Ex-Taiwanese Actor Lee Wei Now A Suspect In Murder Of Fellow Buddhist Group Member
The female victim was allegedly tortured to death by the group's religious leader and a few other members.
Taiwanese former actor-singer Lee Wei and his wife Chien have been named the suspects in an ongoing murder investigation.
The 44-year-old was initially involved as a witness in the murder case of a woman, surnamed Tsai, who was from the same Buddhist group as him and Chien, until new evidence suggested otherwise.
United Daily News reported that Lee Wei and his wife were questioned by prosecutors for the fourth and second time respectively on Monday (Feb 24) before being named as suspects. Their home was also searched prior to that.
In July 2024, the police were called in after a woman was found lying motionless in a first-floor property of a residential block on Taipei's Siwei Road.
The property was said to be the meeting place of a Buddhist group of which Tsai, Lee Wei and Chien were all members. Tsai was said to be an accountant for the group.
An autopsy subsequently revealed that Tsai died of rhabdomyolysis, a condition where muscle breaks down and releases toxic compounds into the bloodstream, potentially causing kidney failure.
CCTV footage taken from the evening of July 24 showed Lee Wei, Tsai, the group's chief executive named Wu, and a woman named Chiang, attending a study session at a restaurant in Taipei.
Lee Wei, Wu and Chiang were then, according to prosecutors, seen pushing Tsai's body back to the Siwei Road flat in a trolley and dumping it there without informing the authorities.
Tsai's bank accounts, which reportedly had over TWD1mil (S$41K), were also emptied out after her death.
Taiwanese reports subsequently claimed that Tsai was tortured to death by the group's leader, Buddhism writer Wang Yun, after the latter was unhappy with the way group's finances were accounted.
Wang Yun was said to have 'punished' Tsai by asking her to repeatedly go on both knees and apologise. It eventually resulted in Tsai collapsing.
He instructed his followers, which presumably included Lee Wei, to tie Tsai up with plastic bag and tape before putting her on the trolley.
The Taiwan Taipei District Prosecutor's Office previously named 11 other suspects and four of them have been detained since January.
Lee Wei has since been released on a NT$300K (S$12K) bail while his wife is on a NT$150K (S$6K) bail after they were both summoned to give statements to prosecutors.
Lee Wei entered showbiz in 2000 as a member of pop duo Wewe. He also starred in Taiwanese dramas such as
Kiss of the Toast (2001) and
My Lucky Star (2007).
He was furthering his showbiz career in China until Covid-19 hit, and after that turned his attention to Buddhism.
Lee Wei showing up at the Criminal Case Registration earlier this week
Lee Wei back in 2005
Do you remember seeing Lee Wei in 2009's
Hi My Sweetheart?
The former star and his Wewe bandmate Yo Wei
Photos: IMDb, Asia Television News, 52guai, 康熙来了/Youtube
