Liu Pang-yu (, 30 November 1942 – 21 November 1996) was a Taiwanese politician. He served as the

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Taoyuan County Taoyuan County () is under the administration of Changde, Hunan Province, China. The Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze, flows through Taoyuan. It covers an area of 4441 square kilometers, of which is arable land. It is from Zhangjiang Tow ...

from 1989 until his death in 1996. Taoyuan County is now Taoyuan City, and the office of the Magistrate is now the office of the Mayor.

Allegations

The

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislativ ...

indicted Liu due to his role in a corruption case involving the extracting of around $360 million

U.S. dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

s from the Chungli Farmers' Association. Liu also had been placed under investigation in a separate land speculation deal. ''

Asiaweek ''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a ...

'' reported that some people said that he forged his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. For seven years prosecutors attempted to place Liu in prison.

Death

On November 21, 1996, Liu and seven others died in an "execution style" shooting at his residence. A county councilor survived the incident but suffered serious head injuries, memory loss, and a severed spinal cord. Police believe that two killers entered the residence in the early morning, surprising the guards, who were about to change shifts. After subduing the guards, the killers took the guards' guns and bullets, rounded up the occupants of the residence, and bound them. After blindfolding the victims and forcing them to kneel, the killers shot them in their heads. The killers stole a car from one of the victims (Chuang Shun-hsing); a secretary (Liang Mei-chiao) was still in the car, but she was left at the base of Hutou Mountain, where the killers stopped to rendezvous with their accomplices and abandon the stolen car.

Residence Occupants

* Liu Pang-yu (), Taoyuan County Commissioner (killed). * Chuang Shun-hsing (), County Assemblyman (killed). His car was stolen as the getaway vehicle. * Hsu Chun-kuo (), confidential secretary to the county government (killed). * Liu Pang-ming (), driver for the commissioner (killed). * Chang Tao-mei (), wife of the chief of the County Bureau of Agriculture (killed). * Liu Ju-mei (), a maid or a cook (killed). * Liu Pang-liang (), a guard (killed). * Liu Ming-chi (), a guard (killed). * Teng Wen-chang (), County Assemblyman (survived with injuries). * Liang Mei-chiao (), Teng's secretary (survived unhurt). * Judy, a foreign maid (survived). * Peng Yu-ying (), Liu's wife (survived unhurt).

Investigations and Theories

Authorities have not solved the crime; some Taiwanese police believe that Chinese gang members recruited by "a local group" killed Liu and the others. Some investigators believe that "conflicts of interest" in Liu's politics led to his death. Others believe that Liu's guards may have been involved in gambling. One of the key suspects in Liu's murder, Yang Shih-kang () escaped police custody in 1999. He had a history of abducting politicians and smuggling weapons, which led police to suspect him for Liu's murder. Yang was initially arrested in 1999 after returning to Taiwan; while under police escort to locate his hidden weapon caches, Yang overpowered his escort and escaped with the help of accomplices. Yang was later detained in 2003 in

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

on an unrelated robbery charge. The

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...

ran out in 2016, closing the case, which prompted some DPP lawmakers to propose the removal of the twenty-year statute for murder cases and major economic crimes.

Impact

At the time the shooting was the deadliest

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more p ...

in Taiwanese history, and Liu was the only high-ranking government official to be assassinated in his term. The nature of the shootings and the photographs of the aftermath shocked the Taiwanese. A special by-election was held on 15 March 1997 to fill the vacant office of Taoyuan County Magistrate;

Annette Lu Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as ...

of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected, defeating

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

(KMT) candidate Fang Li-hsiu and breaking the KMT hold on the office. The execution-style slaying of Liu was thought to have revealed governmental corruption, which was cited as one reason Lu won, despite pre-election polls predicting a KMT victory. Liu's death, along with two later well-publicized murder cases, led to mass demonstrations in May 1997. Demonstrators marched on 4 May 1997 and 18 May 1997, demanding Premier

Lien Chan Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to ...

's resignation over the perceived rise in violent crime as evidenced by the then-unsolved murders of Pai Hsiao-yen,

Peng Wan-ru Peng Wan-ru (; 13 July 1949 – 30 November 1996), also spelled Peng Wan-ju, was a feminist Taiwanese politician. The director of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Women's Affairs Department, Peng advocated for the safety and development ...

, and Liu Pang-yu.

References

Notes

Bibliography & External Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Pang-yu 1996 deaths Taiwanese murder victims Magistrates of Taoyuan County 1942 births Taiwanese politicians of Hakka descent People murdered in Taiwan 1990s murders in Taiwan 1996 crimes in Taiwan 1996 murders in Asia