In November 2014, Liou Jhih-Ming became dissatisfied when his cohabiting girlfriend Cheng broke up with him and severed all contact. On the morning of 3 December that year, he carried a hammer he had purchased and shortened the previous day, rode his mother's light motorcycle to Cheng's residence but failed to locate her. He then rode the motorcycle to Hello Market beside Zuoying District, Kaohsiung City. At approximately ten minutes before 10:49 AM at a public parking space in Zuoying District, he happened to see victim Female A returning from purchasing vegetables at Hello Market, approaching her car parked there. As she attempted to enter the driver's seat, Liou Jhih-Ming suddenly conceived the intent to knock her unconscious with the carried hammer and forcibly take Female A's vehicle for his own use. He approached and struck Female A on the left side of her head once with the hammer, causing her to collapse onto the right front seat of the vehicle and lose the ability to resist. Liou Jhih-Ming immediately sat in the driver's seat of the vehicle and closed the door. To prevent being obstructed during the robbery of the vehicle, he formed definite intent to kill. Upon observing signs that Female A was appearing to regain consciousness, he swiftly struck her head heavily with the hammer, then moved Female A to the rear seat and continued striking her head repeatedly with the hammer. In total, Female A received 14 heavy hammer strikes to the head.
He inserted the key into the ignition and attempted to start the vehicle and depart, but the gear was equipped with an anti-theft lock rendering the vehicle unable to move. Liou Jhih-Ming prepared to question Female A, then noticed her handbag, took it and ransacked it. While the victim was unconscious and severely injured in the vehicle, Liou sexually assaulted Female A before ultimately robbing her of NT$2,000.
Subsequently, he concealed Female A on the floorboard in front of the right rear seat of vehicle, locked the car from outside, and departed riding the motorcycle. Female A ultimately died before police discovered the body by breaking the window at approximately 7:55 PM that day, due to depressed comminuted fractures of the parietal and frontal bones of her head accompanied by extensive bleeding.
First instance trial (2015): Sentenced to death. Fourth retrial (2024): Sentence changed to life imprisonment, judgment finalised the same year.
The grounds for resentencing held that this was a random, incidental robbery-murder lacking planning, and therefore did not constitute one of the most serious crimes, warranting commutation to life imprisonment.
In this case, a psychiatric assessment and a pre-sentencing social investigation were carried out; the pre-sentencing social investigation involved not only psychiatrists and psychologists but also social workers who assisted with the assessment.