BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
An expert in email technology has taken the stand to support allegations that Mountain View tutor Alice Ku’s husband killed her on a trip to a national park in Taiwan.
Harald Herchen, 66, of Los Altos, received one email from Ku’s account after she disappeared on Nov. 29, 2019.
“Hello Handsome Harald! I got here ok. Since you will be out at your sister’s wedding on my birthday, can you please change my flight to one week later … Love, Alice,” the email said.
Herchen testified that he dropped Ku off at a train station so she could visit her parents, and the email was extending her stay.
Herchen replied with a new flight time and said he would meet Ku in the airport lounge on Dec. 7, 2019.
Expert weighs in
But Dr. Tal Lavian testified on Wednesday that Ku’s email was sent from a laptop connected to the Wi-Fi at Hotel Les Champs in the city of Hualien, where Herchen stayed alone that night.
Ku’s family is suing Herchen for wrongful death and false impersonation, alleging that he logged into Ku’s account and sent the email to himself to pretend that she was still alive.
Lavian, a researcher in internet technology for 40 years, was hired by Ku’s family at the end of 2020 to analyze data from thousands of Ku’s emails that were subpoenaed from Google.
“When you send an email, there’s all kinds of information behind it — basically the envelope that carries the email,” Lavian testified.
Was theory tested?
Herchen’s attorney Chuck Smith asked Lavian if he had tested the Wi-Fi range at the hotel to see if the email could’ve been sent from outside the building.
Lavian said Wi-Fi can extend up to 300 feet, but the signal is degraded by walls or weather. He said he didn’t need to test the Wi-Fi to reach his conclusions.
“It’s simply irrelevant,” Lavian said.
Smith has suggested the email was sent by Ku from a cafe or a park near the hotel, and then she ran off with their younger and better-looking tour guide. Smith hired an investigator in February to test the hotel Wi-Fi’s range.
Taiwanese detective testifies
Li Tsong Su, a detective for Taiwan’s National Police Agency, testified that cell phone data showed Herchen and Ku’s phones going straight from Taroko National Park to the hotel on the day Ku disappeared.
Pictures of their rental car leaving the park and going through intersections also showed a route straight back to the hotel, Su said on Wednesday.
Detectives tried to enhance the pictures to see who was in the car but were unsuccessful, Su said.
Surveillance videos from the train station were deleted after one month, so detectives couldn’t see if Ku actually went there, Su said.
Detectives didn’t find any evidence that Ku and Herchen had a tour guide, Su said.
Attorney critical of search
Smith’s questions for Su were critical of detectives for only interviewing five people, and nobody who worked at the hotel.
Search teams looked for Ku in Taroko National Park for a week, with 20 to 30 people and dogs involved each day, Su said. Taroko National Park is larger than the city of San Jose.
The search focused on areas with past accidents, but without a specific location, it’s nearly impossible to find someone amongst the massive mountains, gorges and valleys, Su said.
The Ku family is seeking money from Herchen, and a jury of 12 will decide their fate.
Read Part 4: Husband testifies
Read Part 6: Verdict
