Taiwan's Most Infamous Case | The Pai Hsiao-Yen Incident

[Music] Taiwan a densely populated country off the coast of China and one of my former homes celebrated for her warm-hearted locals delicious food and for having one of the the lowest crime rates in the world but that hasn't always been the case in the shadows of the Island's past there was a time when even its brightest stars weren't safe in this episode we'll be exploring one of the most disturbing cases I've ever covered on this channel one involving celebrities Psychopaths and an insatiable media frenzy that changed this small island nation Forever This is the story of p saen a young woman caught in in the crosshairs of a headline before we dive in take a quick moment to open up Google and search your name trust me the results might just give you a chill I did this not so long ago and there it all was my email phone number even my home address all out in the open on public listing sites creepy right that's when I discovered today's sponsor Aura turns out data Brokers for having a 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successful singer comic actress and TV presenter famous throughout her homeland of Taiwan Bing Bing's rice to prominence began in 1973 when she won a televised singing competition prompting her to pursue a career in entertainment in 1975 she moved to fuk Walker Japan to study singing and acting hoping to later return to taipe and make a name for herself it was was while studying abroad that she met and fell in love with writer mangar artist and wrestling Enthusiast iki kajuara the famous more perhaps Infamous creator of tiger mask and Ashan noj though his work is still highly regarded by manger enthusiasts iki himself had a less than Stellar reputation during his youth he'd been something of a delinquent much more interested in fighting than studying he carried much of that aggression with him into adulthood too often taking it out on the women in his life Bing bbing did her best to look Beyond dicki's faults and after a three-year Romance the pair decided to marry that following year their daughter P Yen was born you may have noticed that sa Yen kept her mother's maiden name and that's because bing bing divorced II shortly after sa yam was born not only had icki been sneaking around behind her back and having extra marital Affairs but he had also been taking his pent up frustrations out on her beating her whenever she dared to question his loyalty fed up with being mistreated Bingbing took SE Yen and returned to taipe as a single mother the wiki would pass away from pancreatitis just a few short years after the split Bingbing herself would go from strength to strength her studies in Japan had equipped her for a life of Chas success and she quickly became one of the most recognizable variety show hosts on Taiwanese TV beloved for her quick wit and bantering style of chitchat for all my UK viewers the independent once described her as the S black of Taiwan and as her daughter saang got older Bingbing had enough influence to land her small roles alongside her despite her mother's and late father's Celebrity Status SAA matured into a remarkably downto Earth young woman and had what many described as her pure Soul lacking both her father's aggression and her mother's sometimes cynical worldview she seemed to see the good in everyone and always tried to assist others whenever she could rushing over to help lost tourists with directions for example Bingbing had often cautioned her young daughter about helping strangers worried about their true intentions you always think the worst of people mom she'd reply a bright spark and an excellent public speaker sa Yen hoped to One Day become a journalist a all her teachers were sure she could achieve April 14th 1997 it was a warm Monday morning in southern Taipei and sa Yen now 16 kissed her mother bing bing goodbye before setting off from their spacious Villa towards sing Wu high school she would never make it there at some point during her walk to school a group of three men in a white vanand pulled up beside her grabbed her and sped off without drawing any attention bing bing returned to the Villa at around 400 p.

m. and noticed her daughter still hadn't returned from school it was then that she received a call that would change her life forever shut up and don't say say a word slowed a man through the receiver we have your daughter check outside and you'll see we're telling the truth don't call the police or the is dead you got it Bingbing followed the man's command and peered outside her doorway there nestled in a bush was sa Yen's lunchbox inside she found a ransom note written in her daughter's handwriting Mom I'm hurt bad please save my life by preparing $5 million Us in cash and don't contact the authorities or they'll kill me stay by the phone they'll call again but even more disturbing than that note was what she found underneath it three photos of her daughter sa Yen her hands bound her mouth gagged there was also a small object wrapped in tissue paper she opened it up to reveal its contents it was one of s yin's pinky fingers without hesitation bing bing nervously DED 110 taiwan's emergency number she knew that getting the authorities involved was a risk but she also understood that blindly paying the ransom wouldn't guarantee her daughter's life the police should at least know how to handle the situation and as long as they were discreet the kidnappers needn't know that they were involved officers arrived at bingbing's Villa within the hour it was imperative that at this early stage the whole incident be kept under WPS to give sa Yen the best chance of survival and yet despite the police requesting a 12-day information blackout from the media that next morning news of sa Yen's capture made front page headlines in two Taipan newspapers the great news and the China Daily the editors of both Publications knew that reporting on the story would Place sa Yen's life at risk and yet Fierce competition and rivalry between the two papers meant that neither was willing to let the story pass by out of fear the other May report on it first piping Bing was a household name at that point so the story was bound to Garner some huge ratings they couldn't just allow their competition to steal the scoop the authority spent the equivalent of $112,000 trying to buy up every newspaper that reported on the incident desperate to keep their involvement under WPS but it was too little too late now that the cat was out of the bag every blood sucker in the city descended upon bingbing's home hounding her for information and making the police's investigation all the more difficult journalists camped outside bingbing's property 24/7 thirsty for any tidbit of information with news of the incident spreading like wildfire more than a thousand officers were deployed and Leen Chan taiwan's Premier at the time personally visited Bingbing to reassure her that every possible effort was being made to bring sa Yen home as you can imagine all of this unwanted attention angered the group holding sa yen for ransom on April 16th they once again called Bingbing this time from a different phone number they asked if the money was ready she responded is my daughter still alive in the background Bingbing could hear her daughter sa Yen reading off that day's news headlines including the story of her own capture unfortunately her captors hung up before detectives could trace where the call was coming from on the morning of April 17th the perss called for a third time from a third number and once again asked if the money was ready bing bing confirmed it was they hung up ensuring that the call was short enough not to be traced at 3:30 p. m.

they called again telling Bingbing where and when to meet them bing bing gathered up the $5 million over 9 million in today's money and 1 hour later she set off to meet the bandits closely followed by undercovered detectives in a car disguised as a taxi frustratingly these detectives weren't the only ones tailing bing bing reporters and news helicopters followed close behind her as she attempted to drop off the ransom this cluded sa Yen's captors into the police's presence and the exchange was aborted the following day they contacted Bingbing yet again and instructed her to drive around taipe and await further instructions no doubt they were keeping tabs on her as she drove and noticed that with every turn she made news Vehicles tailgated her desperate to broadcast the exchange live for obvious reasons the kidnappers didn't agree to meet with Bingbing that evening they wouldn't call her for 6 days on April 23rd a third Handover was organized Bingbing was to bring the money to a nearby Stadium at 7 p. m. and this time she was to make sure that she wasn't followed unfortunately that was complete completely outside of her control again she was tailed by the news reporters and again the three Bandits didn't show up it began to feel as if a Handover was impossible by this point the authorities have been able to link the multiple phone numbers being used by the captors to three men lanen Chen sing and GA a trio with long criminal histories who had met while incarcerated together they suspected that these three men were the ones behind sa Yen's disappearance but still had no idea where they were hiding out as if to TA bing bing the three perss placed another call to her home phone number on April 24th she answered it but instead of the usual male voice Bingbing heard the terrified cries of sa Yen stop it I don't want to die mom please save me bing bing tearfully listened to her daughter begging to be saved on the other end of the line she had no idea her daughter was already dead on April 28th 2 weeks after she had been taken Pen's remains were discovered in a drainage ditch in Jong gang deai weighed down in the Water by dumbbells her life had been ended around 10 days prior while the ransom negotiations were still ongoing after the second exchange had fallen through a frustrated Lynn Chen and GA returned to the apartment where they were holding saen they beat her with her and ended her life they then continued to plan the exchange using an impersonator likely Chen's wife to fake sa Yan's voice over the phone giving the impression she was still alive sa Yen's clothess body showed signs of Mutilation and her liver had been raptured though ultimately her Cod was determined to be strangulation the day after she was found the China times published a photograph of San's corpse on its front page along with an arrow pointing to where her pinky finger had been chopped off the headline read they tore up the check meaning they killed their $5 million hostage the newspaper ran this front page without regard for their readers and without regard for Bingbing who found a copy waiting for her inside her mailbox it's an image that remains burned into her mind to this very day Bingbing laid her daughter to rest on Mother's Day 1997 in the days and weeks that followed journalists continued to call her up and ask for exclusive interviews given the media's Relentless reporting on the case the general public began to fear that Taiwan was no longer safe and they felt that way for good reason between 1990 and 1996 the crime rate had risen by about 80% by the second half of 1996 one in seven Taiwanese have been assaulted or robbed 5 to 10% of government officials were believed to have gang affiliations and for many saan slaying was the final straw Mass demonstrations were taking place throughout taipe and gaung with protesters demanding order to be restored the authorities were under enormous pressure to bring Lynn Chen and GA to Justice before they struck again the task force set up to capture these three men was given one clear instruction an instruction which went against protocol gentlemen when you find these three men not if when do not let them Escape should they show any sign of resistance no matter how small killed them without warning an islandwide Manhunt was now underway and thanks in large part to Bing Bing the task force had one vital lead to work with during their final taunting call she had managed to keep one of the men talking long enough for an analyst to trace where the call was being made from a raid was immediately launched on the gang's makeshift Hideout and un assuming rented apartment on the outskirts of Taipei the 12 accessories including Chen's wife changu Chen were taken into custody the three main suspects were able to escape without being captured Lynn Chen and GA taiwan's three Most Wanted were still at large and would be for quite some time despite their faces being plastered all over the country on wanted posters the men were able to evade capture by wearing disguises the Slender gal dressed as was a woman frequently donning a dress and makeup to avoid detection during the next 4 months the trio committed over 20 essay and even held various other high-profile figures for ransom these deals were far more successful for the group who received payment without any of their victim's family members contacting the authorities now well funded and facing investigators with minimal forensic knowledge Lynn Chen and GA were able to live lavishly under the radar but that all came to an end on August 19th when the Three Fugitives were spotted by twoot Patrol officers in a residential neighborhood at 11:50 a.

m. a brief exchange of gunfire ensued during which Lim was hit six times one of the officers s men lost his life during the encounter though the other was Gravely wounded he did manage to track down Lynn who with his back against the wall decided to end his own existence rather than be taken alive reinforcements were promptly dispatched to the neighborhood and over 800 officers conducted a comprehensive search of the area Chen and GA were nowhere to be found they had successfully escaped for a second time one down two to go after spending two further months on the run on October 23rd gaw and Chen went into a cosmetic Clinic owned by one DrFang they held Fang his wife and a nurse at gunpoint and forced them to perform face altering plastic surgery in East Asia approximately 50% of people are born with double eyelids that is they have - shaped creases in their upper eyelids gal was born with such creases but had the surgeon transform his eyes into monolids there Drbang muttered after completing GA surgery now nobody will recognize you goard marred his reflection in the mirror and coldly replied you will he and Chen then killed DrFang and his wife the nurse and then ended her life too before fleeing the scene now confident that he wouldn't be recognized out in public G began letting his guard down he visited a massage parlor in downtown Taipei but contrary to his expectations one astute officer thought that he looked familiar and called for reinforcements backup swiftly arrived and hundreds of policemen comb through the building that g was seen to have entered they backed the killer into a corner and unable to escape GA put her around through his own brain the following day the United evening news and the China times Express featured front page close-up color photos of ga's head in full detail two down one to go the media continued to report on the case as if it were a Blockbuster movie Plastering Chen's face on every newspaper and TV broadcast all the while releasing more and more gruesome details about sa Yen's brutal slaying up until that point Chen had been enjoying his notoriety even telling the women that he sa who he was just to see their reaction but with his two accomplices now gone and fearing that the fuzz were hot on his heels our L man standing began to fear for his life and to try and bargain his way out of things he decided to do something drastic on November 18th Chen broke into the home of the South African afcan military attache Colonel McGill Alexander with gunak Kimbo he held mcel and his family hostage Chen instructed Melanie one of Mel's daughters to call CNN and explain the situation within an hour both the authorities and countless news teams surrounded the house every TV station sent Cruz to the scene for virtually continuous on the spot reporting the media collectively monopolized the only available Communication channel with the mentally and emotionally unstable ch with little regard for the safety of the Alexander family since negotiators were unable to get a direct line of communication with Chen much of their dialogue was conducted through open Windows Chen yelled at officers to stay back and in response the officers taunted him prompting Chen to open fire while using Melanie as a human shield Migel managed to convince Chen to release's daughter and use him as the shield instead the officers seized this opportunity to enter the home by the garage catching Chen by surprise and prompting him to fire recklessly towards them one of his shots went through Melanie's rest and into her back lodging between two arteries in her pelvis her Father Miguel was struck in the leg the officers were forced to retreat shortly after this failed Siege Chen spoke over the phone with a news Anor and stated that he would free the hostages if Frank SE a prominent politician and future premere personally came into the house and negotiated for the release of Chen's wife and brother-in-law both then serving sentences of 12 years and life respectively for their involvement in sa Yen slaying this call was broadcast live on [Music] TV give Frank arrived at 9:00 p. m.

that same night at 10 p. m. he entered the house Frank quickly established a rapport with Chen and convinced him to release Migel and Melanie so that they could receive medical treatment there were so many news fans and reporters outside the house but ambulances had trouble reaching the scene and cameras were shoved into Miguel's face as he was escorted out of the house when Miguel himself shouted at camera operators to back off so that his daughter could get to an ambulance they had the audacity to get angry with [Applause] him get my wife and my children out my children thankfully both father and daughter would go on to make full recoveries law enforcement brought Chen's wife to the house on the morning of November 19th to assist in mediating the situation further negoti ation resulted in the release of Miguel's youngest daughter and Foster son Miguel's wife an was the final hostage released by Chen at 4 p.

m.