Taiwan | Death row inmate dies of illness; 34 remain

Death row inmate Lin Wang-jen (林旺仁), who was convicted of setting fire to a karaoke bar in 2004, killing five people, yesterday died of an illness, authorities confirmed.

The number of inmates on death row has fallen to 34, correctional authorities said late yesterday, after local media reported that Lin had died in hospital.

Lin, a Yilan County resident, was sentenced to death for murder in 2004. In 2011, the Supreme Court upheld his sentence.

Lin set fire to a karaoke bar in Keelung on June 16, 2004, because he was upset with his wife for accepting a job there, court rulings said.

He poured gasoline inside the bar and set it alight, killing five people, the rulings said.

Lin’s wife was not in the bar at the time.

In 2022, Lin was among 14 death row inmates who petitioned for a presidential pardon or to have their sentences commuted.

The petition was filed with the Taipei High Administrative Court, which rejected it, saying it had no jurisdiction over the matter.

Following a Constitutional Court ruling in 2024 that the death penalty is constitutional, but only for the most serious crimes, Lin last year filed for a retrial and sought to have his execution suspended. Both requests were ultimately rejected by the courts.

Lin's demise follows that of another death row inmate, Ouyang Jung (歐陽榕), who died of an illness in January.

Source: taipeitimes.com, Staff, September 15, 2026

"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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