Former Taiwanese actor Lee Wei, 44, has been named one of the suspects in an ongoing murder investigation. In July 2024, the police received a tip-off concerning a woman who was seen lying motionless at a first-floor property on a residential block on Taipei’s Siwei Road.
The property was reportedly the meeting place of a Buddhist group of which the woman, surnamed Tsai, and Lee were members.
An autopsy on Tsai’s body revealed that she died of rhabdomyolysis – a condition that causes one’s muscles to break down, leading to muscle death. According to the American nonprofit academic medical centre Cleveland Clinic, one of the most common causes of rhabdomyolysis is a crushing injury.
Security footage taken from the evening of Jul 24, 2024 showed Lee, Tsai, the religious group’s chief executive surnamed Wu, and a woman surnamed Chiang at a Taipei restaurant, attending a study session.
According to prosecutors, the security footage later showed that, after the meeting, Lee, Wu and Chiang were seen pushing Tsai’s body in a trolley from the restaurant to the first-floor property, and leaving it there without calling emergency services.
Tsai was reportedly the accountant of the religious group. After her death, her bank accounts – which had over NT$1 million (US$30,500) – were found totally emptied.
Following a search, the police also named the group’s spiritual leader, Buddhism writer Wang Yun, as one of the 11 suspects in the investigation. Since January this year, four of the suspects have been detained.
On Monday (Feb 24), Lee was released on NT$300,000 bail while his wife was released on NT$150,000 bail after they were both summoned to give statements to prosecutors.
