By Hu Dake and Bai Jianbin of our newspaper, and Gong Zheng, a correspondent for our newspaper.
On November 4th, justice was finally served. Exactly ten years ago, two suspects committed a murder in the bustling Wanxiang Park in Hangzhou. They were extradited from Jinan, Shandong back to Hangzhou. On the evening of November 4th, 2000, a young couple was killed by them. The male victim was named Zuo Li, 18 years old, and the female victim was named Jin Jing, 19 years old.
The news of the case being solved quickly spread through the streets of Hangzhou. It had been a long-standing worry for the citizens of Hangzhou.
For Hangzhou's criminal investigators, ten years represents two generations. Where are the detectives who worked on the case back then? What were the untold hardships they faced while solving this case? Yesterday afternoon, our reporter revisited six detectives who participated throughout this case to recount the entire decade-long investigation process.
At the same time, we learned that the Hangzhou police will commend the special investigation team. Taking this as an opportunity, our newspaper has collaborated with the Hangzhou police to launch the "Third Annual Top Ten People-Oriented Police Officers" selection event.
In 2000 at the crime scene ——
Every drop of blood in the public restroom must be carefully extracted.
Taking photos is an indispensable part of the crime scene investigation. The investigator who took the photos back then was Xu Liang from the Xiacheng Criminal Investigation Brigade, who is now the deputy director of the Wulin Police Station.
Xu Liang was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene. Once he arrived, his camera didn't stop until he had photographed every detail from the center of the crime scene all the way to Huntu Bridge (where the suspect's blood trail ended). At that time, there were no digital cameras, so he quickly developed the photos, creating a "photo chain" more than a meter long showing the suspect's escape route.
From the evening of November 4th to noon on the 5th, he barely stopped, only eating a cold steamed bun.
Ma Yacheng, currently the captain of the Seventh Squad of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, was also one of the investigators back then. His job was to search for any blood left behind by the suspects. One could say that along the route from Wanxiang Park to Stadium Road, he examined every single patch of grass. There was even blood found in the public restroom next to the park, and Ma Yacheng squatted inside the restroom to carefully extract it. This blood was eventually ruled out as not belonging to the suspects, but Ma Yacheng conducted countless such exclusions.
From 2000 to 2005,
Working day and night to input over 20,000 pieces of information, almost causing him to go blind.
Dong Chi is now the deputy instructor of the Second Team of the First Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Brigade. At the time of the case, he was responsible for collecting and entering all accommodation information in Hangzhou as quickly as possible. For a period of time, he ate and slept in front of the computer, working tirelessly to input over 20,000 accommodation records. He used up three bottles of eye drops, mastered touch typing on computers, and even learned how to type quickly with one hand. A doctor later examined his eyes and found that his intraocular pressure was already very high. If he did not rest promptly, there was a risk of blindness.
Besides investigating locally in Hangzhou, the special investigation team also sent relevant case information to police forces across the country, hoping they would help with the investigation.
On April 20th, 2001, the Henan police arrested a group of mute pickpockets. One of them confessed to having killed someone in a Hangzhou park a year earlier. Cai Zhongfei, then the deputy captain of the First Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, and several detectives immediately rushed to Henan, but they discovered that these individuals' DNA did not match the evidence left at the scene, so they ruled out this lead.
From 2005 to 2010,
"False alarms" occurred every year, but each clue had to be seriously verified.
Wu Xinyan, a tall and slim detective from the Xiacheng Criminal Investigation Brigade back then, is now the captain of the Major Crimes Unit. Over the past decade, whenever valuable leads came from all over the country, he almost always personally went to investigate. Except for Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Hainan, and Tibet, he has traveled to every other province and city.
Zhao Zhijun was the deputy captain of the Xiangshan Criminal Investigation Brigade when the case occurred. Even back then, he participated in the investigation of this case, especially checking for suspicious injuries among local hospital patients. In 2005, he became the captain of the First Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Brigade. The first thing the municipal public security bureau leader said to him was: "I hope you can solve the Wanxiang Park case during your term."
In March this year, the Shanghai police passed on a clue about an Anhui man who was a physical education teacher and had once killed someone in Hangzhou. Zhao Zhijun immediately went to check, but unfortunately, it wasn't him.
Actually, such "false alarms" have happened every year over the past decade, but Zhao Zhijun and the special investigation team must seriously verify every single lead.
From 2004 to the present, including this case, Hangzhou detectives have solved 33 long-standing homicide cases.
Tell us about the good police officers around you
For ten years, the pursuit of justice relied on a spirit of perseverance. We have only found the special investigation team for the Wanxiang Park murder case, and only six members of the team. In reality, nearly a thousand police officers have worked hard on this case, and we simply cannot record them all.
Around us, there are many such police officers. Some fight on the front lines of solving cases, some resolve problems for the people in their communities, and others direct traffic in the snow and wind... Have you encountered a police officer that you can't forget? Are you willing to share those stories that moved you? Please call our hotline at 96068 and tell us. We will share their touching stories with more people. They will be the candidates for this year's "Top Ten People-Oriented Police Officers."