On March 1st, an aspiring model from Taiwan, Naomi Chen who gained popularity online, was tragically raped and strangled to death by a 24 year-old man.
The man whose surname is Cheng, claimed to be a photographer and invited her to a photoshoot in an abandoned shopping mall in Bade Road, Songshan District, Taipei, according to a Taiwanese portal.
What’s most shocking about this case is that this man and the deceased knew each other as she was friends with his girlfriend.
In fact, he invited her to the “photoshoot” through his girlfriend!
After committing the heinous act, he took all of her belongings and disposed of her body in the abandoned mall’s underground carpark. Right after that, he and his girlfriend fled and checked into a hotel in Tai Chung using the girl’s credit card.
It was at the hotel where the man decided to dispose of the model’s phone. However, the next day, a hotel staff member found it and sparked his suspicions given the recent news surrounding the model’s death. He then decided to call the police.
Not long after that, the man and his girlfriend were both arrested right as they were about to leave the hotel.
Under police custody, the man first admitted to murdering but not sexually assaulting her. However, after further evidence of rape surfaced, he then later admitted to having raped her as well.
Suspect Cheng arrested for the murder of an aspiring model
On top of that, he claimed that his girlfriend was also at the scene of the crime and that he was desperate for cash and only wanted to rob her initially.
The man’s girlfriend denied these claims and insisted that she had nothing to do with her friend’s murder.
Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of cases where men had exploited naive young women who usually aspire to be models. Scarily enough, it can actually happen to everybody.
Also read: ‘I Was Kidnapped and Sex Trafficked as a Student. It Can Happen to Anybody’
