“Mother of Satan” bomber commits suicide in Tainan Detention Center
A man dubbed by Taiwan media as the “Mother of Satan” bomber died of suspected suicide in the Tainan Detention Center two days ago, and an autopsy was carried out on his body today, February 23.
Wu Fu-hong, 49, was found dead in his bed in a cell of the detention center Sunday morning. Wu had a cord wrapped around his neck, and his mouth and nose were stuffed with tissue, and taped up, according to reports.
Detention center staff checked in on Wu when he failed to respond to a roll call at 6:30 am. Wu’s cellmate was up, but unaware that Wu had died, as Wu was covered with a blanket.
An inspection of security footage showed that Wu had covered his whole body and head with the blanket. There was the appearance of a slight struggle under the blanket, but no major movement.
On December 12, 2019, Wu Fuhong, placed a bomb consisting of two bottles containing triacetone triperoxide (TATP) against a wall of the Kuomintang Party headquarters in Houbi District, Tainan City. TATP has been used by terrorist organizations, who often refer to the explosive as “Mother of Satan.” However, the bomb failed to detonate when Wu used a remote control device to trigger an explosion.
Two days, later, Wu was arrested after an intense twelve hour armed standoff with police, during which shots were exchanged.
See previous story: Suspected bomber shot 3 times and arrested after 12-hour stand-off with police
During the stand-off, Wu held a remote control in his hand, threatening the SWAT team not to act rashly, otherwise he would detonate bombs and kill them all. The attempted bombing and subsequent armed stand-off occurred at a sensitive time, just a month before the January 2020 national and presidential elections.
In November 2020, Wu was sentenced to a prison term of 9 years and 6 months on charges of violating firearms and weapons regulations, and obstructing officials in discharge of duties. Wu was in the detention center awaiting a second trial at the time of his death.
During the November trial, judges took into consideration that Wu had a record of continuous medical treatment for mental illness since 2017, and found that his ability to identify illegal behavior was significantly impaired.
Wu’s mother said that her son frequently complained about the conduct of police during his arrest, claiming that they continued shooting after he had lain down, according to a Liberty Times report.
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