An Australian exchange student who was allegedly fed rat poison by his older Taiwanese girlfriend has testified at her attempted murder trial in Taipei.
Alex Shorey, then aged 23, was flown back to Australia on a crowd-funded medevac flight in May 2023 after being repeatedly hospitalised with symptoms including black skin spots, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nosebleeds, vomiting and bloody urine – eventually ending up in intensive care.
Prosecutors allege his ex-girlfriend, a widow aged in her late 40s and only referred to by her surname Yang in court, poisoned him with superwarfarin added to a drink of grape juice, and continued to lace his food with the rodenticide while he was in hospital and again after he was discharged.
The brother of Yang’s British ex-husband also appeared at court on Wednesday and pleaded for authorities to reopen an investigation into his sibling’s death, which occurred after he was hospitalised twice with suspected a urinary tract infection during December 2022, the same month Yang met Mr Shorey.
Yang was investigated over the death of her ex-husband, who displayed similar symptoms to Mr Shorey, but prosecutors said in January she would not be indicted as they were unable to determine if he had been poisoned since his body was cremated, and autopsy results and medical reports were inconclusive.
Mr Shorey, a University of Queensland student who was taking part in a Chinese literature program, told the Taipei District Court he and Yang got along well in the beginning and that she wanted an open relationship, which he assumed was because of the recent death of her husband, Focus Taiwan and LTN reported.
But Mr Shorey told the court Yang took his passport, making it impossible for him to access money sent to him by his family, and became jealous of his relationship with the female owner of a tutoring centre where he worked.
Then after he told Yang in March that he was planning to return to Australia the following month, she gave him a strange tasting grape juice drink, Mr Shorey told the court.
He testified that while he was in hospital Yang prevented his doctors from speaking to him in English and insisted they give their explanations in Chinese so she could translate, and said he stayed with Yang after he was released due to being in poor health.
Mr Shorey told the court his doctor father flew to Taiwan to be with him as he recovered in early April, but Yang then gave him a grass jelly drink on April 16 that left him unable to get out of bed, and he was put in intensive care after being rushed back to hospital.
On May 1 Mr Shorey’s mother found an empty container of rat poison at Yang’s home while packing her son’s belongings, which was consistent with what a doctor had privately told him could have caused the illness when he was first hospitalised, according to prosecutors.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office is seeking a prison sentence of at least eight years for Yang, who was filmed leaving court with her face obscured with a black hat, mask and hood before being bundled into a taxi.
After charging Yang prosecutors said in a statement they would allege she poisoned Mr Shorey so he would be forced to remain in Taiwan under her care, and was motivated by “a desire to satisfy her personal needs for control, jealousy, and revenge”.
“Although Alex fortunately did not die, the suffering he endured in Taiwan was immense,” they said.
“He was at constant risk of massive bleeding from various parts of his body and could have died at any moment. The defendant’s actions, methods and post-crime attitude were extremely malicious and there were no mitigating factors to show compassion.”
They also alleged Yang claimed to not know who Mr Shorey was after his arrest.
Mr Shorey was flown back to Australia on May 3 after his family raised $200,000, and doctors confirmed he had “very high levels of toxins” in his body. He also suffered organ damage when his body responded badly to treatment, a Taipei hospital found.
His father, Dr Stephen Shorey, said at the time he believed the repatriation saved his son’s life.
Header image: Left, Alex Shorey in hospital (supplied). Right, Yang leaving court (LTN).
