1.
Incident time: October 2004
Summary of the case: The murderer of the nunnery murder case cried out in court, and the judge "cut the knife and left the person behind". The evidence of the conviction has been questioned, and as a forensic expert, I have become the center of public opinion
I need to eliminate the doubts raised by the lawyer one by one, so that the evidence can be like nails, one by one, to nail down the crime and prove my innocence.
On that day, the fate of the forensic expert was forced to be tied to a death row inmate for a full 8 years.
Some people accuse him of perjury, while others say he is not trustworthy. There was a slight mistake, the death row inmate was released from prison and he went in himself.
This story is not just about the fate of a forensic expert, but the case behind it has improved the entire investigation process in the region.
The courtroom was spacious, and any sound sounded particularly loud.
The defendant Tian Hua has committed intentional homicide and is sentenced to death... to be executed immediately. "The old judge read out the last paragraph loudly and put down the execution order in his hand.
As the oldest criminal judge in the Intermediate People's Court, today is likely to be his last time delivering a verdict in court.
The people listening have started to walk out one by one, whispering to each other and making a vague buzzing sound.
Suddenly, an unusually loud voice came from the defendant's seat: 'I am innocent! I did not kill anyone!'"
People stopped in their tracks, and the old judge also looked up in surprise, all eyes fixed on the man in the defendant's seat.
The old judge has been working for over 30 years and has seen hundreds of death row inmates. After years of trials, these people had foreseen the outcome and were mostly in a daze and silence at the last moment of being sentenced. But this Tian Hua, from the moment the execution order was read out, kept repeating the same sentence: 'I am innocent! I did not kill anyone!'"
The courtyard was eerily quiet, with cries of injustice echoing around.
The file of a murder case can reach hundreds of pages, and the old judge who is not the handler only has one execution order in his hand now.
Tian Hua was carried out of the courtyard, his shouting becoming louder and more hoarse. The old judge's mind is becoming increasingly uncertain.
The person who read out the execution order today should not have been him. The judge in charge of the case suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized, and the old judge helped to make a cameo appearance.
I'm about to retire, and the old judge doesn't want any wrongful convictions at this time. Watching Tian Hua being taken out of the courtroom, he did not follow to the execution ground, but instead called out to the deputy prosecutor, "I am worried that there may be mistakes in the case and that someone will be left behind
When I heard the phrase 'leave someone at the edge of the knife', the case was remanded for retrial two weeks later.
Pushing open the door of the conference room, the director, deputy procurator general of the procuratorate, and the female prosecutor in charge of the case were already waiting for me. They still maintained the posture of chatting the previous second, but when they saw me come in, they didn't speak for a moment.
The air in the room seemed to suddenly condense, and three people sat facing me, standing upright.
The key point of the case still lies with forensic scientist Liao. We are here to confirm some details again, "said the deputy prosecutor first, with a polite attitude.
Two years ago, the forensic expert in charge of the Tian Hua case was my colleague. Later, he was transferred back to his hometown and I took over.
It wasn't a case that I followed all the way down, and I felt a bit uneasy in my heart, so when I first got the case information, the first thing I looked at was the evidence.
After Tian Hua was arrested, he clearly realized something. He confessed up to 9 times before and after, initially admitting guilt. When the case came into my hands, he began to repeatedly overturn his previous testimony and defend himself innocent.
Although the testimony was unstable and there were some flaws in the case handling process back then, fortunately, there were bloodstains left by Tian Hua at the crime scene - this is ironclad evidence of the conviction.
I calmed down and pulled out hundreds of photos from my portfolio. After arranging them in a row, two-thirds of the long conference table was occupied.
The female prosecutor picked up one of them and asked with a somewhat questioning tone.
I explained while handing her several photos, all from the crime center scene.
That is a nunnery with two floors. On the first floor of the Buddhist temple, the golden Guanyin statue has a peaceful and compassionate face. On the second floor, the murderer carried out a killing spree above her head, and two nuns fell to the ground on the second floor, their originally plain robes soaked in bright red blood.
One of the nuns clearly experienced a struggle, but only caused minor injuries to the murderer. We extracted bloodstains from the 'third person' inside the house.
The murderer showed no mercy and was fatally stabbed. Blood kept gushing out, gradually spreading throughout most of the room, dripping and soaking the second floor floor.
The floor of the room was covered in mottled 'blood shoe prints', but they all came from two victims. The murderer deliberately took off his shoes in order to leave no trace. He was very careful, but did not notice that his socks were stained with blood.
So, on the way to the room, the killer left a glaring "blood sock mark".
The padlock on the red merit box was casually thrown aside, and the money inside had been looted. A few scattered coins were also submerged in this pool of blood
The golden Guanyin's almond shaped eyes closed slightly. If she had any spirit, she would have silently watched the murderer leave.
After reviewing all the photos, the female prosecutor returned to her position and recorded something in her notes.
For death penalty cases that have been remanded for retrial, I know the weight of this statement.
Since the Simpson murder case, there has been an increasing emphasis on the source of on-site evidence in China. The testimony and physical evidence obtained through illegal means will only be "poisonous trees" and can only bear the fruit of "poisonous trees".
I shook hands and bid farewell to the female prosecutor in the hallway. Before leaving, she mentioned the new lawyer who represented this case: 'Lawyer Su has handled many big cases and I heard it's quite difficult to deal with. You need to be mentally prepared.'"
In my opinion, the case itself is ironclad, what tricks can a different lawyer come up with? I smiled at the female prosecutor, thanking her for her kindness.
Soon, I was hit hard by a lawyer's warning.
During that time, I always received calls from female prosecutors early in the morning asking me about the details of the crime scene.
The female prosecutor told me an important piece of news. Lawyer Su met with Tian Hua and raised more than ten major doubts about the case in one go.
I understand that he was trying to emulate the defense process of the Simpson murder case, which ultimately failed to deliver a verdict due to flawed evidence.
During the trial of the Tianhua case, there was a wave of "Simpson fever" in our circle, and we didn't expect that it would somehow connect with my case.
It is indeed the demeanor of having handled major cases. Lawyer Su has grasped a key point - as long as it is proven that the evidence in the case file is suspicious, he has the opportunity to defend the client's innocence.
When I took over this case, I also read the case file repeatedly, and some parts were indeed quite clever, such as the process of Tian Hua's arrest.
After the murder, he did not flee to another city like a normal perpetrator, but continued to operate under the watchful eye of the police. That is an industrial area, mostly inhabited by migrant workers who often change tenants across the street before they even recognize their faces. Tian Hua is hiding among them, which has brought great difficulties to the police investigation.
Seeing that the police's movements were getting quieter and quieter, Tian Hua did something unexpected: carrying a murder case on his back, and even went to a friend's house to steal something, only stealing 300 yuan.
The police arrived and arrested Tian Hua.
He had no legitimate profession before, engaged in theft and gambling, had a long criminal record, and had already been blacklisted by the police.
Wang Mas, who was responsible for the arrest, took out handcuffs and unexpectedly saw the words "Sichuan Emeishan Police Equipment Factory" engraved on them. He suddenly remembered the murder that occurred at the nunnery, where the two nuns who were victims were invited by local businessmen from Mount Emei.
What made Wang Mas' blood surge above his head even more was that Tian Hua had a new wound on his hand! Combining this person's' black history ', an alarm instantly sounded in his mind, and without delay, he escorted Tian Hua to have his blood tested.
The results showed that Tian Hua's DNA matched perfectly with the bloodstains left by the perpetrator at the nunnery scene.
There have been too many cases handled, and this level cannot be considered a coincidence. Working day and night to investigate and gather evidence, we have more than just luck than the killer.
As for why he dared to "take action" after killing someone, Tian Hua has two explanations. At first, he said that his friend owed him a few hundred yuan and didn't pay it back, so he wanted to go and get something to offset the debt. Later, he refused to admit it again, saying that the person who called the police had a grudge against him and that he was framed.
Tian Hua's fickleness and the new lawyer's tireless efforts have made me more cautious about the evidence in my hands.
My opponents clearly realize that this is a case of 'confession leads to death'.
I need to eliminate the doubts raised by the lawyer one by one, so that the evidence can be nailed to the crime like nails, one by one.
The first 'nail' was at the scene of the crime.
Opening the padlock on the door, I reached out and pushed open the iron gate of the nunnery, and the rusty bolt made a piercing "creak" sound. Although it is a nunnery, it appears to be a somewhat rudimentary two-story building from the outside.
In Guangdong, there are many followers of Guanyin. If it weren't for the murder, the incense towers would have been built high and the burnt ashes would have accumulated layer after layer.
Now, this place is like an abandoned scene. In the first one or two months of lifting the lockdown, nearby villagers still came to clean up, but soon no one came to visit anymore.
In the two years after the murder, dust invaded every corner of the temple, and I walked past wearing shoe covers, leaving a clear trail of footprints on the ground.
Entering through the gate is the first floor Buddhist temple, and in the center of the shrine, the golden porcelain Guanyin statue, which is over 1 meter high, still stands there.
Despite being covered in dust, the statue of Guanyin still has a compassionate face. The bloodshed occurred in the room directly above the statue.
I instinctively raised my hand to bow down, but suddenly realized that this was the crime scene and not quite suitable, so I had to give up.
I don't know if Tian Hua, like me, was momentarily shaken when he passed by the Guanyin master who saved all sentient beings with a knife.
Looking around the dilapidated Buddhist temple, I sighed and walked towards the second floor, which was the area where two nuns lived and also the central scene of the case.
Although the bloodstains that originally covered the floor have been cleaned up, there are still large dark imprints left on the floor. A long table with only a paper drawer standing alone on top. It was here that we extracted the dripping bloodstains of Tian Hua.
There is a horizontal window on the second floor, and from the initial on-site photos and traces, it appears that Tian Hua entered the scene through this horizontal window.
But this has been questioned by Lawyer Su. This horizontal window is 60 centimeters wide and less than 30 centimeters high, with a flat and narrow opening and no footholds on the outside. He raised a question, can a narrow window allow an adult male to pass through?
Now, this window is right in front of me.
I stood on a stool, leaned close to the window, and sprinkled dust on it.
Outside the window, the security guard who was similar in size to Tian Hua paused for a few seconds and began to grope his way into the side window, trying to squeeze himself into that small opening.
The atmosphere was tense, and everyone was staring at the horizontal window. The security guard outside is facing away from us, constantly swaying his hips and moving forward.