Taiwanese mother sentenced to 30 years for suffocating her two children in revenge plot

A woman in Taiwan has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murders of her two young children, a 9-year-old son and an infant daughter. The court found the 33-year-old woman, identified by her surname Wu, guilty of intentionally killing the children to satisfy her own grievances against her husband and his family.

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satisfy her own grievances

The motive stemmed from a dispute over divorce and child custody. According to the court documents, Wu's husband had taken their children to his parents' home during a holiday, and Wu was only allowed to bring back her son from a previous marriage, not her infant daughter with her current husband. This refusal fueled Wu's intense dissatisfaction with her husband and his family.

Authorities reported that Wu suffocated her son with a pillow while he slept. She then retrieved her infant daughter from a caregiver and similarly suffocated her. Following the killings, Wu attempted suicide by slitting her wrists and neck and stabbing herself in the chest. She was found by her husband and rescued by medical personnel.

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satisfy her own grievances

The court considered Wu's actions a severe violation of her parental duties. Despite her claims of distress over marital issues, the court found she had normal cognitive abilities at the time of the murders and had access to support. While acknowledging her lack of prior criminal record and a settlement reached with her husband, the court emphasized the irreparable harm caused to the family and imposed the 30-year sentence, ruling that she did not need to be permanently isolated from society if her deviant thinking could be corrected through long-term imprisonment and counseling.

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satisfy her own grievances