TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Malaysian exchange student who had been working as a model and livestreamer was found dead in her apartment with signs of strangling on Thursday (Oct. 13).
A Taiwanese man who claimed to be her boyfriend allegedly confessed to her murder.
At 5 p.m. on Thursday, Taipei City Police received notification from New Taipei City Police that a 30-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), had overdosed on over-the-counter medication and confessed to first responders that he had strangled a woman on Dadong Road in Taipei City's Shilin District, reported UDN. Police found the body of the 24-year-old Malaysian woman surnamed Tsai (蔡) at the apartment.
According to an initial investigation, Tsai was an exchange student at Ming Chuan University and was in her fifth year, but had recently suspended her studies. She had also been working as a model with over 1,000 followers on Instagram and would livestream on 17LIVE for extra money.
Tsai poses in modeling photos. (Instagram photo)
Based on initial police findings, Chen met Tsai through Instagram about five or six days previous to the suspected murder, reported Liberty Times. After viewing surveillance camera footage of Tsai's apartment on Dadong Road in Taipei's Shilin District, they found that Chen entered Tsai's apartment on Wednesday (Oct. 12) and emerged approximately 24 hours later on Thursday, Tsai was never seen outside her apartment during this time.
On Thursday, Chen, who is a resident of New Taipei's Yingge District, called his parents to say that he was contemplating suicide. Chen's parents notified the police and when they went to his residence, he responded to the officer who was dispatched but did not open the door and the officer left.
Chen's parents again became worried at 5 p.m. and asked for additional police assistance. This time, Chen did not respond when officers knocked and police requested assistance from his parents to open his door and called for an ambulance.
Tsai poses. (Instagram photo)
Paramedics found Chen in a semi-conscious state having overdosed on medication. While being transported to the hospital in an ambulance, Chen told paramedics, "I strangled a woman on Dadong Road, Shilin District," prompting New Taipei police to notify their counterparts in Taipei, reported UDN.
After Taipei police received the report, they immediately contacted Tsai's landlord to open the door. As soon as officers entered the property, they found Tsai's body, with clearly visible marks on her neck.
As Tsai had no friends or relatives in Taiwan, her classmate and her 33-year-old ex-boyfriend surnamed Yang (楊) went to the police station to identify her body, reported SET News. Yang said that he had dated Tsai for more than a year, and they had broken up over Tsai getting too close to her fans.
On Thursday he felt something was amiss and rushed to her apartment just after 6 p.m., only to learn that she had died.
Tsai's last Instagram post uploaded on Oct. 1 shows her dancing to K-pop in Xinyi District. (Instagram screenshot)
According to Sin Chew Daily, Tsai is from Serdang, Selangor Malaysia, and had traveled to Taiwan to study. The Ming Chuan University Alumuni Association was cited by the newspaper as saying that Tsai studied in the Mass Communication Department of The 37th Overseas Youth Vocational Training School for two years. After graduating she began her studies at Ming Chuan's Department of Advertising and Strategic Marketing.
Police are not ruling out that Chen may be a fan of Tsai's and will question him further when he fully regains consciousness, reported Liberty Times.
CCTV footage of Chen leaving Tsai's apartment on Oct. 13. (Taipei City Police Department photo)
