Reporters of Times, Wang Jia, Correspondents, Chen Fu, Hu Bing, Zhang Yemin, Li Yong
On the morning of September 4th, a major robbery and murder case occurred in a warehouse at the intersection of Jinshan Town, Hangzhou's Yuhang District and Hangzhou Tea Experimental Field. Among the five victims, the warehouse owner Lou and his wife, as well as carpenter Hua, were killed on the spot, while Lou's parents were severely injured.
After the case occurred, the provincial department, municipal bureau, and Yuhang branch immediately formed a special investigation team to fully carry out detective work.
Yesterday morning, we learned from the police that after more than 500 police officers worked continuously for five days and nights, the "9・4" major robbery and murder case in Yuhang was successfully solved, and the two suspects have been escorted back to Hangzhou.
What exactly happened at the time?
At around 5 p.m. on the day of the incident, Lou Lao (the father of the deceased Lou), who was injured, escaped life-threatening danger after emergency rescue.
According to Lou Lao's recollection, at around 11 a.m. that day, he and carpenter Hua successively rode motorcycles back to the warehouse for lunch, with only about a ten-minute difference between them. After returning to the warehouse, Lou Lao was forced into a room by a robust man with a knife.
After entering the room, he discovered another thinner man with a knife inside. His wife, son, and carpenter Hua were already under control.
At this moment, the sound of a car stopping was heard outside. Lou Lao knew that this was his daughter-in-law Wu coming back, so he shouted loudly for her to run away. However, Wu ultimately still entered the room, and the two criminals tied her up.
The two criminal suspects demanded 50,000 yuan from Lou and threatened him to reveal the password of his bank card, then began their brutal killings...
In the end, the suspects stole a black motorcycle belonging to carpenter Hua, one of Lou's bank cards, and cash from Wu's bag.
How did the police solve the case so quickly?
Three people were killed, and two were seriously injured, making it the largest malicious murder case in Zhejiang Province in recent years.
After the case occurred, the police faced enormous pressure and quickly formed a special investigation team consisting of officers from the provincial department, municipal bureau, and Yuhang branch.
Soon, information feedback came back: at 15:13 on the day of the incident, a man used the victim's bank card to withdraw 1,900 yuan from an ATM machine at No. 588 Stadium Road of a certain bank.
The police quickly retrieved the ATM surveillance footage and sent the picture of the person withdrawing money to Lou Lao for identification. Pointing at the man in the photo, Lou Lao said, "It's him!"
The police analyzed that the suspects likely fled first on a motorcycle towards Lin'an, then entered Hangzhou from Lin'an.
Thus, through visits conducted by the police forces of Yuhang, Lin'an, and Xiacheng, including 65 bus drivers across 10 bus routes, over 600 motorcycle taxi and rickshaw drivers, more than 1,000 people from over 600 hotels, baths, internet cafes, restaurants, etc., and over 2,000 local residents from 300 households, and by analyzing and sorting through over 1,000 hours of surveillance video, the escape route of the suspects gradually emerged. The identities of the two suspects were finally confirmed as 30-year-old Wang Baotao and 23-year-old Wang Xijie, both from Beiqu Village, Pingxiang County, Hebei Province, who may have already fled back to their hometown.
"Our officers rushed hastily to Hebei wearing short sleeves because the lowest temperature in the suspects' hometown is now only about 18℃," said Deputy Director Fei Yuezhong of the Yuhang Public Security Bureau. During the five days and five nights of investigation, many officers didn't even touch a bed and never ate a meal at the dining table.
"Why did you come so fast?" This was the first sentence the two suspects said when they saw the police.
Why did they choose to commit the crime in Yuhang? Why were they so ruthless?
The police learned that in mid-August, Wang Xijie and Wang Baotao conspired in their hometown to "make some money for business."
What they called "making money" was actually robbery, and they had planned that if the victims resisted, they would kill them.
On the morning of August 21st, the two boarded a train heading south. In Zhengzhou, Wang Xijie bought two knives, two pairs of gloves, two umbrellas, two pairs of sunglasses, and a large roll of duct tape as tools for committing the crime. They believed that cities like Shanghai and Hangzhou were harder to target, so they took a vehicle to small towns around Hangzhou to look for targets.
On September 3rd, the two passed by the location where the incident occurred. Seeing the warehouse located in the mountains with almost no nearby houses, and observing oil barrels placed in the warehouse, they concluded: this family must be wealthy. Thus, they decided to commit the crime.
On the morning of the 4th, they returned to the vicinity of the warehouse. Around 10 a.m., Wang Baotao entered the warehouse yard under the pretext of asking for water, subsequently controlling Lou and four others, and then began the robbery and killing.
The police said that during their escape, the two suspects originally planned to commit further crimes along the way but failed to do so due to various reasons.
We learned that the medical expenses required by the severely injured couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lou, amounted to more than 300,000 yuan. Currently, the police officers and local residents of Yuhang have spontaneously donated funds. As of now, they have raised 170,000 yuan in donations.
The police reminded that shops and places with conditions should further strengthen the construction of their own safety prevention facilities, such as the 110 alarm system, surveillance cameras, simple alarm devices, and other technical prevention facilities; in daily life, neighbors should care for and support each other more so that there will be someone to help in case of emergencies; when facing sudden violent cases, one must maintain a clear mind and win opportunities for rescue, reporting, or escape while dealing with the situation, and avoid unnecessary resistance to prevent even worse consequences.