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the court of first instance ruled that he was not guilty of murder

convicted of rape

yang xuqiu, a 75-year-old farmer from dali, yunnan, has spent about 27 and a half years in detention centers and prisons.

on september 4, he received the verdict at the dali prefecture intermediate people's court (hereinafter referred to as "dali prefecture intermediate court"). the court ruled that he was not guilty of murder but was guilty of rape.

31 years ago, he was arrested for suspected murder and rape (the "murder of village woman li" and the "rape of village woman jin" respectively); more than 9 months later, he was sentenced to death, and later appealed, his sentence was changed to suspended death sentence. during his imprisonment, he refused to wear prison clothes and insisted on appealing on the grounds that he had no time and motive to commit the crime.

in december 2017, the supreme people's court issued a retrial decision, stating that the original judgment found that yang xuqiu committed intentional homicide with unclear facts and insufficient evidence, and ordered the yunnan provincial high people's court (hereinafter referred to as the "yunnan provincial high court") to conduct a retrial. after that, yang xuqiu left the prison and was detained in the dali city detention center. in june 2020, the yunnan provincial high court sent the case back to the dali prefecture intermediate court for retrial. after several reductions in sentence, yang xuqiu was released in december of the same year.

on august 29, the dali prefecture intermediate people's court held a retrial of yang xuqiu's intentional homicide and rape case. this trial took place nearly seven years after the supreme people's court issued a retrial decision on the case.

yang xuqiu told china news weekly that the trial started at 9 a.m. and lasted until about 1 p.m. when the prosecutor made his public prosecution opinion, he believed that there was insufficient evidence for his intentional homicide and the court should make a judgment based on the facts, but the evidence for the rape charge was solid and the facts were clear.

"the verdict removed the charge of murder from me, but retained the charge of rape. i will continue to appeal," said yang xuqiu.

yang xuqiu, 75, was sentenced to death. photo by our reporter zhou qunfeng

the "murderer" in the anonymous letter

yang xuqiu was born in april 1949 in pojiao village, qudong township, yongping county, dali prefecture. because he was good at small business, he said that he became one of the few "ten thousand yuan households" in the village in the early 1980s.

on the evening of march 25, 1993, li (nicknamed "awen"), a villager from pojiao village, was murdered at home. the autopsy report stated that awen was first injured by a sharp weapon and then by a blunt weapon, which injured her waist, chest and internal organs. the blunt weapon injury accelerated her death.

the yongping county public security bureau set up a special task force to focus on investigating people with criminal records, but there has been no significant progress in the investigation.

it was not until july 2, more than three months after the incident, that the task force suddenly received a letter of complaint signed by "a member of pojiao (jiao) village". the complaint letter stated: "comrades from the public security bureau, regarding the murder of awen in pojiao (jiao) village, yuzhong, a member of this village, is highly suspected."

"yuzhong" is yang xuqiu's nickname. the informant explained the reason for suspecting yang: "one night a few days before awen was killed, i went to find awen's husband aliang to help me with my mother's gravestone. when i arrived at the yard, i heard a man who was not aliang in the house, speaking viciously. i listened carefully and found that the voice was yuzhong from this village."

the informant also said that he heard yuzhong say to awen: "why did you agree (to have sex with me) several times before, but not this time? if you don't listen, i will punish you." the informant also claimed that he felt bad because he overheard this kind of relationship between a man and a woman. so he quietly walked away.

he also said that he was worried that "after yuzhong recognized me, he would not let me go. i still have a mother, a wife, and a child to support." the informant hoped that the case officers would "find out the truth as soon as possible, avenge awen, and vent their anger for aliang and their whole family."

the informant also mentioned one more thing: "yuzhong is a pervert and has no conscience. a few years ago, he raped jin from our village. because he was cunning, jin could not bring him down."

after receiving the report, the task force believed that yang xuqiu was a major suspect and arrested him the next day.

after being arrested, yang xuqiu was taken to the qudong township police station for interrogation. the yongping police's investigation report mentioned that after yang xuqiu was arrested, he avoided talking about the murder of li moumou during the interrogation. the bureau formulated an effective interrogation plan based on the information it had and the abnormal behavior of yang xuqiu during the interrogation. after more than two hours of fighting wits and courage, under the offensive of the bureau, yang xuqiu had to bow his head and confessed all the criminal facts of killing li moumou, and the case was solved in one fell swoop.

yang xuqiu later said that his confession of guilt was fabricated under duress based on questioning by investigators. "i said it took me 10 minutes to kill the person, but the police said it wasn't enough time, so i changed my statement and said it was half an hour."

yang xuqiu said that when he was first arrested, the police officer threw a butcher knife found in his home next to him and asked him if he had used the knife to kill someone. he was forced to admit it. after staying in the police station for two nights, he was sent to the yongping county detention center. in the detention center, the police officer asked him to change his statement and admit that he had used a dagger to commit the crime.

fan xiaoyuan, a lawyer who once served as yang xuqiu's defense attorney, said that the case files showed that yang xuqiu's statements about the murder weapon were inconsistent. his earliest confession was that it was "a pig-killing knife he made at home," and later he said it was a "copper-shell dagger" and a "steel hoe" or "iron hoe."

yang xuqiu said that on the night when awen was killed, he was busy repairing a tractor at home and had not left the house. his wife, son and daughter were also at home. that night, a bamboo craftsman named zhao wangyi stayed overnight at his home. "zhao wangyi can prove that i was at home and had not left the house, so there was no time to commit the crime."

however, china newsweek noted that on july 5, 1993, zhao wangyi stated in the interrogation record: "after yang xuqiu finished dinner, he went out for about an hour."

because zhao wangyi died as early as october 2012, the relevant circumstances can no longer be verified with the person involved.

dali prefecture people's procuratorate. photo by our reporter zhou qunfeng

from "criminal" to "defendant"

in 1994, the dali prefecture intermediate people's court opened a trial on the case. the court held that yang xuqiu killed li moumou, and the evidence in the file, such as the police report record, anonymous letter, on-site investigation record, and autopsy record, confirmed that the criminal facts and circumstances confessed by the defendant after being arrested were consistent with other evidence in the case.

the court also held that yang xuqiu raped jin in 1986, and the evidence in the file included statements from the victim jin, records of extracting physical evidence, identification records, witness testimony, criminal science and technology appraisals, and live physical examination photos, which confirmed that the defendant yang xuqiu's confession of the criminal facts and circumstances of raping jin were mutually corroborated by the evidence in the case.

on april 28 of the same year, the dali prefecture intermediate people's court made the original first-instance judgment: the defendant yang xuqiu was guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to death, depriving him of political rights for life; guilty of rape and sentenced to ten years in prison, and decided to execute the death penalty and deprive him of political rights for life.

yang xuqiu was dissatisfied with the verdict and appealed. zhou ping, yang xuqiu's defense lawyer at the time, pointed out that the conviction of yang xuqiu for intentional homicide "lacked direct evidence and scientific basis"; the accusation of raping jin was reported during a fight between the two neighbors, and was only "suspected of this or adultery."

on june 10 of the same year, the yunnan provincial high court made a second-instance judgment. the court held that the original court had clearly established the facts, accurately convicted the crime, and the trial procedure was legal, but in view of the specific circumstances of the case, the original sentence was too heavy. based on this, the court ruled to revoke the first-instance judgment of the dali prefecture intermediate court in accordance with the law, and decided to execute yang xuqiu for the crimes of intentional homicide and rape, with a two-year reprieve.

it is worth noting that the judgment only mentioned "in view of the specific circumstances of this case" in general terms without providing detailed explanations. after being sentenced to death with a reprieve, yang xuqiu still refused to accept the judgment and filed an appeal.

on november 11, 1998, the yunnan provincial high court rejected yang xuqiu's appeal. yang xuqiu then appealed to the supreme people's court on the grounds that "there are contradictions between the main evidences proving the facts of the case" and "there was no time to commit the crime".

on december 19, 2017, the supreme people's court issued a retrial decision, stating that the original verdict found that yang xuqiu committed intentional homicide was unclear and the evidence was insufficient, and ordered the yunnan provincial high court to retrial the case. after that, yang xuqiu, who was serving his sentence in prison, was detained in the dali city detention center. he also went from being a criminal who had served more than 20 years in prison to a defendant again.

the yunnan provincial high court did not directly hear the case, but issued a criminal ruling on june 1, 2020, sending the case back to the original first-instance court, the dali prefecture intermediate court, for retrial. on december 9 of that year, after several reductions in sentence, yang xuqiu served his sentence and was released. so far, he has spent a total of about 27 and a half years in detention and prison.

yang xuqiu, who had completed his sentence, was still a defendant. on the same day of his release, the dali intermediate people's court issued a decision on residential surveillance to him. he was placed under residential surveillance in a public rental housing in yongping county. it was not until june 8, 2022 that the dali intermediate people's court made a decision to lift the residential surveillance.

missing "tools"

after the yunnan provincial high court sent the yang xuqiu case back to the dali prefecture intermediate court for retrial, dali conducted supplementary investigations on the yang xuqiu case several times. relevant personnel from the dali prefecture procuratorate, yongping county procuratorate, yongping county public security bureau, etc. repeatedly searched for the whereabouts of the murder weapon and the source of the anonymous report letter, visited the crime scene, took interrogation notes of yang xuqiu, and took interrogation notes of the case handlers at the time.

however, as important physical evidence, the tools used in the murder of village woman li (dagger and hoe) have not been found yet.

the case materials record that the yongping county public security bureau stated that the two daggers were left at the yongping county procuratorate. in november 2020, the yongping county procuratorate replied to the yongping county public security bureau, saying: "our court carefully searched for the tools used in the yang xuqiu case (two daggers). after counting the property involved in the case kept in the property storage room and the items kept in the archives room, we did not find the tools used in the yang xuqiu case."

the reply letter also revealed that when the court asked the personnel who were in charge of the review and approval of arrest and the review and submission of prosecution for the case, they could not recall the transfer, preservation, and disposal of the crime tools when handling the case. when asked, all the former chiefs of the public prosecution section since 1993 were also unable to clearly recall the transfer and disposal of the crime tools in the case. the court failed to find the crime tools in the yang xuqiu case.

in december 2020, the yongping county public security bureau made a statement on the "notice of the dali prefecture people's procuratorate to obtain evidence materials": "regarding the issue of the hoe used in the crime, our bureau has searched the evidence storage room of our bureau many times, and also arranged for special personnel to search at the provincial and state public security organs, but has not been found so far. our bureau will continue to search for the crime tools in this case, and if found, they will be sent for inspection immediately."

while the murder weapon could not be found, some supplementary investigation results also showed that there were contradictions between yang xuqiu's confession and the autopsy report in the case.

in november 2020, a relevant report made by the yongping county public security bureau showed that yang xuqiu's confession at that time could not be fully confirmed or even could not be confirmed by the autopsy report, on-site investigation records, etc.

for example, yang xuqiu confessed that when li moumou resisted, he stabbed li moumou three times in the left back and ribs. however, the autopsy report recorded that "there were two wounds on the back of the deceased, one on the left shoulder blade and one on the left waist." the number of wounds on the back of the corpse does not completely match the number of stab wounds in the confession.

yang xuqiu also confessed that he rushed over and stabbed li 3 times in the chest and stomach. however, the autopsy report recorded that "the deceased had two wounds on the left chest", and the number of wounds on the chest of the corpse did not completely match the number of wounds in the confession.

the relevant report also shows that yang xuqiu's confession that li "was wearing a red round-neck knitted underwear" did not match the color of the deceased's "white underwear with floral patterns" in the autopsy photo.

china newsweek learned that a prosecutor from the dali prefecture procuratorate once said that after the yunnan provincial high court sent the case back to the dali prefecture intermediate court for retrial, dali did a lot of work to supplement the evidence.

the dali prefecture procuratorate took statements from the yongping police officers who participated in the interrogation of yang xuqiu. they all said that the interrogation of yang xuqiu was legal and compliant. one of the officers emphasized that they had checked the interrogation record of yang xuqiu and found that it was complete and had not been altered.

the prosecutor himself also visited pojiao village many times and visited the home of the victim li moumou's husband zhang xingliang (aliang) many times to further verify the case.

in order to confirm who wrote the anonymous letter of complaint, the yongping county public security bureau commissioned the dali prefecture public security bureau judicial appraisal center to send the handwriting materials of more than 40 people in pojiao village for inspection. the responses received were all that the samples were inconsistent with the handwriting in the anonymous letter.

the above prosecutor admitted: "some evidence was not collected within three months after the incident. it is really difficult to collect it again after about 30 years."

intentional homicide: "facts are unclear and evidence is insufficient"

after yang xuqiu was released from prison in december 2020, during the years he was waiting for a retrial, he, accompanied by his youngest son qiu yunbo, traveled from yongping county to dali many times to inquire about the trial time at the state intermediate people's court and the state procuratorate.

the judge and prosecutor handling the case told him that as the main body of the case, both the dali prefecture intermediate court and the prefecture procuratorate wanted to actively promote the case and did not deliberately delay the trial. however, this case is a major, difficult and complex case, and a lot of supplementary investigation work needs to be carried out.

li's husband zhang xingliang is also very concerned about the case. he told china news weekly that his family has no grudges against yang xuqiu's family, and he has never heard that li and yang xuqiu have an improper relationship. "i just hope that after the case is retried, there will be a fair verdict. if the murderer is not yuzhong, the police must catch the real murderer as soon as possible."

after a long wait, on september 4, 2024, the dali intermediate people's court pronounced a verdict on the yang xuqiu case.

in the case of intentional homicide, the court re-examined and found that yang xuqiu's timing of committing the crime was not in line with common sense. according to his confession, on the night of the crime, he went to find li and saw zhang xingliang playing at a small store when he passed by. when zhang xingliang could return home at any time, yang xuqiu forced li to have sex with him at his home, and killed li after being rejected. his timing of committing the crime was not in line with common sense.

the dali prefecture intermediate people's court also determined that the authenticity and reliability of the "anonymous letter" in the yang case were questionable. the anonymous letter was not obtained immediately after the incident, and its source and motive were unknown. the person who wrote the anonymous letter has not been identified so far, and the evidence is only a clue and cannot prove that yang, xu, and qiu committed the crime.

the court held that the evidence of the original prosecution agency accusing the original defendant yang xuqiu of intentional homicide, apart from yang xuqiu's confession of guilt, had no other direct evidence to prove that he committed the crime. his confession of guilt was inconsistent with the on-site investigation and autopsy results of the public security organs, and there was no reasonable explanation; the crime tools identified in the original accusation could not be confirmed to be related to yang xuqiu; the indirect evidence in the case could not form an evidence chain. the court determined that the facts of yang xuqiu's intentional homicide were unclear and the evidence was insufficient.

however, the court also stated that the facts of the original prosecution's accusation that yang xuqiu raped jin were clear, the evidence was solid and sufficient, and the accusation was established. yang xuqiu was found guilty of rape and sentenced to ten years in prison (already served).

in fact, at the opening of the trial on august 27, the prosecutor emphasized that yang xuqiu had solid evidence and clear facts in the "jin moumou rape case". for this reason, yang xuqiu's defense and the prosecutor focused on the rape part of the case.

the verdict mentioned that there was no biological trace evidence that yang xuqiu raped jin moumou. "when this case was prosecuted, it was a long time since the crime occurred, and the conditions for collecting biological trace evidence were no longer available. moreover, the evidence in the case was sufficient to prove that yang xuqiu had raped jin moumou."

there is an objective evidence in the case, which is an obvious scar on jin's right chest. according to the testimony, yang xuqiu stabbed jin with a knife during the rape process. the wooden handle sharp knife used as the crime tool was retrieved and identified by yang xuqiu.

zhong ruoxin, a lawyer at beijing guantao zhongmao (nanjing) law firm, believes that the scar on jin's right chest is the only objective evidence in the rape case, but it can be caused by a variety of reasons. it must be combined with other evidence and reasonable doubt must be eliminated before it can be used as one of the bases for a verdict.

a criminal law scholar interviewed by a certain university pointed out that the defendant yang xuqiu had attempted to rape his daughter-in-law. although this incident was not directly related to the present case, it was of a serious nature and might affect the judge's free judgment when hearing the case.

the court ultimately held that the prosecution of the rape crime was nearly seven years after the crime occurred, and the statements made by the relevant parties and the testimony of the witnesses were not completely consistent with the exact time of the crime, which was in line with common sense. the inconsistency between the number of rapes stated by yang xuqiu and jin moumou did not affect the determination of this case.

reporter: zhou qunfeng