An Australian man who became seriously ill after ingesting rat poison that prosecutors allege was fed to him by his Taiwanese romantic partner testified in the woman's trial for attempted murder in Taipei yesterday.
The victim, Alex Shorey, was a 24-year-old exchange student in Taiwan in 2023 when he was allegedly poisoned with the rodenticide "superwarfarin" weeks before he was scheduled to return home to Australia. Shorey was at the courthouse accompanied by his parents and lawyer.
After ending up in intensive care, Shorey departed Taiwan on a medical evacuation flight, while his partner, a woman in her late 40s surnamed Yang (楊), was charged with attempted murder in December 2024. In their indictment, prosecutors said they are seeking a prison term of at least 8 years for Yang.
Court proceedings yesterday revealed the sequence of events that led to Shorey's severe illness. During testimony in the trial at the Taipei District Court yesterday, Shorey said he and Yang got along well in the early stages of their relationship. At the time, Shorey said, Yang said she wanted to be in an open relationship, which he assumed was because she missed her husband, who had recently died under mysterious circumstances.
The poisoning began after Shorey expressed his intention to return to Australia. On March 24, Yang mixed the rat poison into grape juice and got Shorey to drink it. After doing so, Shorey had diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, persistent nosebleeds, blood in his urine, and blood spots on his skin and tongue. Shorey sought medical treatment at the Taipei Medical University Hospital. On April 10, he was diagnosed at the hospital with superwarfarin poisoning and began receiving treatment.
After being released from hospital, Shorey said he had stayed with Yang, as he was still in poor health. In early April, his father, a doctor, flew out to Taiwan to be with him as he recovered. Yet the poisoning continued. On April 16, Shorey said, Yang gave him a grass jelly beverage. The following day, he was rushed to the hospital after being unable to get out of bed, ultimately ending up in intensive care.
A crucial piece of evidence emerged when the family began packing Shorey's belongings. According to prosecutors, Shorey's mother found an empty container of rodenticide in a wardrobe at Yang's residence when packing her son's things on May 1. This discovery prompted his parents to alert hospital staff to the suspected poisoning.
On April 26, Shorey's father initiated a crowdfunding campaign to raise enough money for a medevac flight back to Australia that was slated for the morning of May 3. Shorey ultimately left Taiwan on a medivac flight on May 3, 2023.
The defendant continues to plead not guilty, with prosecutors seeking an eight-year prison sentence. The discovery triggered the criminal investigation that resulted in Yang's prosecution, with Shorey now seeking justice after a lengthy rehabilitation process.