Taiwan | Migrant worker appeals life sentence in murder case; prosecutors seek death penalty

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan High Court on Wednesday opened a second trial in the case of Mark Dave Velasco, a 30-year-old Filipino migrant worker convicted of killing and dismembering his girlfriend in 2023.

Velasco is appealing his life sentence. Prosecutors have also contested the original ruling, arguing it was too lenient and seeking the death penalty, per CNA.

Velasco was found guilty in the first trial under Taiwan’s lay judge system of murdering his girlfriend, Red Michelle Selda, following a dispute at their rented apartment in Taoyuan. Prosecutors said he killed Selda during the altercation, dismembered her body, and fled with her wallet and phone.

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office charged Velasco with murder, corpse destruction, and theft.

The initial court found the crime was committed with brutality and a lack of remorse, sentencing Velasco to life imprisonment and ordering deportation upon completion of his sentence, or if granted clemency. The court stated that while he admitted to the crime through the proceedings, Velasco showed no regret and did not reach a settlement with the victim’s family.

Velasco's appeal focuses solely on the sentencing, whereas prosecutors seek a harsher penalty. During Wednesday’s hearing, the court reviewed evidence and clarified key issues, including Velasco’s detention, which is set to expire on June 21.

Velasco said he had no objection to his continued detention. He also reported health concerns, including vomiting blood and pain near his lower right rib, for which the detention center arranged medical attention, an X-ray, and treatment.

Velasco’s defense team requested that an expert witness, who provided a sentencing evaluation in the first trial, be summoned to testify. They also sought a new psychiatric evaluation at the National Taiwan University Hospital and asked the court to admit counseling records from the detention center as evidence.

However, the attorney representing Selda’s family argued that the detention center’s counseling, which was conducted once every one to two months for 15 to 30 minutes, was insufficient to prove rehabilitation or behavioral change.

The public prosecutor supported extending Velasco’s detention, citing the continued necessity of custody during appeal court proceedings. The court said it would deliberate on the requests, including whether to summon the expert witness and extend the defendant’s detention, before issuing a ruling.

Source: taiwannews.com, Charlotte Lee, June 5, 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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