On August 8, 2022, the Shaanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection released a message: Cao Jianguo, former deputy secretary and vice president of the Shaanxi Provincial High Court, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and had been arrested by the police in accordance with the law. Regarding his arrest, many netizens applauded, saying that "heaven is a good reincarnation." ”
Speaking of Cao Jianguo, everyone may not know who he is, but when it comes to "Zhang Koukou", everyone must be familiar with him. In this mother-killing revenge case that shocked the whole country, Cao Jianguo "overrode public opinion" and insisted on sentencing Zhang Koukou to death, and was known as the "iron-masked judge".
Ironically, three years later, the judge was jailed for corruption.
Seeds of hatred
August 27, 1996 is a day that Zhang Koukou will never forget.
On this day, Zhang Koukou's mother Wang Xiuping and Wang Zhengjun's family in the village had a conflict, and the two sides came and went, and no one refused to back down, and the quarrel soon turned into a fist and foot dispute.
In the dispute, Wang Zhengjun, the youngest son of the Wang family, was red-eyed, picked up a wooden stick, and struck Wang Xiuping's head. With a muffled sound, Wang Xiuping, who was hit by a wooden stick, fell to the ground with a bang. What started as an ordinary neighborhood dispute turned into a brutal murder.
Zhang Koukou was only thirteen years old at the time, and for a thirteen-year-old child, the sudden death of his mother was tantamount to half of the sky in the family. Subsequently, the Zhang family immediately called the police, vowing to let Wang Zhengjun, the murderer, pay for his life immediately.
However, in the face of the angry Zhang family, the Wang family seemed very calm. The reason is very simple - the culprit Wang Zhengjun was under the age of 18 when he committed the crime. According to the provisions of the Criminal Law at that time, the death penalty was not applicable to those who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.
Sure enough, as the Wang family thought, the court only sentenced Wang Zhengjun to seven years in prison in the first instance. The compensation paid to the Zhang family was only 9,639.3 yuan.
This seemingly "fair" trial made Zhang Koukou deeply disappointed with the result, because many people thought that killing people paid for their lives was a matter of course, and just because he was under the age of 18, Wang Zhengjun, who intentionally killed people, had a "gold medal for avoiding death".
In addition, the more than 9,000 yuan awarded to the Zhang family could not make the Wang family repent. It's more like laughing at Zhang Koukou: "Your mother's life is worth nine thousand yuan." ”
The death of his mother, the arrogant Wang family, everything, are destroying this 13-year-old child, and at the same time, it has also left an indelible seed of revenge in his heart.
The road to revenge
As an adult, Zhang Koukou joined the armed police force in Xinjiang. In the army, Zhang Koukou will always be the most diligent and hard-working one in training, just because he hopes to use training to eliminate the hatred in his heart.
In 2003, Zhang Koukou, who retired from the armed police, returned to his hometown. After returning to his hometown, Zhang Koukou tried many jobs, and even went to Argentina to work, but most of them did not improve, his education was not high, and he was introverted, and he gradually became an "idler" and "lazy" in the village.
At the same time, the situation of the Wang family is very different. Wang Zhengjun, who committed intentional homicide, was freed within a few years after completing his sentence in prison, returned to his hometown to start a small business, and even built a new house in the village.
The huge gap between the two families exacerbated the pain in Zhang Koukou's heart. How can the Wang family, who destroyed their own family, escape legal punishment, their mother is buried in the ground, and how can they stand in the sun freely.
After thinking about it, Zhang Koukou made an astonishing decision: since the law cannot bring justice, then use his own hands to seek justice.
complexion
February 15, 2018, it was Chinese New Year's Eve. This is the day of family reunion, and it is also the day of revenge chosen by Zhang Koukou. In his opinion, this is the best time to wipe out the Wang family.
That night, Zhang Koukou squatted on the side of the road and watched the Wang family walk along the path to the ancestral grave to sweep the grave. Seeing the enemy appear, Zhang Koukou quickly put on his hat and mask, covered himself tightly, and followed them out of the door.
When the Wang father and son finished sweeping the tomb and were about to return, Zhang Koukou suddenly rushed out. took out the prepared sharp knife and stabbed directly at Wang Zhengjun, the enemy who killed his mother.
Wang Zhengjun was defenseless and was knocked to the ground on the spot by Zhang Koukou. Zhang Koukou was afraid that he would not die, so he stabbed him in the chest several times. It was only when he saw that the other party finally stopped struggling that he drew his dagger and looked for the next target
On the other side, Wang Zhengjun's brother Wang Xiaojun was stunned when he saw this scene and fled in a panic. But as an ordinary person, his physical fitness is naturally not as good as that of a veteran. Soon, he was caught up by Zhang Koukou, who stabbed him in the stomach with a knife, which killed him cleanly.
After killing two people in a row, Zhang Koukou's fury did not stop, he gasped, with blood, and slammed open the door of the Wang family
Wang Zixin sat at the door, not knowing what was happening. Zhang Koukou didn't say much, and stabbed the initiator of this struggle to death, and a few minutes later, Wang Zixin also stopped breathing.
After the "revenge" was completed, Zhang Koukou did not rush to escape, but took out the gasoline he had prepared in advance, poured it on the car parked in the courtyard of the Wang family, and then lit it with a fire, and this rapid fire finally calmed Zhang Koukou's anger for 22 years.
The verdict of "iron-faced selflessness".
On February 17, Zhang Koukou went to the local police station to turn himself in, and because the facts of the crime were conclusive, he was quickly arrested and put on trial.
Zhang Koukou's "Revenge for Killing Mother" has caused huge controversy in the society and is in the eyes of many netizens. This is not a simple murder, but a special "relief".
In their view, the law has "opened the net" to Wang Zhengjun, who intentionally killed people, and allowed him to escape the legal punishment he deserves, but in the process of realizing the so-called "procedural justice", the victims who have suffered a lot have not received the relief they deserve, so that the parties have to use their own means to seek de facto "justice". Therefore, the court should not sentence Zhang Koukou to death.
However, in the face of surging public opinion, Cao Jianguo, who was a judge at the time, was unmoved. firmly believes that Zhang Koukou killed three people in a row, and the impact on society is extremely great, and he is sentenced to death and executed immediately.
In the face of the public's doubts, Cao Jianguo said that he was impartially enforcing the law, and he judged Zhang Koukou in accordance with the law, and there was no mistake.
Ironically, this self-proclaimed iron-faced and selfless judge was imprisoned for corruption three years later, and after his fall, people began to question: Can a person who guards himself and steals and knows the law and violates the law really be able to make a so-called "fair and impartial" verdict?
Corrupt Officials
Interestingly, the appearance of Cao Jianguo, the "big mouse", is also related to the Zhang Koukou case. At that time, Zhang Koukou's case made Cao Jianguo "famous" in all aspects, and then some good netizens began to investigate Cao Jianguo, wanting to see what kind of person this "iron-masked judge" was.
In the investigation, netizens gradually discovered a lot of Cao Jianguo's "black material", out of sympathy for Zhang Koukou and hatred for corruption, netizens sent evidence of Cao Jianguo's corruption to the discipline inspection department. With the further investigation of the Supervision Commission, evidence of Cao Jianguo's corruption and perversion of the law gradually surfaced.
It turned out that Judge Cao, who was called "impartial and impartial", was actually a master of manipulating power, enriching his own pockets, and distorting the law. In 2008, taking advantage of his position, Cao Jian hired his brother-in-law Li Hong, who did not meet the employment conditions, to enter the Shaanxi High Court. Since then, the uncle and nephew have colluded with each other, and the amount of corruption related to them has reached tens of billions during their tenure.
Until 2014, a prisoner who was supposed to be serving a prison sentence appeared on the streets of Huayin City, at that time, the prisoner bribed Li Hong with money, and even if he was sentenced to prison, he lived a normal life and did not go to prison for a day at all.
But even in such a serious situation, the "resourceful" Cao Jianguo was still able to escape.
At that time, after the accident, Cao Jianguo threatened the future of Li Hong's family and made his brother-in-law Li Hong bear all the charges. With the help of the "back-handed man", Cao Jianguo easily retreated and continued to make waves in the Shaanxi High Court.
In addition, it is understood that Cao Jianguo has been colluding with officials and businessmen for many years and has used his authority to try many unjust, false and wrongly decided cases. Because at that time, as long as the other party had money, whether it was right or wrong, he was always on their side. Therefore, many people who have no money and no power can only endure Cao Jianguo's unfair sentence.
And Cao Jianguo's arrest also made many netizens doubt the Zhang Koukou case again. After all, in the face of a judge who "looks at the money and makes a lot of money", how can you expect him to represent the right law, and how can you expect him to make a fair ruling?
In the eyes of many, the fundamental reason why judges are respected and respected is their professionalism and ethics. In other words, without the support of "morality", judges lose their credibility with the people.
Cao Jianguo's bending of the law for personal gain and abuse of the law not only damaged the fairness of his judgment, but also damaged the overall image of the judicial profession. It can be said that "a rat poop spoils a pot of soup".
Epilogue:
There is a saying in the "Analects" that his body is upright, and he does not obey orders, and his body is not right, although he does not obey orders. As a judge, Cao Jianguo should have been honest and self-disciplined and made fair judgments. It's a pity that he was in a high position and was blinded by power.
He prides himself on being "iron-faced and selfless", but behind his back, he is bending the law for personal gain and trampling on public opinion and the law. In the end, three years later, he was knocked down by the "boomerang" he thrown, and what awaited him was a long and endless prison sentence.