Taiwan man, in jail for choking son, 5, to death, sends ex-wife letter threatening to kill her family

A man, who was sentenced to life imprisonment and permanent deprivation of political rights for suffocating his five-year-old son to death while drunk, sent his ex-wife a letter threatening to kill her entire family from a detention centre in Keelung, Taiwan.

The incident occurred on Jun. 1, about a year after the man, surnamed Jian, killed his son in May 2025, Taiwan media reported.

Letter

The contents of the letter, which was written in Chinese, contained threats directed at Jian’s ex-wife, who is the mother of the child who died, and her family.

He alleged that her siblings “talked nonsense” during his hearing.

Jian also apparently knew that the prosecution had appealed for the death penalty.

This was after Jian was sentenced to life imprisonment, but had been ready to be executed.

“You'd better pray to your ancestors that it succeeds,” he wrote in the letter.

Jian added that the judge did not let his family “hold a funeral”.

“After I get out, I know exactly where every one of your family members lives. I will definitely exterminate your family. If you don't believe me, just wait and see. Ha ha ha,” he concluded.

The letter bore Jian’s signature.

Criticised

When Jian’s ex-wife received the threatening letter, it reportedly alarmed her family.

They also criticised the detention centre for allowing the letter to be sent.

The detention centre issued a statement expressing condolences to the family and condemning Jian’s action.

It explained that its correspondence inspection procedures are strictly carried out in accordance with detention laws in Taiwan.

To protect detainees' right to confidential communication, detention centre personnel inspect detainees' letters for concealed prohibited items unless they meet specific statutory conditions, which Jian had not previously met.

The content of their letters may not be read word-for-word by law.

The detention centre claimed that when the letter was sent, it appeared completely normal, and it contained no prohibited items.

There was apparently no way to know its content in advance.

Jian has been transferred to another detention facility under tightened supervision.

Suffocation

In May 2025, Jian was reportedly unhappy that his ex-wife wanted to file for divorce and was seeking custody over their children.

When the pair argued, he reportedly pushed her, causing her to fall onto the ground.

She later lodged a police report and applied for a personal protection order.

While waiting for the protection order to be issued, she wanted to take their son back to her parents' home.

However, Jian had already picked him up from school and dropped him off at his ex-wife's parents' home.

While his five-year-old son was taking a nap, he was reportedly drinking alcohol.

He then suffocated the boy with a pillow before fleeing the scene and driving off while still under the influence.

Sentencing

Jian was sentenced to life imprisonment and permanent deprivation of political rights in April 2026 for the offence.

According to Jian’s ex-wife's brother, Jian told the judge that he wanted to be sentenced to death and “will not appeal”.

He purportedly showed remorse during sentencing.

However, Jian's attitude apparently changed after the victim's family and the prosecution appealed against the sentencing.