TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The older brother of Taiwanese actor Ming Dao (明道) was found dead along with his wife and son in a mountainous part of Taipei’s Neihou District in a suspected murder-suicide case on Sunday (Jan. 5).
At 1:43 p.m., Taipei police received reports that multiple people had died in what appeared to be a murder-suicide beside a trail near an earth god temple in an Antai Street neighborhood, CNA reported. The officers who responded found the body of a middle-aged man, surnamed Lin (林), hanging from a tree, with the bodies of woman and boy lying on the ground beside the tree.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the three were members of the same family, police said, adding that the necks of both Lin’s wife and their 11-year-old son showed signs of strangulation. Judging from messages on Lin's cell phone, police suspect that he committed suicide because of debts, but the circumstances behind the tragic incident are still under investigation.
Ming Dao confirmed on Sunday night through his management company that the deceased man was his older brother, according to CNA.
Lin had reportedly owed money to a number of creditors in recent years. Ming Dao had helped his brother pay off the debts, but the situation did not improve, and the star said that his brother had been like a “time bomb” just waiting to go off.
Police will interview Lin’s father and relatives in hopes that they can shed some light on the case, CNA reported.