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2020 Murder of Malaysian Student at Chang Jung Christian University

SOLVED2019Guiren District, Tainan City, Taiwan3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

A 24-year-old Malaysian student at Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU) in Guiren District, Tainan City, Taiwan, was abducted, sexually assaulted, and killed on October 28, 2020, while walking from campus to her off-campus residence. She was in her third year of a bachelor's program in international business and had earlier completed a diploma in business management at Methodist Pilley Institute in Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia, a sister institution of CJCU. In August 2019 she had returned to Sibu to encourage other students to study in Taiwan, telling them the country had good public safety.

She was last seen around 8 p.m. walking north along a pathway beneath an elevated railway viaduct on Changda Road. Her body was later found on a slope in the Dagangshan area of Alian District, Kaohsiung City, near Lianfeng Temple, after the suspect confessed and led investigators to the site. Officers were publicly commended for resolving the case within hours of the abduction. It later emerged that a similar attempted abduction had occurred near the same location on September 30, 2020; that report had not been formally logged by local police, a lapse that drew public criticism and later disciplinary action.

The suspect, Liang Yu-zhi, an unemployed former truck driver who lived with his parents in Alian District, had a prior record of theft, including a 2013 residential burglary and five thefts of women's underwear. He initially denied involvement, offering shifting accounts in custody, before admitting that he had strangled the victim and abandoned her body. On December 25, 2020, prosecutors with the Taiwan Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office charged him with attempted rape, rape and intentional killing, robbery and intentional killing, and abandonment of a corpse, and sought the death penalty.

The Ciaotou District Court sentenced Liang to death on March 18, 2022. The Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court upheld that sentence on March 23, 2023, while separately imposing prison terms for attempted rape and corpse abandonment; a Taiwanese court also ordered him to pay the victim's parents more than NT$5.93 million in compensation. On June 14, 2023, the Supreme Court found the appellate court's reasoning about Liang's intent internally inconsistent, vacated the death sentence, and remanded the case for retrial, while finalizing the lesser sentences. A remand retrial again produced a death sentence in January 2025, which the Supreme Court vacated a second time in April 2025, citing insufficient discussion of mitigating factors.

On second remand, the Kaohsiung High Court resentenced Liang to life imprisonment with lifelong deprivation of civil rights, plus eight years for robbery, in January 2026. On April 23, 2026, the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal, making the life sentence final. The victim's mother said excluding the death penalty on grounds of possible rehabilitation failed to reflect the severity of the crime. The case also prompted the reassignment of the Guiren Precinct chief and the Datan Police Station chief, both later impeached by Taiwan's Control Yuan over the unlogged September 2020 report.

Key facts

Victims
Unnamed victim
Date
2019
Location
Guiren District, Tainan City, Taiwan
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 2019-08-13

    The victim returned to her alma mater, Methodist Pilley Institute in Sibu, Sarawak, to give a talk encouraging students to study in Taiwan, citing the country's public safety.

  2. 2020-09-30

    A similar attempted abduction of another woman occurred near the same location in Guiren District; the incident was reported but not formally logged by local police.

  3. 2020-10-28

    The victim was abducted while walking from Chang Jung Christian University to her off-campus residence, then sexually assaulted and killed; her body was later abandoned in the Dagangshan area of Alian District, Kaohsiung City.

  4. 2020-10-30

    Tainan City Police and the Ministry of the Interior publicly commended officers for resolving the case within hours of the abduction.

  5. 2020-10-31

    President Tsai Ing-wen convened a national security meeting, and senior officials, including the education minister, publicly apologized to the victim's family and to Malaysia.

  6. 2020-11-21

    The victim's memorial service was held at Fu Gui Memorial Park in Sibu, Sarawak, and her ashes were interred the same day.

  7. 2020-12-25

    The Taiwan Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office formally charged Liang Yu-zhi with attempted rape, rape and intentional killing, robbery and intentional killing, and abandonment of a corpse, seeking the death penalty.

  8. 2022-03-18

    The Ciaotou District Court sentenced Liang Yu-zhi to death in the first-instance trial.

  9. 2022-05-31

    Taiwan's Disciplinary Court issued sanctions against the Guiren Precinct chief, the Datan Police Station chief, and a police officer after their impeachment by the Control Yuan over the unlogged September 2020 report.

  10. 2023-03-23

    The Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court upheld the death sentence for rape and murder on appeal, and separately sentenced Liang to prison terms for attempted rape and corpse abandonment.

  11. 2023-05-15

    A Taiwanese court ordered Liang Yu-zhi to pay the victim's parents more than NT$5.93 million in compensation.

  12. 2023-06-14

    The Supreme Court vacated the death sentence, citing inconsistencies in the appellate court's reasoning about Liang's intent, and remanded the case for retrial, while finalizing the sentences for attempted rape and corpse abandonment.

  13. 2025-01-15

    In the first remand retrial, the appellate court again sentenced Liang Yu-zhi to death for rape and murder.

  14. 2025-04-18

    The Supreme Court vacated the death sentence a second time, finding the retrial court had not adequately addressed mitigating factors, and remanded the case again.

  15. 2026-01

    On second remand, the Kaohsiung High Court resentenced Liang Yu-zhi to life imprisonment with lifelong deprivation of civil rights, plus eight years for robbery.

  16. 2026-04-23

    The Supreme Court dismissed Liang Yu-zhi's appeal, making the life sentence and lifelong deprivation of civil rights final.

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People

  • Unnamed victim

    VICTIM

    24-year-old Malaysian student in her third year of a bachelor's program in international business at Chang Jung Christian University; her name was not published in the retrieved reporting.

  • Chang Chung-ken

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Datan Police Station chief at the time of the crime; reassigned and later impeached by Taiwan's Control Yuan for the same supervisory failure regarding the September 2020 report.

  • Yang Ching-yu

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Guiren Precinct chief at the time of the crime; reassigned to an internal post and later impeached by Taiwan's Control Yuan for failing to fulfill supervisory duties in handling the unlogged September 2020 abduction report.

  • Liang Yu-zhi

    CONVICTED

    Convicted of rape and intentional killing, robbery and intentional killing, attempted rape, and abandonment of a corpse. Originally sentenced to death; the sentence was set aside twice by Taiwan's Supreme Court, and on second remand he was resentenced to life imprisonment with lifelong deprivation of civil rights plus eight years for robbery, upheld as final on April 23, 2026.

  • Kao Wu-yuan

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Police officer impeached by Taiwan's Control Yuan for failing to fulfill supervisory responsibilities in handling the September 2020 report.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Guiren District, Tainan City, Taiwan

22.9667, 120.2833

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
A 24-year-old Malaysian student at Chang Jung Christian University in Tainan, Taiwan, was abducted, sexually assaulted, and killed while walking home from campus on October 28, 2020. The man convicted in her death was originally sentenced to death, but Taiwan's Supreme Court ultimately upheld a reduced sentence of life imprisonment as final in April 2026.
Where did the murder happen?
Guiren District, Tainan City, Taiwan.
Who was convicted?
Liang Yu-zhi (Convicted of rape and intentional killing, robbery and intentional killing, attempted rape, and abandonment of a corpse. Originally sentenced to death; the sentence was set aside twice by Taiwan's Supreme Court, and on second remand he was resentenced to life imprisonment with lifelong deprivation of civil rights plus eight years for robbery, upheld as final on April 23, 2026.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
More cases in Taiwan

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDIC2020 murder of Malaysian student at Chang Jung Christian UniversityWikipedia · 2026-07-12
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — cna.com.twcna.com.tw · 2026-07-12
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — udn.comudn.com · 2026-07-12

Record history

First published
JUL 13, 2026