Ku latest victim of serial larvae-stuffed-letters threat
By Queena Yen ,The China Post
February 28, 2014, 12:05 am TWN
An envelope that was delivered to potential Taipei mayoral candidate Wellington Ku (顧立雄) containing a bag filled with mealworms is seen in a police evidence bag. Similar letters had been sent to famous restaurant Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) as well as singer Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) and director Chiu Li-Kwan (邱瓈寬). (CNA)
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Wellington Ku (顧立雄), a potential pan-green candidate for Taipei mayor, received a threatening letter packed with mealworms, similar to packages that were received by famous restaurant Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) as well as singer Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) and director Chiu Li-Kwan (邱瓈寬).
Law enforcement authorities believe that all three letters had been sent from the same source, after a preliminary inspection.
According to officials from the Daan Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department, Ku's office received the letter on Feb. 21. Inside the envelope was a plastic bag filled with mealworms, the police said.
“There have been many similar cases since Feb. 21, including the case of Din Tai Fung and singer Jam Hsiao. All the cases followed the same pattern. Not only was there traditional ghost money with victims' names and addresses ... in the package, but also the same style of white envelops with three stamps were used. In addition, some of the threatening letters were sent on the same date,” officials said.
Regarding to the evidence found so far, police believe that all the threatening letters were sent from the same source.
Authorities pointed out that they found several fingerprints from the Din Tai Fung envelope. However, those fingerprints were not in the police database.
Due to the fact that letter to Ku did not request any money or contain any complaints, it is hard to tell the motivation behind the sending of the letters, according to authorities.
Police are currently investigating the motivation and identity of the suspect through surveillance cameras.
Ku said his secretary was frightened when she saw the contents of the package on the evening of Feb. 21. After Ku was made aware that Hsiao had also received a similar package on Feb. 22, he decided to report the case to the police.
Another Taipei mayoral candidate, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), expressed his opinion over the threatening letter when asked by members of the media. Ko said he had received all kinds of threatening letters in the past. Ko thought that this incident may show that the society of Taiwan is not as civilized as people think.
