Driver Suspected of Mass Murder-Suicide Allegedly Faced Jail term for Sexual Assault

The plot thickened today in an investigation into a tragic fire that killed 26 people traveling on a coach in Taiwan July 19, 2016.

Yesterday, a forensics report found that the driver, Su Ming-cheng (蘇明成) had been driving drunk, and had stored 5 bottles of gasoline in the drivers compartment. Investigators began considering the possibility that the event may have been a murder-suicide.

Apple Daily reports that a tour guide who previously worked with the bus driver recognized him after pictures of him were published after his funeral yesterday. Apple Daily alleges that he had previously used the name Su Zhong-hua (蘇忠華), and that he had recently been convicted of raping a tour guide in 2014.

The report alleges that Su Ming-cheng took leave last month, and went to court for sentencing. He had already faced civil charges in March this year that required him to pay NT90,000 to the victim. On June 24 he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. The driver resumed duties on July 12.

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