Update: Police have now identified six suspects, all foreigners, who may be involved in the brutal murder of a Canadian English teacher. Apple Daily reports that the six foreign suspects include a Russian man and an American teacher.
According to TVBS, the Russian man and American teacher had a history of drug offenses and had both worked as English teachers at cram schools. Police are also searching for four of their friends.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- In the ongoing investigation into the brutal murder and grisly dismemberment of a Canadian English teacher, police have identified two foreign suspects, a Russian man and a female American teacher who appears may have killed him over a drug deal gone awry, however it is feared they may have already left Taiwan.
Yesterday (Aug. 23), police found two machetes near where the remains of 43-year-old "Ryan" (Ramgahan Sanjay Ryan) were found near Zhongzheng Riverside Park in New Taipei City's Yonghe District, indicated that two perpetrators could have been involved in his murder. Police this morning said that they believe they have identified two suspects in the murder: one Russian male and one female American teacher.
Police announced today that they also found his cell phone and have since been able to restore its contents and access the records of the deceased last communications. When searching the contents of Ryan's mobile phone, they identified the two potential suspects, who they believe may have been involved in a drug trafficking dispute with the deceased, however, they fear that the two may have already fled the country, reported TVBS.
According to the report, prosecutors found that after his wife tragically drowned while the couple was on vacation in Yilan in October of last year, Ryan received million of NT dollars in life insurance. In recent days before his death, Ryan had withdrawn nearly NT$300,000 from ATMs.
Surveillance footage showed that at 7 p.m. on the night of his death, Ryan had withdrawn NT$100,000 from an ATM nearly one kilometer from his home, however police were not able to find any money on his body or in his home the next day.
Police scour area where Ryan's remains were found. (CNA image)
At 9 a.m. this morning, a forensic pathologist, who performed an autopsy on the victim, announced that the man had two stab wounds to his neck, a 10-centimeter-long knife wound to the left side of his face, blunt force trauma to his right forebrain and his hindbrain had been brutally hacked with a machete, leading to the skull to be cracked open and parts of his brain to spill out, reported Apple Daily. The nature of the wounds indicated the ferocity and depravity of the suspects involved in the grisly murder and dismemberment.
A toxicology test is now being run to see if Ryan had been under the influence of any drugs before his death.
After the initial discovery of the man's torso on Wednesday, police later that day found his head, right arm and right leg in white plastics bags. Today members of the Taipei Water Life Saving Club found the rotted remains of one of his missing limbs, which was later identified as his left leg, leaving only his left arm still missing.
Police estimate that at around midnight on Aug. 21., Ryan was murdered and dismembered in a grassy area near the riverbank before dumping his body into the river. However, the murderers did not take into consideration that the tide would drop significantly the next day, exposing his corpse and other evidence.
Another possibility police are considering is that he was murdered and dismembered on the spot on the sandbar. In either case, police believe two suspects where involved in the murder.
Reports have surfaced that Ryan often engaged in drug dealing at the Zhongzheng Riverside Park, near the area where his corpse was discovered. On the night of his murder, the deceased received a text message from the suspect which read meet at the "old spot," and police believe that this is where Ryan met his demise and indicates that the murder was premeditated.
A report by SETN cites police as saying that after police reviewed Ryan's phone records, they found evidence that he had a dispute with the foreign male and female over drugs. Based on the messages exchanged, they believe Ryan had taken possession of a large amount of drugs, but had failed to pay the two suspects, apparently leading to their decision to brutally murder him.
Police are having a difficult time seeing what transpired clearly as there are only two surveillance cameras in the area around the embankment below the Zhongzhen Bridge and the figures are far away and their images are blurry.
The man's grisly murder marks the fourth case of a homicide involving dismemberment taking place in Taiwan within the past four months this year.
