Case against fugitive Filipino suspect in 1998 Tainan murder dropped

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) Charges against a fugitive Filipino migrant worker accused of the 1998 murder of his compatriot girlfriend in Tainan have been dropped due to the expiration of since-amended statutes of limitations.

In a verdict released Thursday, the Tainan District Court said that it had closed its case against Romeo Lansang, missing since his Oct. 1, 1998 indictment for the murder of Liza A. Leria, on April 26.

According to the verdict, Leria met up with Lansang near a factory in Tainan at around 9 p.m. on July 11, 1998, and the two later went to a nearby park to have sex, but then had a fight.

During their fight, Leria scratched Lansang's face, which he retaliated by stabbing her over ten times. He then fled the scene and Leria later died of excessive blood loss, the verdict said.

Leria's body was discovered by a jogger around 5 a.m. the next day, who then reported it to the police.

After Lansang was identified as the primary suspect, the case was handed over to the Tainan District Prosecutors Office.

Despite issuing a warrant for Lansang's arrest on May 25, 1999, authorities have been unable to locate him in the intervening time period, the verdict said.

Article 271 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China rules that "A person who takes the life of another shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment or imprisonment for not less than ten years."

Although Taiwan abolished its statute of limitations for murder in 2019, the change is only applied retroactively in certain cases.