Chen Yi-hsiung (died 29 March 2004) was the prime

suspect In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U. ...

in the

3-19 shooting incident The March 19 shooting incident ( zh, t=三一九槍擊事件), also known as the 319 incident, was an assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu while they were campaigning in Tainan, Taiwan on 19 March 2004, ...

, a failed attempt to assassinate the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

, and perhaps

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Annette Lu Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944), also known by her English name Annette, is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1990, and was elected to the Legis ...

, on 19 March 2004, one day prior to the 2004 presidential election. Chen was unemployed and blamed the president for his economic woes.

Finding Chen Yi-hsiung

Working off of clues from a video that was shot near the attack, authorities spent months tracing the bullets used in the assassination attempt to an illegal gun maker. After questioning the individual, investigators were able to follow the purchase to Chen Yi-hsiung, who was found drowned in a harbour in

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

10 days after the attack.

Controversy

With the case officially closed, and the main suspect Chen Yi-hsiung dead, police have had a hard time proving their theory. Chen Yi-hsiung's death was officially ruled a suicide, and suicide notes (supposedly burned by his family) and a video of his wife apologizing for her husband's crime appear to confirm the police theory, but opponents of president Chen disagree with this conclusion. President Chen's foes claim that the assassination attempt was planned in order to win sympathy votes; president Chen won the election by just over 29,500 votes after the attempted assassination.

References

External links

Taiwan Assassin 3/19
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Yi-hsiung 20th-century births 2004 suicides 2004 deaths 2004 crimes in Taiwan Failed assassins of heads of government Taiwanese criminals Suicides by drowning Year of birth missing Suicides in Taiwan Place of birth missing