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Chief Reporter | Chen Yingting

Editor | Wang Jing

"If I hadn't opened the door that day, my wife wouldn't have died." A series of doorbell rings in the morning 33 years ago changed the fate of Mr. Li's family. Mr. Li and his wife had a fierce fight with a strange man who broke into their home with a sharp knife. In order to escape, the man took out a knife, stabbed randomly, and fled in a hurry... When the neighbors heard the noise and rushed over, Mr. Li was injured and fell to the ground, and his wife had already stopped breathing. Finding the murderer who killed his wife has become Mr. Li's wish for 33 years.

Strange man attacks with knife

The story began on the morning of December 9, 1991. Mr. Li, who lived in Yangpu District, heard someone ringing the doorbell. When he opened the door, he saw a strange man's face. "Who are you looking for?" Mr. Li answered with a sharp knife.

Hearing Mr. Li's cries, his wife and son also came forward to fight with the man. During the fight, Mr. Li's wife was stabbed in the vitals by a sharp knife and fell to the ground, never opening her eyes again. Seeing this, the man fled the scene.

"After we received the alarm, we immediately set up control around the scene and started an investigation." Ji Junyao, deputy chief of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Yangpu Public Security Bureau, said that the investigation found that the suspect left a Shanghai map marked with four triangles and a pack of "Hongtashan" brand cigarettes at the scene.

Based on this, the police determined the direction of the investigation and formulated an investigation plan. On the one hand, they mobilized police forces to conduct a carpet search of the surrounding area, set up control at major traffic arteries, and searched for suspicious persons; on the other hand, starting from the locations marked on the map, they visited more than 100 households to find suspects who were accustomed to smoking "Hongtashan" brand cigarettes and compared relevant trace evidence. Unfortunately, due to the limited investigation conditions at the time, the identity of the criminal suspect has not been locked.

"I must catch the murderer before I retire"

"The suspect of the '12.9' case has finally been found. I must bring him back with my own hands." One month before retirement, Yang Guofu, a veteran investigator who has been in charge of the case for many years, volunteered to go to the front line to capture the suspect upon hearing that there was hope for solving the case. He said that this case was a knot in his heart, and he wanted to meet the murderer who had been hiding for 33 years in person before retiring.

It is understood that over the past 33 years, the police officers in the case team have retired and been transferred, but the Yangpu police have never stopped investigating the case. The Yangpu Branch has implemented the "one case, one special team" requirement for the backlog of homicide cases, and has continuously promoted the "one case, one file" construction for the backlog of homicide cases, so that all case information is entered, all materials involved are filed and kept, and the responsibility is assigned to individuals. Through innovative technology, all kinds of physical evidence are re-examined, re-uploaded, and re-compared, and no "clues" are missed.

Ji Junyao told reporters that in May this year, when the task force conducted a comprehensive review of the case again, the case ushered in a turning point. The relevant trace evidence was successfully matched with the suspect Yao who was entered by the public security organs of other provinces and cities. The branch immediately formed a task force led by the Criminal Investigation Detachment and participated in by multiple police types to conduct local investigations. With the cooperation of local police, the task force successfully arrested the suspect and escorted him back to Shanghai. "But when faced with interrogation, the criminal suspect Yao was evasive, made all kinds of excuses, and refused to explain the facts of the crime." Ji Junyao said.

The 12-year-old boy witnessed the murder

"I have seen the murderer!" Mr. Li's neighbor Zhou (pseudonym) revealed the secret after years of silence. In order to make the suspect confess his crime in front of the ironclad evidence, the investigators revisited the relevant witnesses who had been questioned that year.

Zhou said that he was less than 13 years old when the crime happened. On the day of the crime, he heard a cry for help from the deceased's home, so he went to the patio shared by the two households to check. Through the window, he saw a man running out in panic. "I was too young at the time and never dared to mention it." Zhou told the investigators that although 33 years had passed, the scene at that time still lingered in his mind. The task force immediately arranged for him to identify him. "It's him!" Among more than 30 photos, Zhou identified Yao's photos of the year and the present. This result effectively confirmed the direction of the investigation and gave the investigators great confidence.

At the same time, the police visited many places in other provinces to understand the background elements of the suspect Yao's life and work trajectory at different stages of his life, and to characterize his character. After more than a month, a total of 158 key contacts were visited offline, and it was learned that Yao had worked as an electrician in a poultry and rabbit farm in another province. Although his monthly income was only 40 to 50 yuan in the year of the incident, his daily expenses were very high, which was seriously inconsistent with his income.

Another group of police officers further investigated the map left at the crime scene, went to the Real Estate Trading Center and Shanghai Urban Planning and Construction Archives to retrieve the original planning map, and visited retired police officers from the local police station. "We learned that the locations marked on the map all had freezers at the time, and had business dealings with the poultry and rabbit factory where Yao worked. Based on this, we speculate that Yao was most likely to have come to Shanghai by transport vehicle to commit the crime," said Ji Junyao.

After obtaining further evidence, the task force launched a general interrogation. Combining the large amount of information obtained during the investigation and visit, the task force reviewed Yao's life experience in his youth in the form of "chatting", prompting Yao to gradually open up. At the same time, the task force provided positive guidance to Yao through his relatives and assisted lawyers in explaining the law. After a long period of work, Yao's psychological defense was finally broken. Yao truthfully confessed to the police the crime of committing a crime and absconding after the failed home robbery 33 years ago.

On December 8, 1991, 28-year-old Yao came to Shanghai on a refrigerated truck of his company. He saw a pair of leather football shoes worth about 300 yuan at a sporting goods store on Nanjing Road, but the price was far beyond his monthly salary of 40 to 50 yuan. Yao decided to imitate the plots in movies and TV dramas and obtain ill-gotten gains through robbery.

Fearing that he would be easily caught if he robbed on the street, Yao chose to rob a house. That night, Yao first took a bus to a residential area and wandered around looking for a target. At about 6 o'clock the next morning, Yao saw the lights on in Mr. Li's house in the dark. He thought that there was someone in the house who could rob money, so he decided to rob. At present, Yao has been detained by the police in accordance with the law.