Taiwanese woman jailed for trying to kill Queensland lover with rat poison

A Taiwanese woman who attempted to murder a Queensland university exchange student with rat poison has been sentenced to 11 years and two months in prison. Alex Shorey, from Toowoomba, was 24 when he was admitted to hospital in northern Taiwan in 2023 several times before his parents secured a medical charter flight to bring him home. In late 2024, Yang Chin-ping – a woman in her 40s with whom Shorey was in an on-and-off-again relationship – was charged with attempted murder.

Shorey had been in Taiwan for almost a year, undertaking a Chinese language exchange program. He had planned to cut off contact with Yang before his return to Australia, a Taiwanese court heard. Yang had poisoned the student to prevent him from leaving, by forcing him to receive her care, prosecutors said.

Local media reported that in one instance, Yang created a form refusing Shorey’s admission into intensive care, which she tricked the young man’s father into signing. Prosecutors said Yang mixed rat poison into Shorey’s food and drink at least three times in 2023, first in March when she added it to grape juice, causing Shorey to be hospitalised with nosebleeds and a stomach ache. In April, Shorey was diagnosed with a suspected poisoning of a substance similar to superwarfarin, or rat poison.

Shorey was poisoned a third time on April 16, at which point his father, Stephen Shorey, was in the country arranging for his son to return home to Australia for treatment. The court heard she mixed the poison with a synthetic stimulant and added it to a meal. Shorey’s father insisted his son was admitted to intensive care, despite the letter Yang had created.

The student’s condition worsened to the point of organ failure, followed by severe allergic reactions to his treatment. He was flown to Brisbane on a medical charter flight in early May, and taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital upon his arrival. In 2023, Shorey’s parents said that medical repatriation probably saved their son’s life.

Testifying in March this year, Shorey’s mother told the court she discovered an empty bottle of superwarfarin in her son’s rented apartment while cleaning it. Yang denied she had intended to use the poison on Shorey, insisting instead it was for herself, as she was struggling with the loss of her husband. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights.

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