Chapter 36 Bloody murders and "murders" without blood

On June 7, 1999, affected by typhoon No. 3 landed, there was a sudden rainstorm in the Guangzhou area.In the afternoon, with a burst of lightning and thunder, Panyu City (now changed to Panyu District) on the outskirts of the city was stormy. Qifu New Village, one of the largest residential communities in the country, located in Zhongcun Town, Panyu, was even shrouded in rain and fog, and lined up in rows. The Spanish-style villa looming. Suddenly, "bang", "bang", "bang"... Several gunshots were heard from one of the well-decorated three-story villas, but the horrific gunshots were quickly lost in the storm...

2 men and 5 women were shot and killed by mobs and died on the spot!A catastrophic tragedy that shocked both inside and outside the province, Hong Kong and Macau, and both at home and abroad happened! This is the largest homicide in Guangzhou since the founding of the People's Republic of China! Looking back on my several years of reporter career in the south, I cannot avoid this new village of blessings, and it is impossible not to mention this murder case.This homicide not only caused the seven dead to go to hell, but also, as one of the many journalists in the Guangzhou area who participated in the coverage of the case, I was "murdered" by some people in power. His career as a reporter for the China Daily was also ruthlessly killed, and he became the only one among the many journalists who covered the case who was "held accountable and dealt with seriously".What makes me sad is that at the critical moment, in order to shirk responsibility, the relevant leader who planned the overall interview matter unexpectedly pushed me to the seat of scapegoat.

Now, after 5 years, when I recall the whole process of this case again, my writing hand is still trembling, and my wounded heart is still singing, if I start from the beginning again , There will be another painful feeling of digging graves and flogging corpses. My memory is still fresh. On the day of the incident, I received reports from two Hong Kong readers who lived in the place where the incident occurred.Later, my colleague Zhang Shumei also called me and told me that she had consulted the leaders of the newspaper office for instructions on this matter, but the leaders in question hesitated to make up their minds because they were afraid of being criticized.At the same time, she also said that many news media in Yangcheng have already heard the news.I still made a report to Ren Tianyang, who was in charge of the interview, and asked if I would go to interview this matter.Ren said that recently, the relevant higher-level departments have not allowed to report on the dark side of the case... He hesitated for a long time, and finally asked me to rush to the scene to have a look.Seeing the approval of the leader, I rushed to the scene of the crime as quickly as possible despite the downpour.

At the gate of Qifu New Village, I saw that the scene of the crime had already been cordoned off. Like other journalists who arrived earlier, I was far away from the scene of the crime by the cordon set up by the police.After many inquiries, I learned the general situation of the case—— At about 4 pm on the 7th, the owner Wu Mou's driver Wang Mou drove back to a 3-storey villa located at the intersection of Block B, 7th Street, Qifu New Village, and found that the house was quiet.When he opened the door, he was frightened out of his wits: the living room on the first floor was covered with blood, and six people, including the owner Wu, fell to death on the sofa and the floor in a horrific manner.Wang screamed and hurriedly called the police.Soon, police cars roared to the scene, and a large number of police officers with live ammunition rushed to the scene of the crime and blocked the roads around the scene.At the same time, the police also set up checkpoints on major traffic arteries in Panyu to check passing vehicles.After receiving the report, the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau urgently dispatched criminal police and technicians from the criminal police detachment to the scene to assist in the investigation.

During the investigation, the technicians found that there were 2 corpses lying on the sofa in the living room on the first floor, 4 corpses lying on the floor, and another male corpse was found in a bathroom on the second floor.After forensic examination, the 7 dead were shot in the head at close range, and there were nearly 20 bullet holes in the 7 corpses.Technicians recovered five small-caliber bullet casings at the scene, estimated to have been fired from the same pistol.On the mahjong table in the living room on the first floor, there are mobile phones and stacks of cash.The public security organ confirmed that the murderer used a small-caliber pistol to commit the crime.When the police asked the residents around the scene about the situation, the residents said that there was strong wind and heavy rain in the afternoon, and the thunder was loud, so they did not hear the gunshots.

After investigation, the deceased were: the owner Wu, Wu's mother and sister, his girlfriend Li and her mother, Wu's driver's wife Zhang, and the corpse in the bathroom on the second floor was Wu's former friend Gong.Wu's driver, Wang, reported that on the evening of the 6th, Wu and others were playing mahjong in the villa. On the morning of the incident, they went to Guangzhou to drink tea, and then returned to Qifu New Village.At about 1:00 p.m., Wang drove away from the villa to the city to wash his hair, and then picked up his son back to the villa. He discovered the tragedy at about 4:00 p.m.

This case not only makes the local police very busy, but also makes us journalists extremely concerned!As a local news media, we have no reason not to pay attention to such a catastrophe that has a huge impact and is of great concern to the local people.Therefore, the case immediately became the focus of great attention of all local, Hong Kong and Macau news media. The tragedy immediately alarmed the top management.Chen Shaoji, Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Provincial Public Security Department, Zheng Guoqiang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee and former Director of Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, and the heads of the provincial and municipal public security organs rushed to the scene after the incident to guide the investigation.After the Ministry of Public Security learned of the case, it immediately sent relevant personnel from the Criminal Investigation Bureau to Guangzhou to assist in solving the case.

Although the property prices in Clifford New Village are high locally, they are lower than those in Hong Kong, so most buyers are Hong Kong residents.The security checks here have always been strict. Outsiders entering the community must show their occupancy certificates, and visitors must register and be led by security guards before they can enter.Moreover, there are many security booths in the community, and casual people cannot enter.So, how did the murderer get in and commit the crime?Why kill all 7 people in the villa?What is the murderer's motive?These mysteries have been the focus of discussion from all walks of life at that time.

Through hard inquiries, we learned that the deceased Wu was from Hong Kong, and one of them was of foreign Chinese descent.Wu's public identity is a businessman. It is said that he started his business by running a car trade during his lifetime, and later engaged in various business transactions.There are different opinions about the cause of his death. For a while, there are all-encompassing speculations such as "murder and robbery", love murder, vendetta murder and so on.Just like the murder of Chen Xuran, a famous female host of Guangdong TV station in Tianhe Tiancheng Building, Guangzhou, on December 30, 1998, this case immediately became a hot topic of concern and discussion in all walks of life, and caused an unusual sensation in Yangcheng.In those few days, the word most frequently mentioned inside and outside Yangcheng was also "Blessing New Village".

Since the police and local government departments have sealed the case tightly, the continuous tracking of the reporter with all their efforts for many days still has little effect, but the enthusiasm of the reporters of various media for this incident has been rising all the way.Although I was unable to conduct in-depth on-site interviews, and although the police refused to accept all news media, I still managed to learn about the situation and wrote a small article.But the next day, my manuscript was not published, because the newspaper received a notice from the relevant department that local media were not allowed to report on the case until the case was solved.

This is a major news that all sectors of society are concerned about. After all, there are still some media that dare to "fight against the wind."On the third day, first, the "New Express" published the blockbuster news for the first time on the front page of the day at the fastest speed.Immediately afterwards, the "Yangcheng Evening News" in the afternoon also issued the same report; on the fourth day, the "Guangzhou Daily" featured the theme "Seven people were shot dead in the praying villa" in a prominent position on the front page, and the subtitle was "This is the highest death toll in Guangzhou so far." "Police Investigate All-Out Homicide", which more fully discloses this appalling and extremely serious case.The Nanfang Daily, the official newspaper of the provincial party committee, was careful to keep silent on this, as it does with all sensitive matters, but its subsidiary, the Southern Metropolis Daily, could not keep silent.Seeing that several media outlets in the Guangzhou area reported the case at length, the Metropolitan Daily, which has always been known for grabbing exclusive news, naturally couldn't sit still. The editorial board of the newspaper office discussed countermeasures for this matter several times.Finally, in order to make up for this major regret, the newspaper leader decided to send reporter Wei Dong and female reporter Wang Jun with driver Xuanhui to drive an interview car to the crime scene to interview, trying to catch relevant news, but they failed after a busy day. return. On the fourth day after the incident, I rushed to the scene again under the instructions of Li Minying and Ren Tianyang, hoping to catch some relevant news.At this time, the scene of the crime was deserted. Although the people nearby were still full of surprise and uncertainty, the people living in Qifu New Village had already returned to normal life.At this time, I heard that the remains of the victims concerned had already been transferred to the funeral parlor in Panyu.I went there with several reporters from the media in Guangzhou.Although there are no police guards with live ammunition, there are still majestic security guards and men in plain clothes guarding the surrounding area in twos and threes.Later, I managed to find out that on this day, the police were conducting an autopsy on the remains of the victims concerned.I hurriedly told Ren Tianyang about the situation, and he immediately told me repeatedly on the phone: "We must try to find out about the situation, and it is best to secretly take photos..." But the photographers of the newspaper did not dare to approach easily, and I am not a photojournalist. I usually carry a small portable camera at my own expense for interviews.This kind of "fool" camera that can't focus can only snap shots within three or four meters, and can't take long-distance shots at all. What's more, the Guangzhou police have kept a tight seal on this case, not to mention the relevant scene, it is related to this No information about it will be disclosed.In the end I had to return to the newspaper office with empty hands.I reported the interview process, and Ren Tianyang seemed helpless: "We are behind others in this report, so we must do it more beautifully than others, and it would be better if it is accompanied by a photo... Let's do it, we can't get it by ourselves , just borrow it from the media in Hong Kong, I will contact them first..." I kept calling the reporter friends from the Guangzhou news media who participated in this interview, hoping that they could help provide relevant photos, but except for the relevant shots outside the Qifu New Village, they were all due to the sudden incident and insufficient preparation. There were many obstacles, and it was impossible to take photos related to the case; to take a step back, even if someone took photos, who would want to contribute to other newspapers? The next day, Ren Tianyang came to my office and said to me in front of my colleagues Zeng Huafeng and Zhang Shumei: "This time, other newspapers reported on the case of Qifu Xincun in time, but our newspaper did not see anything. We are very passive. Now we must try to find exclusive things, so as to reverse the passive situation." Then he told me in front of these two colleagues: "...I have made an agreement with my friends from Oriental Daily, Let's take a photo from them and deal with it, so as to ensure that the manuscript will not be missed. Wang Jun's manuscript is too scattered, you should quickly synthesize it and write the manuscript..." Although I feel that it is inappropriate to use photos from Hong Kong newspapers to "deal with them", but this is the order of the newspaper's leadership, so I don't have much to say.At the same time, Li Minying, a member of the Nanfang Daily Social Committee who is in charge of Metropolis Daily, also called me and asked me to assist Ren Tianyang in this unusual report. With the help of the deputy editor, I got several photos about the police autopsy that day from a Hong Kong Oriental Daily colleague, and after he selected them, I finally chose one of them. Since almost all the other newspapers in the Guangzhou area reported on the catastrophic tragedy in Qifu Xincun in those few days, the Metropolitan Daily did not say a word, and was questioned and criticized by some readers.Under the frequent urging of leaders at all levels of the newspaper, I later wrote a news report of more than 300 characters. On June 12, "Southern Metropolis Daily" published this article on its third page, which was co-written by my colleagues Wei Dong and Wang Jun, signed by our reporter, and was no longer "new". A photo from a reporter in Hong Kong.The picture shows two policemen in police uniforms and three investigators in civilian clothes conducting an autopsy.Anyone with a little knowledge of photography can see that this photo was taken at a long distance, and the picture is a bit blurry with obvious halos. But what I never dreamed was that this ordinary photo would bring me a series of disasters...