During his 23 years on the run, Yi Wenfa stayed the longest in Chenzhou, for more than 10 years, because there was work to be done and he had become familiar with people. "I haven't slept a good night's sleep, and several times I dreamed that I was wearing handcuffs." Over the years, he could only behave himself while working outside and dared not argue with anyone.
Reported by Chen Songling of the Legal System Weekly and intern He Tian (text and photos). Yi Wenfa was born in 1957 in Dashi Village, Xiangzi Kou Town, Ningxiang County, Hunan Province. He lost both parents at a young age and was the sixth child in his family, with three elder brothers and two elder sisters. Liu Fucai was Yi Wenfa's neighbor, living just one wall apart. The two families often quarreled over trivial matters. In his youth, Yi Wenfa was very "righteous" and liked to stand up for others, making friends with a group of buddies. After his parents passed away, Yi Wenfa lived with his brother but later moved out due to his sister-in-law's discipline. Because of his poor family conditions, no girl was willing to marry him even at the age of 31.
On the morning of August 15, 1988, Yi Wenfa cut down a tree from the village while chopping firewood. He was discovered by Liu Fucai, who was then a forest guardian, and they had another argument. "He cursed me again as 'childless'," Yi Wenfa said. Thinking about how he was still unmarried at 31 and being cursed like this, he felt he could no longer bear it. He picked up a stick and ran to Liu Fucai's house to warn him. However, Liu Fucai wasn't scared, and the impetuous Yi Wenfa struck him on the head with a stick. Liu Fucai, over sixty years old, fell to the ground immediately.
At around 8 p.m. on the 29th, at the infrastructure construction site of "Shuian Xin Du" in Tiaoma Town, a group of workers were sitting together playing cards when four men came in and asked to check their ID cards. Yi Wenfa, who was enjoying the game, thought "it's bad," and when the plainclothes police showed him the handcuffs, Yi Wenfa sighed deeply, signaling the end of his 23 years of uneasy and worried escape life.
At the end of the interview, Yi Wenfa suddenly grabbed the reporter's hand and said: "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak out my inner pain. I hope those who are fugitives like me will go to the public security organs to surrender as soon as possible, ending the kind of heart-wrenching, inhuman escape life, and have a peaceful sleep."
The pursuit team reported the situation to the director of the Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau, Qi Shaoguang, and received instructions: Yi Wenfa must be captured as soon as possible! Subsequently, Deputy Director Liu Zhi Liang of the Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau made special arrangements for the pursuit work, further increasing the intensity of investigation and capture, seeking breakthroughs from all of Yi Wenfa's social relationships, and fully carrying out the pursuit.
"I've been running for 23 years outside, which is more painful than being in prison," Yi Wenfa said, full of fear and torment.
Yi Wenfa realized he had committed a great crime and hid on the mountain, secretly observing the situation at Liu's home. The next morning, he heard the sound of gongs and drums from Liu's house, knowing that Liu Fucai had been killed by him. He spent several days and nights in the mountain and finally decided to continue fleeing.
His first hiding place was a forest farm in Tonggu, Jiangxi, where several fellow villagers were cutting trees. After working for a year, the forest farm disbanded, forcing him to choose another place. Later, he fled to Yifeng County in Jiangxi, Nandan County in Guangxi, Liling County in Hunan, and returned to Chenzhou several times during this period.
"Some people know I committed a murder case," Yi Wenfa said. Because of his good interpersonal relationships, no one reported him to the public security authorities.
Living every day in constant fear
Former investigating officer Xia Xueyu recalled that in 2005, someone once again reported that "Wang Maizi" had appeared in a mine area in Suxian District, Chenzhou City. Upon hearing this, the investigating officers immediately rushed to the mine area, but the arrest failed again.
It was reported that a man named "Wang Maizi", claiming to be from Anhua, Yiyang, worked in the mine area. He was about 50 years old, 1.67 meters tall, with a rectangular face, dressed plainly, short hair, able to speak Ningxiang dialect and Chenzhou dialect, introverted personality, and extremely cautious. The pursuers basically identified "Wang Maizi" as the suspect Yi Wenfa, but before the small mines in the Manao Mountain mine area were rectified, Yi Wenfa took the opportunity to escape from the mine area early in the morning on the 26th.
On November 29, 2011, the pursuing personnel of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau of Changsha suddenly appeared in front of Yi Wenfa, who was happily playing cards with his colleagues. He sighed heavily, realizing that his escape life had come to an end.
A tragedy caused by a quarrel
After being interrogated by Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau, the suspect Yi Wenfa confessed to the crime of killing the mountain guard Liu Fucai. Currently, the suspect Yi Wenfa has been criminally detained by Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau, and the case is under further investigation.
"One number" target of the "Clear Net Action"
Recently, in Ningxiang County Detention Center, the reporter of the Legal System Weekly met Yi Wenfa, who was full of regret. At the end of the interview, he suddenly grabbed the reporter's hand and said: "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to let me express my inner pain. I hope those who are fugitives like me will go to the public security organs to surrender as soon as possible, ending the kind of heart-wrenching, inhuman escape life, and have a peaceful sleep."
When the reporter asked if he missed his family after so many years of escape, Yi Wenfa lowered his head and told the reporter, "Not really, because they don't care about me much either." He said that he returned home several times in the past 23 years, but generally at night. He never brought anything back for his family when he went home.
One midnight, Yi Wenfa rushed back home to pack clothes and then began his escape life filled with fear and nightmares. "I didn't dare to take a bus or walk on the main road; I always detoured through the mountains," Yi Wenfa said, changing his name to Yi Jianwen, with the nickname "Wang Maizi."
Yi Wenfa recalled that one day while he was taking a bath in the bathhouse, he heard someone outside shouting, "Run fast, they're coming to catch you," and he ran up the mountain in his underwear, staying there for a night before escaping to Tacheng.
Again missing the capture target, the pursuit team of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau did not rush back but continued their work in Chenzhou. During further visits, some people reported that before leaving the mine area on October 26, 2011, "Wang Maizi" had mentioned going to Changsha, but the exact location was unknown. Through nearly a month of intensive investigation, the pursuit team determined that the most likely place the suspect Yi Wenfa might have fled to was Tiaoma Town, Changsha County.
According to this, the pursuing officers analyzed that the possibility of Yi Wenfa still active in the Chenzhou area was extremely high, and they decided to investigate Chenzhou again.
When the reporter asked if he missed his family during these many years of escape, Yi Wenfa told the reporter with his head down, "Not really, because they didn't care about me much." He said that he had returned home several times in the past 23 years, but usually at night. He visited home but never brought anything back for his family.
"In dreams, I dreamt of myself in handcuffs," Yi Wenfa said. Over the years, he dared not stay in hotels, and even when sick, he dared not go to the hospital. Yi Wenfa had considered surrendering several times, "but people around me told me that once in prison, life would be unbearable." So, he ultimately didn't go.
Compared to escaping, Yi Wenfa said he would rather choose to accept legal punishment and serve his sentence honestly. "Being caught is better for me, as I can finally rest easy." Yi Wenfa stated that he knew he ended up on the criminal path due to his impulsiveness back then. "In the detention center, I didn't feel like others said 'life worse than death,'" Yi Wenfa told the reporter. Life here was very regular, and the guards treated him well. "If I had known it would be like this, I should have turned myself in long ago. I know that the law is strict, and I cannot escape."
Because of this incident, Yi Wenfa harbored even greater hatred towards Liu Fucai, leading to increasingly severe conflicts, frequent arguments, and fights. "Every time we argued, he cursed me as 'childless.'"
Based on this, the pursuing team analyzed that the possibility of Yi Wenfa still being active in the Chenzhou area was extremely high, and they decided to investigate Chenzhou again.
Reporter He Ren said that on the day the pursuit team was established, they reviewed Yi Wenfa's activity traces with the officers who handled the case that year.
Director Qi Shaoguang of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau told reporters from the Legal System Weekly that since the Ministry of Public Security launched the "Clear Net Action," Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau has broken down the task of chasing online fugitives, strictly implementing the "six ones" work measures of "one fugitive, one file, one responsible leader, one pursuit team, one pursuit plan, and pursue until the end." Yi Wenfa was listed as the No. 1 target for pursuit, and Captain He Ren of the Criminal Investigation Brigade was clearly appointed as the leader of the pursuit team.
"It's hard to find a girl who wants to be with me, and he goes to her family to say bad things about me." Yi Wenfa said that once, he liked a girl who also had a good impression of him, but after her family visited his home, the girl stopped contacting him. Yi Wenfa found out that it was the neighbor Liu Fucai who told her family unfavorable things about him.