The jury orders her husband to pay 23.6 million US dollars about the alleged death of his wife – Palo Alto Daily Post

By Braden Cartwright
Daily Post Staff Writer

The parents of Mountain View Alice KU awarded 23.6 million dollars by her husband, who was accused of killing her in a national park in Taiwan.

Harald Herchen, 66, from Los Altos, held a straight face while the verdict was read against him, and the von Kus family began crying in the courtroom in San Jose.

“I am only overcome by emotions. I am glad that after five and a half years of justice will finally be served,” said Brother George Ku afterwards.

The jury achieved its judgment in about two hours and ended an emotional two-week legal proceedings with statements by Herken, KuS siblings and dad, a Taiwanese police officer, two doctors, an email expert and an investigator who was looking for KU. The process examined KUS education, family life and secret marriage to Herken in October 2017. It disappeared on November 29, 2019 in the Taroko National Park in the Taroko National Park.

Outside of the courtroom, the jurors said they felt that something was not because Herchen showed no emotions about KU as if they had a loving marriage.

The jurors said parts of Herchen's story have no sense, as he said he had carried three phones in a pocket or tried to inflate a car tire with a bicycle pump.

Experts who were brought in by the Kus side were convincing, and Herchen had no proof that he had put KU at a train station on which he claimed that he last saw her, the jurors said.

Kus family did not give up

The day began with the conclusion of arguments of the lawyer Todd Davis, who represented the parents of Ku in her illegal lawsuit against Hersten.

“He thought he got through with it,” said Davis. “But he didn't rely on the determination and endurance of Alice's family.”

Davis focused on three evidence to show that Herchen ku killed – cell phone data, a fake e -mail and a mysterious broken hand.

Hearts said he put Ku off at a train station after visiting the Taroko National Park, but on Wednesday the Taiwanese detective Li Tsong SU said that the data from mobile phone stars showed that their phones went back to the hotel.

After she disappeared from a laptop in the Hotel Wi-Fi, in which Herchen opened, an email was sent from the KU account in which the internet communication expert Tal Lavian was issued.

Contradictable stories about broken hand

Herb broke his hand on the trip to Taiwan and he gave different stories about what happened. He said the injury was from the wrestling with his brother, who hit a bookshelf and inflate a car tire with a bicycle pump.

Dr. Katherine Putz said on Tuesday that she saw Herrhcen on December 1, 2019 at Dring Care in Mountain View. Herchen told her that the injury was of the day that KU had disappeared, and the fracture was consistent with one blow, said Putz.

“He has a story in which he told cover stories when things are not comfortable for him,” said Davis.

Herb was represented by lawyer Chuck Smith, who began his final argument with a film that shows a black silhouette with a white question mark entitled “Alice Ku: A Woman of Mystery”.

Smith said Ku lied to the conclusion of the UC Berkeley. Smith said Ku said Herchen that he should have a cover story about how to meet, and she distanced herself from everyone in her family apart from her eldest sister.

Motif?

Herben had no motive to kill Kuen that was part of the most enriching parts of his life, said Smith. They visited historical sites and natural miracles all over the world and worked together on a tutoring app.

Ku and Herchen went to Taiwan seven times in their two -year marriage and never contacted her parents while she was there. Her brother lived in Redwood City and recently had a baby, but she only saw him twice when she lived in Sunnyvale, Smith said. The parents of KU had no birthday gifts or news that showed a strong relationship, said Smith.

Herben didn't look for Ku because he believed that she had run with her guide, who looked younger and better, said Smith.

The jury was not told by KuS past

What the jury did not know is that KU supposedly worked as an escort, and so she hit Herken online. Davis and Smith agreed that their alleged past as a sex worker was not part of the case for death.

The jury was commissioned to decide whether Herchen's behavior was an “essential factor” for the death of KUS.

There is no fixed standard that the jury informed how he gives damages in civil proceedings. The instructions they have received apply to an “reasonable amount based on the evidence and their common sense”.

The jury received a life expectancy table in which their decision was informed about how much they are the parents of Ku, both of whom are 75 years old and live in Taiwan.

The next step in this case will be to collect the money from Herchen who works as an investor at Bloom Energy. He said he owned around eight properties in the area and lives comfortably.

“There are no winners here,” said investigator Andrew Watters. “Alice is gone and she doesn't come back. But at least the family now has some closings.”