang, eager to leave the shop, readily agreed. He claimed he didn't know if Chen Jin-huo sexually assaulted Shi Jinchi after he left.

After 10 PM, having sold the ring and returned to the shop, Guang was called upstairs again. Chen Jin-huo had already murdered Shi Jinchi and placed pieces of her dismembered muscle tissue into several plastic bags, saying they would dispose of them in batches after daybreak.

Initially terrified, Guang agreed to help again, fearing Chen might kill him too to silence him. However, he insisted he did not participate in the dismemberment and did not use a knife; Chen had already finished dismembering the body when he returned. He claimed he was only responsible for cleaning up the blood. He didn't expect Shi Jinchi's family to show up the next afternoon before they had completely disposed of the body parts.

Knowing that the truth would eventually come out, Guang took Shi Jinchi's mobile phone and laptop after Shi Kunzhi and Mr. Chen left, planning to sell them for money and flee, never to return. Therefore, he didn't know how the body parts were ultimately handled (Shi Jinchi's phone was sold by Guang on December 13th, along with a phone registered under Chen Jin-huo's name; he also bought a new phone for himself for NT$300). However, Guang told the police that Shi Jinchi's clothes and other items were hidden by Chen Jin-huo in the shop's septic tank.

05

Upon hearing this confession, police immediately returned to the shop and opened the septic tank. Sure enough, they recovered numerous items, including women's underwear, outerwear, the utility knife and betel nut knife used in the crime, and Shi Jinchi's identification documents. Family members confirmed that several clothing items belonged to Shi Jinchi.

Shockingly, however, the police also retrieved several pieces of clothing from the septic tank that did not belong to Shi Jinchi. Even more horrifyingly, they found dozens of bone fragments of various sizes, later confirmed by forensic analysis to be human bones!

A complete set of Shi Jinchi's skeletal remains was found on the third floor, yet here were more human bones. Had Chen Jin-huo killed more than one person? Unfortunately, these bones had been submerged for too long and showed signs of having been boiled, completely destroying the DNA chains. To this day, police do not know who these bones belonged to or how many individuals they represent.

Hearing that Guang De-qiang had confessed, Chen Jin-huo, who had adamantly denied guilt, finally admitted to the crime. However, he "counter-accused," claiming that it was Guang De-qiang who developed malicious intent while discussing insurance with Shi Jinchi on the second floor and strangled her, subsequently threatening Chen to come upstairs and help dispose of the body.

Chen claimed he had always doted on his apprentice and feared Guang would kill him to silence him, forcing him to agree. He stated that initially, he was only responsible for "bleeding" the body and cleaning the scene. Later, Guang threatened him with a knife, forcing him to reluctantly help with the dismemberment. Specifically, Guang used a utility knife to cut Shi Jinchi's genitals and throat and remove flesh, while Chen used a betel nut knife to dismember her limbs.

Around 11:20 PM, after dealing with the body, Chen suggested selling Shi Jinchi's valuables. He then went out with Guang to a convenience store across the street to buy some drinks, waited for about 20 minutes, and then returned to the shop with Guang to divide the spoils (only the ring was sold that night, for NT$3,000).

As for the next day, Chen claimed Guang also helped dispose of the body parts after Shi Kunzhi and the boyfriend left. Simultaneously, Chen Jin-huo revealed a horrifying piece of information: after Guang De-qiang cut off Shi Jinchi's flesh, he demanded Chen cook and eat it. Chen claimed he only "tasted one bite," found it too disgusting, and didn't finish. The "fried meat" pieces found by police near the second-floor kitchen stove were, according to him, Shi Jinchi's flesh.

This gruesome confession shocked Taiwan once again. But the testimonies of the master and apprentice were inconsistent. Whose version was true?

Regrettably, the full picture of this case has never been completely clear to the courts, prosecutors, police, or the public. Chen Jin-huo and Guang De-qiang never fully revealed the truth before their deaths. Authorities had no choice but to primarily rely on Guang De-qiang's testimony as the basis for the case narrative, supplemented by witness accounts and Chen Jin-huo's testimony, to reconstruct the general sequence of events and determine sentencing. The conclusion was that Chen Jin-huo was the principal offender, and Guang De-qiang was an accomplice, also认定 involved in the dismemberment.

The main points supporting this conclusion are briefly summarized as follows:

1. Forensics found two fingerprints on the body bags and several blurred fingerprints on the red Boy Scout rope found in the shop (used to strangle Shi Jinchi). All matched Chen Jin-huo, consistent with Guang's description of the attack, murder, and dismemberment steps. As for Guang, perhaps he wasn't involved, or perhaps he wore gloves throughout the crime, explaining the absence of his prints on the rope and bags.

2. Chen Jin-huo had multiple scratch marks on his body, consistent with traces of human skin tissue found under victim Shi Jinchi's fingernails. Guang De-qiang had no such marks, aligning with Guang's description of the attack.

3. While Guang De-qiang had a history of theft, he was indeed known to be relatively timid. He had incurred significant debt due to his interest in modified vehicles. After working at Chen Jin-huo's brother's shop, Chen Jin-huo took a liking to him and "insisted" on taking him as his apprentice. Chen often treated Guang like a "son," frequently giving him money, leading Guang to be quite submissive. This suggests Chen might have been using and buying Guang's loyalty, making it unlikely Guang would dare to "threaten" Chen into helping dispose of the body, as Chen claimed.

4. According to neighbors, Chen Jin-huo was widely known as a "creep" to be avoided, having harassed female neighbors multiple times, particularly married women or young women with boyfriends.

5. Guang De-qiang had an attractive girlfriend with a good figure, whereas Chen Jin-huo had been divorced for years and single, likely lacking regular sexual activity. Therefore, Chen had a stronger potential motive than Guang to kill Shi Jinchi for sexual assault.

6. Chen Jin-huo's ex-wife testified that he had peculiar sexual fetishes and tendencies towards sexual sadism. According to Professor Yang Ri-song, Taiwan's chief forensic pathologist, Shi Jinchi was "flayed alive." This conclusion was based on the presence of "goosebumps" on the remaining skin tissue, a physiological reaction occurring only under extreme fear and pain, consistent with Chen's perverted tendencies.

7. The autopsy revealed evidence of stomping and blunt force trauma (from a stick) on Shi Jinchi's lumbar bones, consistent with Guang's account of Chen hitting her waist with a stick on the ground floor and stomping on her waist on the third floor to "expel semen (or blood)."

8. Based on the dismemberment and cutting techniques, Professor Yang believed the perpetrator was not a first-timer but a practiced "veteran." Guang De-qiang was only 20 at the time of the crime; it's improbable he started killing in his teens and possessed such proficient skills by 20, let alone planned and directed such a horrific crime.

9. Neighbors reported seeing Chen Jin-huo carrying trash bags out for disposal several times in the days following the incident. Possibly fearing the smell of decay escaping through the drains, he also sealed a manhole cover behind the shop with cement and wooden planks. These actions were done by him alone, without Guang's involvement, supporting Guang's claim of having "fled" and indicating Chen was the mastermind behind the entire criminal act.

10. Guang De-qiang was deemed to have participated in the dismemberment because, according to the testimony of Mr. Lin, the owner of the pawn shop where the ring was sold, Guang came to sell the ring just before closing time at 11:30 PM on December 7th. The owner of the convenience store across from the scooter shop also confirmed that Chen Jin-huo bought drinks and then waited at the street corner for Guang; the two returned to the shop together around 11:40 PM.

Based on calculations, Shi Jinchi was attacked and assaulted before 10 PM. Guang left around 11:20 PM. It's unlikely the master and apprentice spent the intervening 1 hour and 20 minutes just staring blankly at the unconscious Shi Jinchi. They likely dismembered the body during this period. Furthermore, both their confessions indicated the dismemberment took less than 1.5 hours. Even if Chen was highly skilled, it would be difficult for him to complete the dismemberment and de-fleshing alone in under 1.5 hours.

It was also ultimately determined that Chen Jin-huo had sexually assaulted the corpse and masturbated, but did not ejaculate inside Shi Jinchi's body.

The case of Shi Jinchi's death seemingly concluded at this point. Although both perpetrators appealed their sentences multiple times, they were ultimately sentenced to death. However, discussions about the lingering doubts surrounding this gruesome case have never ceased. The items and remains recovered from the septic tank proved there was more than one victim. In fact, Taichung police had suspected Chen Jin-huo of being a murderer for over a decade.

06

Xu Ruifen, a fifth-year student in the International Trade Department at Tunghai University, often helped her family sell insurance part-time to support her studies. On the evening of March 1, 1991, Chen Jin-huo used the pretext of buying insurance for his brother's girlfriend to ask Xu Ruifen to come to his scooter shop (not the current one, but one on Dongyuan Lane, later transferred to his brother, though also near Tunghai University) to discuss the matter around 9 PM. After setting out, Xu Ruifen never returned.

Xu Ruifen was a sensible and well-behaved girl who didn't drink, frequent bars, or stay out all night. Her disappearance immediately alarmed her family. The very next morning, based on information from classmates, Xu's mother went to Chen Jin-huo's scooter shop looking for her daughter. Less than 300 meters from the shop, she found Xu Ruifen's scooter. However, when questioned inside the shop, Chen Jin-huo claimed he had decided last minute to visit his newborn son in the hospital, so he had notified Xu Ruifen in the evening to cancel the meeting and had never seen her at all.

Although Xu's mother didn't fully believe Chen's explanation, seeing no point in arguing further, she decisively went to the Wuri Precinct to report the case.

Initially, the Wuri Precinct officers took the disappearance seriously and reported it to the criminal investigation division. However, the investigating officer Chen Xiao-gong and precinct chief Zhan Yi-yuan at the time were reportedly preoccupied with their own personnel transfers and didn't treat the case with urgency. They conducted a brief, hour-long questioning of Chen Jin-huo and then dismissed the Xu family with excuses like "no evidence," "Chen Jin-huo has health problems, can't push him too hard," and "if we push Chen Jin-huo further, he'll commit suicide."

Thus, Xu Ruifen vanished without a trace – no body ever found. The Xu family exhausted their finances searching for her, and Xu's mother was twice rushed to the hospital near death due to grief. The case was shelved for years, to the point where the Xu family began to lose all hope.

It wasn't until four years later, in July 1995, when Tang Guoqiang, former head of Taichung City's Third Precinct, was reassigned as the team leader of the investigation division of the city's Criminal Investigation Bureau's Special Second Squad, that the case resurfaced. Xu's mother had heard that Tang was a responsible officer known for his integrity and hatred of evil – a "stern and incorruptible judge" – and hopefully presented her daughter's disappearance case to him, finally garnering serious police attention.

However, when interviewed, Chen Jin-huo maintained his alibi that he was at Veterans General Hospital visiting his wife and child around 9 PM that night and had never seen Xu Ruifen. But Tang Guoqiang, upon questioning Chen's wife, Huang Mouling, was told that she absolutely did not see Chen Jin-huo at the hospital that night.

Furthermore, Tang conducted polygraph tests on Chen Jin-huo three times – in 1995, 1996, and 1998 – all of which he failed. More importantly, Tang found neighbors from that time and multiple eyewitnesses who confirmed seeing a young man, around 20 years old, loitering outside Chen Jin-huo's scooter shop during the relevant time frame, suspected to be an accomplice. Therefore, Tang firmly believed Xu Ruifen was murdered by Chen Jin-huo, even suspecting the "accomplice" might have been Chen's younger brother.

However, polygraph results are inadmissible as primary evidence anywhere and can only be used as supplementary tools. Hospital doctors and nurses couldn't possibly remember specifics from four years prior (there were no surveillance cameras then, also indicating that Chen Xiao-gong and Zhan Yi-yuan likely never even verified the hospital alibi initially). The only valuable piece of evidence was the testimony of Chen's ex-wife (they were divorced by the time Tang took over the investigation), Huang Mouling, debunking his hospital alibi.

But Huang Mouling was, after all, his divorced ex-wife; perhaps she was seeking "revenge" on Chen? Besides, just because Huang didn't see Chen doesn't definitively prove he didn't leave the scooter shop or that he definitely met Xu Ruifen. Consequently, Tang Guoqiang couldn't bring Chen Jin-huo to justice, unable even to formally open a case or obtain a search warrant.

Still, the similarities between these two disappearance cases are striking, almost like "copycat crimes": both victims were Tunghai University students, both victims' scooters were found near Chen Jin-huo's shop, both were lured under the pretext of buying insurance for relatives, both were asked to meet around 9 PM, both times Chen told the victims' families he had rescheduled last minute, and both cases possibly involved an accomplice similar to "Guang De-qiang."

Fortunately, Tang Guoqiang never gave up on the case, investigating at his own expense, which reportedly forced Chen Jin-huo to move house four times. Perhaps this responsible officer unknowingly saved several young women, otherwise, there might have been even more victims.

Of course, even after the Shi Jinchi case verdict was finalized and Chen Jin-huo was sentenced to death, he never admitted responsibility for Xu Ruifen's case, nor did he confess to committing any other crimes.

But if Xu Ruifen was indeed killed by him, the crime scene should have been the old scooter shop. Then, whose were the unidentified skeletal remains found in the septic tank of the new scooter shop? So, how many people did Chen Jin-huo actually kill, and did he really "consume" parts of them?

Regrettably, the specific details of the Shi Jinchi case, whether Xu Ruifen died at the old scooter shop, the identity of the unidentifiable remains in the septic tank, and the specifics of Chen Jin-huo's cannibalism, will likely never be answered. Shortly after the final verdict, on December 21, 2012, both Chen Jin-huo and Guang De-qiang were executed simultaneously. What can be asserted with certainty, including by Professor Yang Ri-song, is that Chen Jin-huo definitely ate human flesh.

The body bags Chen Jin-huo disposed of alone after the crime were thrown into the neighborhood drainage pipes, and police located them easily. However, even after retrieving all the bags – the two from the water tank and several from the drainage pipes – they could never assemble a complete body. The missing human tissues couldn't have simply vanished into thin air.

Just before Chen Jin-huo's execution, Chen Ruo-zhang, a renowned Taiwanese psychological counselor, professor in the Department of Counseling at Dong Hwa University, and author of the book "Psychology of Sex Offenders," was invited to interview Chen Jin-huo. After the interview, she publicly stated that Chen Jin-huo had "consumed" the bodies of at least five victims.

During the interview, when Chen Ruo-zhang asked Chen Jin-huo whether he "preferred cooked or raw meat," he answered without hesitation: "Cooked and raw are both sweeter than human flesh..." As for what else Chen Ruo-zhang asked or how she determined the number five, she did not elaborate extensively. Regardless, Chen Ruo-zhang was firmly convinced that Chen Jin-huo had cannibalized parts of at least five victims.

A person of Chen Ruo-zhang's status and position (she holds numerous titles) would have little need to use such claims as a gimmick to boost her fame, making it unlikely she spoke without basis. Unfortunately, the content of these interviews cannot be used as court evidence. Therefore, the ultimate truth remains open to individual analysis and judgment.

07

Finally, there is one more deeply unsettling question: Where is Chen Jin-huo's own brother?

It should be noted that this man has been missing for nearly 20 years. As recently as 2018, investigators were still trying to track his whereabouts, but found no trace of him, dead or alive, nor any record of financial activity. He disappeared shortly after Guang De-qiang was "insisted upon" by Chen Jin-huo to become his apprentice.

So, was he the "suspected accomplice" in the Xu Ruifen case years earlier? Remember, in the Shi Jinchi case, Chen Jin-huo's pretext was buying insurance for Guang De-qiang's girlfriend, and Guang ultimately became the accomplice. In the Xu Ruifen case, Chen's pretext was buying insurance for his brother's girlfriend. Did the brother go into hiding after sensing he was suspected by Officer Tang Guoqiang?

Or was he murdered and possibly eaten by his own brother, Chen Jin-huo, to silence him?

There is also a small epilogue. On July 4, 2004, an engineer surnamed Lin, accompanied by a friend, went to the Taichung City Criminal Investigation Bureau to file a report. He stated that a week earlier, his girlfriend, Huang Li-yan, had called him to her residence to help dispose of two large black plastic bags. Initially, he noticed nothing unusual, and his girlfriend claimed they contained inflatable dolls. Lin didn't even open them himself to check.

However, as they carried the bags to Dadu Mountain in Dadu Township, Taichung City, bright red liquid seeped out. Lin anxiously asked his girlfriend what the liquid was. She calmly explained again that they were just newly released inflatable dolls, and the manufacturer had added some "blood" to make them look more realistic. Because Lin had had a long day and loved his girlfriend very much, never daring to disobey or question her, he didn't dare open the bags to confirm, despite his suspicions.

In the following days, Lin kept having strange nightmares in which a blurry figure told him the bags actually contained body parts, and if he didn't expose it, he would become an accomplice in disposing of a body. Increasingly disturbed, Lin finally went to report the incident.

Acting on this bizarre report, the Criminal Investigation Bureau immediately dispatched officers to Dadu Mountain. Following Lin's directions, they found two large black trash bags in a ditch opposite the Dadu Mountain Public Cemetery and in a roadside drain. Opening them revealed the dismembered remains of a middle-aged man, cut into seven large pieces.

After several days of investigation, the police quickly solved this dismemberment case. The murderer was undoubtedly Lin's girlfriend, Huang Li-yan. The motive was an extramarital affair with the married victim, resulting in her pregnancy. However, the victim refused to fulfill his promise to divorce his wife and marry Huang, demanding she abort the fetus and even suggesting they break up. Enraged, Huang Li-yan decided to kill him. Despite her small stature, she managed to commit the murder and dismemberment alone. Lacking means to transport the body, she had no choice but to enlist Lin, the boyfriend she had cheated on, to help dispose of the remains.

As for the identity of the deceased, he was none other than Zhao Yin-chang, the computer shop owner who had reported Guang De-qiang for selling stolen goods, thereby providing a crucial break in solving the Shi Jinchi case.