Reported by Chen Songling, intern He Tian of the Legal System Weekly with text and photos. Due to a few words of argument with his neighbor, Yi Wenfa, aged 31, beat his over-sixty-year-old neighbor to death with a stick. Then came a 23-year-long escape across various places.
On November 29, 2011, the pursuing personnel from Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau appeared like divine troops in front of Yi Wenfa, who was happily playing cards with his workmates. With a sigh, he realized that his escape life had come to an end.
Recently, at the Ningxiang County Detention Center, reporters from the Legal System Weekly met with Yi Wenfa, whose face 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 speak out my inner pain. I hope those who are on the run like me go to the public security organs to surrender as soon as possible, ending the anxious and inhumane escape life, and have a sound sleep."
A tragic case caused by an argument
Yi Wenfa was born in 1957 in Majiazhai Group, Dalishi Village, Xiangzi Kou Town, Ningxiang County, Hunan Province. Both of his parents died when he was young. He ranked sixth in the family, with three elder brothers and two elder sisters. Liu Fucai was Yi Wenfa's neighbor, only separated by a wall. The two families often quarreled over trivial matters. When Yi Wenfa was young, he 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 because he could not tolerate his sister-in-law's discipline. Later, he moved out to live alone. Due to his poor family background, no girl was willing to marry him at the age of 31.
"It was hard enough for a girl to fall for me, but he went to her house and spoke ill of me." Yi Wenfa said that once he liked a girl, and the girl also had a good impression of him, but after the girl's family visited his home, she never contacted him again. Yi Wenfa found out that it was his neighbor Liu Fucai who told her family unfavorable things about him.
"He said I was lazy and indulged in eating, drinking, and gambling." Speaking of the past events many years ago, Yi Wenfa was still somewhat agitated.
Because of this incident, Yi Wenfa harbored more hatred towards Liu Fucai, and the conflict escalated, leading to frequent arguments and fights. "Every time we argued, he cursed me to be childless."
On the morning of August 15, 1988, while cutting wood, Yi Wenfa cut a log from the village, which was discovered by Liu Fucai, then the mountain guard. They had another verbal altercation. "He cursed me 'childless' again." Yi Wenfa said that thinking about being 31 years old and unmarried, and being cursed like that, he felt he could no longer bear it. He picked up a wooden stick and ran to Liu Fucai's house to warn him. However, Liu Fucai was not scared, and in a fit of youthful arrogance, Yi Wenfa struck him on the head with a stick, causing the over-sixty-year-old Liu Fucai to fall down instantly.
Realizing that he had committed a serious crime, Yi Wenfa hid on the mountain and secretly observed the situation at Liu's house. The next morning, he heard the sound of gongs and drums from Liu's house and knew that he had killed Liu Fucai. He spent several days and nights in the mountains and finally decided to continue his escape.
"Dreaming of myself wearing handcuffs every night"
One midnight, Yi Wenfa sneaked back home to pack some clothes and then began his escape life filled with fear and nightmares. "I didn't dare to take buses or walk on major roads; I always detoured through the mountains," Yi Wenfa said, changing his name to Yi Jianwen with the nickname "Wang Maizi."
His first hiding place was a forest farm in Tonggu, Jiangxi, where there were several fellow villagers cutting trees. After working there for a year, the forest farm was disbanded, and he had to find another place. Later, he fled to Yifeng County in Jiangxi, Nandan County in Guangxi, Liling County in Hunan, and even returned to Chenzhou several times.
In October 2004, the Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau received information that Yi Wenfa, under the alias "Wang Maizi," was engaged in mining and illegal trading of ore in Manao Mountain Mine Area in Suchuan District, Chenzhou City. An informant said that "Wang Maizi" could speak fluent Chenzhou dialect and cohabited with a mistress locally. The Ningxiang police immediately organized a pursuit team to capture Yi Wenfa.
Yi Wenfa recalled that one day while taking a bath in a bathhouse, he heard someone shouting outside, "Hurry up and run, they're coming to catch you!" Scared, he ran up the mountain in his underwear, spending a night there before escaping to Taling.
"Some people know that I've committed murder." Yi Wenfa said that due to his good interpersonal relationships, no one reported him to the public security authorities.
For so many years, he dared not stay in hotels or even seek medical treatment when sick. Yi Wenfa had thought of surrendering several times, "but people around me told me that if I entered prison, I would neither be able to live nor die." So he ultimately did not surrender.
During his 23-year escape, Yi Wenfa stayed in Chenzhou the longest, for more than ten years, because there was work to do and he was familiar with the place. "I haven't slept a good night's sleep. Several times in my dreams, I saw myself wearing handcuffs." For all these years, he could only behave honestly and not compete with others.
"My 23 years of escape in exile were more painful than serving a sentence." Yi Wenfa lived in constant fear and suffered greatly.
When the reporter asked if he missed his family during all these years of escape, Yi Wenfa lowered his head and told the reporter, "Not really, because they didn't care much about me either." He said that during the 23 years, he had returned home several times, but usually at night. He just visited without ever bringing anything home.
Became the top target in the "Clear Web Action"
Qiu Shaoguang, Director of the Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau, told reporters from the Legal System Weekly that since the Ministry of Public Security deployed the "Clear Web Action," the Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau has broken down the online fugitive pursuit tasks one by one, strictly implementing the "six ones" measures: "one fugitive, one file, one responsible leader, one pursuit team, one pursuit plan, pursue until the end." Yi Wenfa was listed as the top target for capture, and Captain He Ren of the Criminal Investigation Team was explicitly designated as the leader of the pursuit team.
He Ren told reporters that on the day the pursuit team was established, it worked together with the police officers who handled the case at that time to reanalyze Yi Wenfa's activity trail.
Xia Xueyu, the original case handler, recalled that in 2005, the public again reported that "Wang Maizi" had reappeared in a mine area in Suchuan District, Chenzhou City. Upon hearing this, the investigating police immediately rushed to the mine area, but the arrest failed again.
Based on this, the police of the pursuit team analyzed that the possibility of Yi Wenfa still being active in the Chenzhou area was extremely high, and decided to conduct another investigation in Chenzhou.
On October 26, 2011, Political Instructor Zhang Haijun of the Criminal Investigation Team of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau, Deputy Team Leader Fu Tao, and Director Xia Xueyu of the Petition Office rushed to Maonao Mountain Mine Area in Aoshang Town, Suchuan District, Chenzhou City, to conduct investigations. During the secret visits and investigations over the next six days, many people provided information to the pursuit team.
According to reports, a man named "Wang Maizi" claiming to be from Anhua, Yiyang, was working in the mine area. He was about fifty years old, about 1.67 meters tall, with a long 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 due to the rectification of some small mines in the Maonao Mountain Mine Area, Yi Wenfa took the opportunity to flee the mine area early in the morning on the 26th.
The pursuit team reported the situation to Director Qiu Shaoguang of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau and received instructions: "Must capture Yi Wenfa as soon as possible!" Subsequently, Deputy Director Liu Zhiliang of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau made specific arrangements for the pursuit work, further increasing the intensity of investigation and pursuit, seeking breakthroughs from all social relationships of Yi Wenfa, and fully conducting the pursuit.
Living in constant anxiety every day
After narrowly missing the pursuit target again, the pursuit team of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau did not rush back but continued their work in Chenzhou. In further interviews, some people reflected that before leaving the mine area on October 26, 2011, "Wang Maizi" mentioned going to Changsha, but the exact location was unknown. Through nearly a month of intensive investigation, the pursuit team determined again that the most likely destination where the suspect Yi Wenfa might have fled to was Tiaoma Town, Changsha County.
On November 29, 2011, Deputy Director Liu Zhiliang of Ningxiang County Public Security Bureau led Captain He Ren, Deputy Captain Fu Tao, Police Officer Chen Shifang, and others to rush to Tiaoma Town. With strong support from the Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau and Changsha County Public Security Bureau, a large-scale pursuit net was quickly spread out, and the pursuit team conducted detailed inspections of local infrastructure construction sites.
At 8 p.m. on the 29th, at the infrastructure construction site of "Shui'an Xindu" in Tiaoma Town, a group of workers were sitting together playing cards. Suddenly, four people walked in and requested 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, thus ending his 23 years of restless and worried escape life.
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 still under further investigation.
"Compared to running away, I would rather choose to accept legal punishment and serve my sentence honestly. Being caught is better for me, as I can finally rest easy." Yi Wenfa said that he deeply understands that he ended up on the criminal path because of his impulsiveness back then. "In the detention center, I didn't feel 'worse than death' as others said," Yi Wenfa told the reporter that life here is very regular, and the guards treat him well. "If I had known it would be like this, I should have surrendered long ago. I know the law will prevail, and I cannot escape."
At the end of the interview, Yi Wenfa suddenly grabbed the reporter's hand and said: "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to express my inner pain. I hope those who are on the run like me go to the public security organs to surrender as soon as possible, ending the anxious and inhumane escape life, and sleep peacefully."