Taiwan | Justice Ministry to propose child abuse death penalty bill within 3 months

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) aims to submit a draft bill within three months to increase penalties for child abuse, including the possibility of adding the death penalty for abuse resulting in death.

MOJ Deputy Minister Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) mentioned the three-month timeline during a public hearing held by the Legislative Yuan Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, which was attended by children's advocacy groups and legal experts.

At the hearing, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) law professor Lin Chih-chieh (林志潔) said the law could be changed to allow the death penalty in child abuse cases that result in death.

According to the MOJ, current law already provides the death penalty as the maximum sentence for "intentionally" abusing and killing children.

Li Yu-chun (李侑宭), spokesperson for "Kai Kai online parents group" (剴剴網路爸媽群), said her group proposed six demands, including the creation of a dedicated child protection agency and the introduction of a new offense of "abusive killing of a child" punishable by death or life without parole.

The Judicial Yuan said in a written report that the offense of abusing a young child to death is a result-aggravated crime, not one committed with direct intent.

A recent survey by the Action Alliance on Basic Education found that 92.1 percent of respondents believe current penalties for fatal child abuse are too light and should be increased.

It cited Constitutional Interpretation No. 8 (2024) as stating such offenses do not qualify as the "most serious crimes" and thus cannot be punished by death.

It also warned that increasing the statutory maximum penalty to death could create inconsistencies with Article 271, Paragraph 1 of Taiwan's Criminal Code, which relates to offenses of homicide.

Hsu Ni-ni (徐妮妮), convener of Children Umbrellas (孩想陪你長大聯盟), a child protection advocacy group, said that while current law permits life sentences for abuse resulting in death, the option of parole undermines justice.

Tsai Pei-shan (蔡沛珊), chief prosecutor at the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, said that denying parole only for those convicted of child abuse could violate the principle of equality.

Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), who chaired the session, asked the MOJ for a timeline for the draft legislation, to which the MOJ deputy minister replied that it would be ready to send to the Executive Yuan "within three months."

The issue of child abuse has been in the spotlight in recent months, following the high-profile death of Kai Kai (剴剴), a one-year-old boy who was tortured to death by two nannies surnamed Liu (劉) who were respectively sentenced to life imprisonment and 18 years last week.

A recent survey by the Action Alliance on Basic Education found that 92.1 percent of respondents believe current penalties for fatal child abuse are too light and should be increased.

The same poll, which was based on 8,724 valid responses collected between May 17 and 21, found that 88.6 percent support mandatory psychological treatment and recidivism assessments for offenders.

Source: focustaiwan.tw, James Thompson, Wang Yang-yu, Chen Chih-chung, May 22, 2025

Taiwan | Ten thousand sign petition supporting capital punishment for child abusers

Spurred by the case of Kai Kai (剴剴), the 1-year-old boy who was abused to death by two sisters, ten thousand people have signed a petition advocating for capital punishment in child abuse cases that result in the death of the child. Scholars discussed the matter at a public hearing this Thursday.

The petition, launched through an online public policy platform, proposes adding the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole for abusing a child to death to Article 271 of Taiwan’s Criminal Code. The proposal also includes adding a prison sentence of more than 10 years for abuse of minors under age 16.

A number of legal experts commented at the hearing. National Yang Ming Chao Tung University Institute of Technology Law Professor Lin Chih-Chieh (林志潔) said while she supports retaining the option of the death penalty for especially egregious cases of child abuse, she questioned whether similar penalties should be considered when other vulnerable groups, such as the disabled, become victims of abuse. Hsuan Chuang University Associate Law Professor Liu Yu-Wei (劉育偉) recommended comprehensively defining the constituent elements of abuse in criminal law in order to reform the overall social safety net and prevent cases of abuse in the first place.

Finally, Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office Prosecutor Tsai Pei-shan (蔡沛珊) pointed out that adding the death penalty to Articles 271 and 286 may violate the “Two Covenants,” referring to two crucial human rights agreements adopted by the United Nations. She emphasized the importance of pursuing justice based on legal principles and proportionality rather than pure emotion.

Source: rti.org.tw, Hanna Bilinski, May 22, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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Former FedEx driver sentenced to death for killing 7-year-old girl after delivery at her Texas home

DALLAS (AP) — A former FedEx driver was sentenced to death on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to killing a 7-year-old girl he took from her Texas home while delivering a Christmas gift. Jurors in a Fort Worth courtroom decided on Tanner Horner's punishment after hearing about a month of testimony and evidence that included audio of Athena Strand's last moments from inside his delivery van. Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to capital murder last month in the 2022 killing just as his trial began. Athena's body was found two days after she was reported missing from her home in the rural town of Paradise, near Fort Worth.

South Dakota | Latest appeal from state's lone death row inmate denied

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has rejected the latest appeal from Briley Piper, the only person on death row in South Dakota. In March 2000, Briley Piper, along with co-defendants Elijah Page and Darrell Hoadley, conspired to burglarize the Lawrence County home of 19-year-old Chester Poage before abducting and murdering him by beating, stabbing, and stoning in a remote area. Piper was subsequently arrested, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death, while his accomplices received either a death sentence—carried out against Page in 2007—or a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

South Carolina | Inmate who believes he’s died repeatedly can’t be executed, judge rules

SPARTANBURG — A 59-year-old man sentenced to death for killing a state trooper in Greenville County in 2000 can’t be executed because of a mental illness that’s left him incoherent and believing he’s immortal, a Circuit Court judge has ruled. John Richard Wood is the first condemned inmate in South Carolina found not competent to be executed since the state restarted capital punishment in September 2024. The seven executions since then include three men who chose to die by firing squad — the latest in November. Wood, convicted 24 years ago, was among death row inmates in line to receive a death warrant after exhausting their regular appeals.

Idaho eyes restart of death row executions as firing squad draws near

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s prison system has nearly completed execution chamber upgrades to carry out the death penalty by firing squad as the state’s lead method and will have a team of riflemen ready to go by the time a state law takes effect this summer. As part of the transition, the Idaho Department of Correction hopes to limit participation by its officers as the shooting of condemned people in prison to death is prioritized over lethal injection. Toward that effort, prisoner leadership sought to implement a push-button technology to avoid needing IDOC workers to pull the triggers.

Will the US Supreme Court end nitrogen gas executions?

When President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, he directed his administration to “ restor[e] the death penalty .” His embrace of capital punishment helped fuel a surge in executions at the state level last year, as I previously reported , and led the Justice Department to produce a report on “strengthening” the federal death penalty, which was released late last month. In the report, the Justice Department defended the use of pentobarbital – a powerful sedative – for lethal injections, criticizing the Biden administration’s determination that it may cause “unnecessary pain and suffering.” Nevertheless, citing ongoing legal challenges to pentobarbital use and related problems obtaining the drugs used in lethal injections, the DOJ recommended expanding the list of federal execution methods by adding firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas.

Arizona | Man who murdered pastor crucifixion style requests plea deal after parents killed in plane crash

Adam Sheafe, the California man who admitted to killing a New River, Arizona, pastor in a crucifixion-style attack, has asked prosecutors to offer him a plea deal that would result in a natural life sentence rather than the death penalty he had previously sought. Advisory council attorneys representing Sheafe sent a formal plea offer to prosecutors this week, about two weeks after his father and stepmother died in a plane crash at Marana Airport on April 8, according to 12 News. Sheafe, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of William Schonemann, 76, pastor of New River Bible Church, who was found dead inside his home last April.

China | Man sentenced to death for murder executed in Yunnan

Tian Yongming, who was initially sentenced for a series of violent crimes and then had his sentence changed to death early this year, has been executed in Yunnan province following approval from China's top court. The execution was carried out by the Intermediate People's Court in Yuxi, Yunnan, on Tuesday, with local prosecutors supervising the process. Before the execution, Tian was allowed to meet with his family members. The case dates back to September 1996, when Tian was sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape and attempted murder of his sister-in-law. After his release on July 15, 2002, he plotted revenge against the woman. On the night of Nov 13, 2002, he broke into her home armed with a knife.

American Fugitive Flees to Italy hoping to Escape the Death Penalty

American Murder Suspect Cut Off His Ankle Bracelet and Fled to Italy to Escape the Death Penalty Lee Mongerson Gilley Flew From Houston to Milan on Two False Identities. He Was Caught the Moment He Landed. It reads like the opening of a thriller. A man under electronic surveillance in Houston, suspected of killing his pregnant wife, cuts off his ankle bracelet, boards a flight to Canada under a false identity, transfers to a second flight to Italy under a second false identity, and lands at Milan Malpensa with a single objective: to place himself beyond the reach of Texas justice and its death penalty. The plan failed at the first step on Italian soil. Lee Mongerson Gilley, 39, an American software engineer wanted in the United States on suspicion of murdering his ex-wife in October 2024, was identified and detained the moment he arrived at Malpensa. He had cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet in Houston, flown first to Canada using one set of false documents, and then to Italy u...

Florida executes James Ernest Hitchcock

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of beating and choking his brother’s 13-year-old stepdaughter to death nearly 50 years ago was executed Thursday evening. James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of the July 1976 killing of Cynthia Driggers. The curtain to the death chamber opened promptly at the 6 p.m. execution time. Hitchcock’s entire body was covered in a sheet up to his head. He stared at the ceiling as the team warden made a call, then gave his final statement.

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