BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A Los Altos resident whose wife disappeared in Taiwan took the stand yesterday (July 16) to defend himself against accusations from her family that he killed her in a park known for its treacherous cliffs.
Harald Herchen, 66, said he was happily married to Mountain View tutor Alice Ku before she went missing on Nov. 29, 2019. They traveled internationally around 20 times in their two-year marriage and were working on a tutoring app together called Inspired Learning.
“I enjoyed being with her a lot,” Herchen said July 16 at the Old County Courthouse in San Jose.
Herchen was straight-faced throughout his testimony, which started with questions from his attorney Chuck Smith.
Hand injury lie
Attorney Todd Davis, representing the Ku family, had Herchen admit to previously lying under oath about a hand injury and how he met Ku.
Herchen said he “pinky swore” with Ku that he would tell others they met at Stanford’s Rodin Sculpture Garden, when they actually met online.
“I considered that to be similar in severity as, let’s say, a deposition,” Herchen said of the pinky promise.
Herchen and Ku were married at the Santa Clara County Clerk’s Office on Oct. 6, 2017. They didn’t invite any family at Ku’s request, and their marriage remained a secret until her disappearance.
“I’m a guy, and I go with what the woman wants,” Herchen said.
Wanted to meet her family
Herchen said he particularly wanted to meet Ku’s niece, who was a cellist at The Juilliard School in New York. Herchen said he plays piano and would’ve loved to duet with her on classical music.
Davis asked why Ku didn’t want her parents to know about their marriage — because Herchen was 25 years older? Because she was his third wife? Or because he didn’t have a good relationship with his children?
Herchen said Ku didn’t want to tell her parents because he is Caucasian.
Davis pointed out that one of Ku’s sisters married a Caucasian man who was welcomed into the family.
Herchen said he didn’t know about Ku’s brother-in-law, and he wanted to be involved in her important relationships.
“I tried to gently move her in that direction,” he said.
About Herchen
Herchen was born in West Germany, grew up in rural Alberta and joined the Canadian military after high school. He spent 12 years working on military technology and went to the Canadian equivalent of West Point, where the motto was “truth, duty, valor.”
“That was instilled almost every day,” he said.
Herchen moved to Stanford to get a PhD in mechanical engineering in 1994, and then he spent 16 years working at Applied Materials. He joined Bloom Energy in 2009, where he works as an inventor and fellow who has obtained 50 to 60 patents.
Herchen said he’s made enough money to live comfortably and owns eight properties in the area.
In a previous deposition, Herchen said he met Ku on Backpage or Craigslist when she was working as an escort. But he didn’t mention that meeting in front of the jury yesterday because Judge Beth McGowen has ruled that Ku’s alleged past as a sex worker isn’t part of the case.
Considered divorce
Herchen said he considered divorcing Ku a few weeks into their marriage because she asked to be added as an owner on his properties. Herchen said he felt like that needed to be earned with time, and he was concerned she was in the marriage for money.
Both Ku and Herchen consulted attorneys who told them Ku would only have a claim to money that Herchen earned after their marriage, and the issue died down.
Together, Ku and Herchen enjoyed the opera, Michelin-star restaurants and archaeology, Herchen said.
Ku had an idea for a tutoring app, and Herchen said he wrote her software specifications and reached out to developers. They met in person with companies around the Bay Area and eventually hired someone to build an app, which went live around the time of Ku’s disappearance and made around $50, Herchen said.
Herchen said he spent around $50,000 and 200 hours on the company.
“Her idea was very special,” he said.
Regular trips to Taiwan
Herchen traveled to Taiwan for work and brought Ku with him seven times. On their final trip, they stopped at a historic Dutch fort, limestone caves and a night market before arriving at Hotel Les Champs in the city of Hualien.
“It was typical,” Herchen said.
After sightseeing in Taroko National Park, Herchen said he dropped Ku off at the Hualien train station so she could visit her parents.
But Ku’s family said she never left the park, and Herchen sent an email from Ku’s account to fake that she was alive.
Davis quizzed Herchen yesterday on his phones, Ku’s phones and the devices they shared for their tutoring app. Herchen said he was carrying three iPhones in his pocket after he dropped off Ku, and she had a Samsung Galaxy with no SIM card.
Davis was caught off guard because Herchen testified in a previous deposition that he had two iPhones, not three.
Herchen’s search
Davis asked Herchen what he did to search for Ku. Herchen said he gave her family her computer data, looked through their apartment for any clues and returned to Taoyuan International Airport on Dec. 7, 2019, to meet Ku for her flight home.
Davis asked Herchen why he flew back after waiting 14 hours at the airport and making one phone call to Ku.
“If she didn’t show up, that’s a result of her decisions,” Herchen said. “I fully respected her wishes.”
Davis compared Herchen’s response to Ku’s brother George Ku, who immediately called police, posted flyers, hired an attorney and filed for a conservatorship to subpoena her records.
Herchen said he believes Ku is still alive and ran off with their tour guide, who was younger and better looking. He said he wasn’t equipped to search for Ku because Taiwan is a large country, and he doesn’t speak Mandarin.
“I wouldn’t know where to start,” he said.
