The cremated remains of two monks, at the center of a murder-suicide mystery in Taiwan last week, were taken home by their families and colleagues on a flight which left Wednesday afternoon.

The two monks from the Nanjing-based Ling Gu Temple in eastern Jiangsu Province were found dead at a hotel in Hsinchu city of Taiwan last Wednesday. Police believe Chun Ru, 54, murdered Jing Ran, another monk, and then jumped to his death from the 13th floor of the hotel.

So far the motive for the murder-suicide remains unknown.

"The family members of the two monks are content about how the aftermath was handled here," said Zhu Huaining, director of the Nanjing Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau who headed a six-member team from the mainland to investigate the deaths and handle the aftermath, before leaving Taiwan.

The team, made up of a senior Buddhist leader from the Jiangsu provincial capital Nanjing, family members and two religious affairs officials, arrived here Sunday.

They had listened to a police report. "We think the police investigation is comprehensive...family members (of the monks) have no disagreement," Zhu said.

Police had completed an autopsy with the consent of the monks' family members, before their remains were cremated on Tuesday.

Zhu extended acknowledgment to the efforts made by the Hsuan Chuang Cultural and Educational Foundation (HCCEF), the Taiwan police, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Hsinchu city government.

Jing Ran was abbot of the Ling Gu Temple, and Chun Ru was in charge of the temple's administrative affairs. They were with another four monks in Taiwan for a visit at the invitation of HCCEF.

According to Taiwan police, Jing Ran had been dead for some time before Chun Ru killed himself. There was no evidence that there was a third person present when the crimes happened, Zhu said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2009)