Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - A 40-year-old Pingtung man was beaten to death by the husband of one of his female Facebook friends yesterday.
The deceased was Chuang Shi-chang, owner of a gift shop in Hengchun, Pingtung.
He and a woman surnamed Chen, who is married to 34-year-old Chou You-huang, were Facebook friends.
Chuang's jealousy exploded after noticing a series of intimate exchanges between Chen and Chou on the social networking website.
Chen, in a Facebook status update, wrote, ¿I want to get McDonalds! Which nice man will take me there?" Chuang responded: ¿I am about to arrive at your house!"
In his Internet posts, Chuang also frequently referred to Chen as his ¿wife."
Although Chen later explained to Chou that she had never met up with Chuang, her husband did not believe and called and texted Chuang, using Chen's phone.
The two men decided to meet up at a snack bar along a Hengchun highway.
According to investigators, witnesses said Chou arrived at the snack bar at around 2 a.m. on April 7 with two friends, all three carrying metal sticks. Chou did not believe Chuang had been honest about only being friends with his wife, and he and his friends beat Chuang unconscious, dragged him close to his scooter, then called the police, reporting that they saw a man lying on the ground.
Then they left.
Investigators said that Chuang did not survive due to head trauma and he died of a serious intracranial hemorrhage.
When questioned by the police, Chou said Chuang had been drunk and had a horrible attitude and refused to admit his ¿wrongdoings." He further said he thought Chuang was just in a coma when they left him on the road.
Couple Online, Pregnant in Real Life
In another case of what can happen when the lines between the digital and real worlds become blurred, a 32-year-old Taoyuan man surnamed Wen impregnated a 29-year-old woman surnamed Wang - his ¿wife¿ in an online game with whom he partnered against enemies in the game.
Wang and Wen got along well and the woman stopped going home for days in a row. When Wang's husband finally persuaded her to return home, he sued Wen for seducing and abducting his wife.
In court, Wen claimed that he did not know Wang was already married, a statement Wang refuted. Wen was eventually charged with adultery.
