- Tsai-Wei Hung was evicted in March 2024
- She then began a brutal campaign of revenge
- READ: Country town's heartbreak as beloved grandmother is allegedly murdered and her body is discovered in the smouldering remains of a grassfire
An evicted Taiwanese backpacker turned two homes into firebombed war zones in a terrifying three-month reign of terror after she was kicked out of her share house.
Tsai-Wei Hung, 33, an egg-packer, poured petrol over cars, hurled accelerant at front doors while families slept inside, then demanded $30,000 to stop her campaign of terror.
On Monday, she pleaded guilty to a swag of charges, including four counts of arson, reckless conduct endangering life, burglary, theft, dangerous driving and extortion.
The nightmare began on March 10 last year when landlord Lin Zhang arrived at the Viewbright Road property in Clyde North, in Melbourne's south-east, to evict Hung after months of raging arguments and bizarre behaviour.
What followed was a chilling escalation that left her former flatmates and landlord fearing they would be burned alive.
Hung appeared in the County Court of Victoria via video link from Dame Phyllis Frost Centre where she has been in custody while awaiting justice.
The court heard Hung began her rampage by childishly pelting the homeowner's garage door with eggs.
Things quickly spiralled though with Hung turning her aggression on the home occupants, driving her car at Mr Zhang when he came out to confront her.
Hung then repeatedly drove her car into the garage door, destroying it and three cars inside.
A car goes up in flames after Hung set fire to it
Tsai-Wei Hung, 33, went on a rampage when she was told to leave a share house
She returned again the next day when she again damaged the cars being stored within the garage.
Caught and interviewed by police, Hung told detectives she 'just wanted to scare them.'
But if Mr Zhang thought his troubles ended there, he was sorely mistaken.
She was released on bail, but failed to turn up at court on May 1 that year.
The court heard Hung returned to torment her former landlord again in June, throwing plastic bottles of petrol over the front door of his house and lighting it while three people slept inside.
'She's back, she's back,' the terrified occupants shrieked.
Hung also destroyed two cars at the back of the home, with CCTV showing her pour fuel on them and setting them ablaze with matches.
The next day Hung sent a message to one of Mr Zhang's associates demanding her former landlord pay $30,000 or she would strike again.
'You tell Lin give me $30,000 before 8pm tonight, and everything that happened between us will be gone,' she wrote.
'If I do not get the money today, I cannot ensure I wouldn’t do something again. Please tell him that he and his family have to be careful or they will have the same experience as me, or even lose more than that.'
The terrified family took the warning seriously and fled to a home in Berwick.
But their peace was short-lived, with Hung tracking them down and again dousing the front door of their new home in petrol.
CCTV footage captured the wild moment she repeatedly tossed matches at the fuel until it exploded into flames.
Hung set fire to her housemates' cars after setting the front door alight
Six people had been inside, including an elderly woman and two young children.
'Go to hell,' she shouted in Mandarin before fleeing.
Hung stole a car from a rental company the same day and later obtained $8,900 from a person who innocently bought it off her.
She was arrested that night and has been in jail since.
The court heard Hung's offending had made news in her homeland, with her family in Taiwan quickly learning of her outrageous behaviour.
The backpacker’s vengeful crime spree had gone viral, with YouTube videos about the case racking up millions of views.
She also has pending criminal and civil cases in Taiwan, the latter reportedly related to unpaid debts.
Nine of her victims, including two children, told the court of their horror over the attacks.
The court heard the two children were now terrified of being burned alive, were afraid to sleep alone, brush their teeth alone or be separated from adults.
'I’m scared during the day and I keep worrying that I’ll be burnt to death … I wish Hung had never come into my life,' one child said.
Another child told the court he was worried the trauma might cause his parents to split and asked why police hadn't caught Hung earlier.
'I really loved our old house. My dog Perry is buried in the backyard there, and leaving it behind makes me very sad,' the child said.
Hung's victims said the entire household slept with one eye open for months, with adults taking turns guarding the house with sticks.
Hung is seen outside a home in Berwick, which she attempted to set alight after tracking down her former landlord
'Hung is ten times more dangerous and insane than the girl from the Netflix series Baby Reindeer,' Mr Zhang told the Herald Sun at the time.
Hung, who had been on a working holiday visa and employed as an egg packer, moved into the share house in December 2023.
She reportedly immediately began causing problems, flying into rages over trivial issues, such as household chores or noise.
As their relationship deteriorated, Hung began regularly calling her landlord, demanding he kick the others out.
When her deposit was returned, Hung took it badly.
'That’s when the nightmare began,' her landlord told the publication.
Hung will be sentenced at a later date.
