A Taiwan court Thursday upheld a death sentence given to a woman who murdered three close family members to claim insurance benefits.
Lin Yu-ru was previously sentenced to two life sentences for murdering her mother and mother-in-law for insurance money to pay off her huge gambling debts. A High Court last year convicted and sentenced Lin to death for killing her husband.
Her appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court Thursday after a hearing last month, reports AFP.
“What she did was cruel and merciless… the pain she caused to her husband’s family was unendurable,” the court ruling said.
Lin had claimed a total of 20 million Taiwan dollars ($678,000) in insurance money for the deaths of her family members which she reportedly orchestrated.
Lin pushed her mother down the stairs at home and she died at the scene. Six months later, she killed her mother-in-law by putting powdered sleeping pills and anti-depressant pills into her IV when she was at the hospital.
Mere weeks later, Lin’s husband died after she poisoned him at home and then added more poison in his IV while he was hospitalized.
She came under suspicion after the insurance companies discovered irregularities in the claims and reported them to police. Lin admitted to the triple murders during the investigation.
