Was Zhang Kou's death sentence a miscarriage? Why is the iron-faced and selfless judge being arrested now?
In 2019, the Shaanxi Provincial High People's Court issued a ruling sentencing Zhang Koukou to death for intentionally killing three people in a row.
Murder pays for life, it is justified, but as soon as this result came out, the majority of netizens who paid attention to the case raised doubts one after another.
Everyone wants to keep a murderer who is sure to be conclusive, and they also criticize the judge for miscognizing. What's even more bizarre is that the judge who resolutely sentenced to death despite the iron face despite doubts was later imprisoned.
Is there really anything unspeakable about the verdict of that year, and why would the public be so lenient towards a murderer?
killed three people in a row, and was sentenced to death in the second instance
On April 11, 2019, the Shaanxi Provincial High Court publicly tried the case of Zhang Koukou's intentional homicide. Online and offline, countless passers-by paid attention to the trial process and results.
On Chinese New Year's Eve, a traditional festival that is most valued by the Chinese people, Zhang Buckle killed three neighbors' father and son in a row, with a very clear subjective intention and a very bad crime.
Because of the conclusive evidence of the crime, the Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to death in accordance with the provisions of the law in the first instance. At first glance, there is nothing wrong with this verdict.
What is puzzling is that Zhang Koukou himself clearly expressed his dissatisfaction at the scene of the first instance and appealed in court.
The majority of netizens who have always pursued justice even expressed their understanding of his dissatisfaction, and spoke out one after another in support of a murderer's appeal.
In the simple traditional values of the mainland, intentional homicide must pay for life, which is a legal requirement and a popular consensus.
But now, a criminal who kills three people in a row can enjoy the greatest tolerance from the general public.
Moreover, the attitude of the criminals is also very puzzling. At the scene of the second trial, before the judge pronounced the verdict, he also said loudly: "I killed someone, but I didn't do anything wrong, I am a bloody man." ”
The court retraced the fact that he had committed the crime, and the process was quite bloody.
At noon on February 15, 2018, Zhang Koukou, who was in his hometown, found that Wang Zhengjun and Wang Xiaojun, brothers from the same village, had gone home for the New Year and were about to go up the mountain to worship their ancestors, so he felt murderous.
Preparing sharp knives, wearing a hat and a mask, and hiding his face, he followed the brothers all the way and waited for them to return at the gate of the village committee.
This is the only way for the Wang brothers to go home, Zhang Koukou is waiting in ambush, and what is stored is the mind of waiting for the rabbit to wait for work.
Sure enough, when Wang Zhengjun and Wang Xiaojun returned to pass here, Zhang Koukou suddenly burst out, restrained the defenseless Wang Zhengjun, and slashed the opponent's throat with a single-edged knife in his hand.
It seemed that he was still feeling puzzled, and Zhang Koukou made up the knife to Wang Zhengjun's chest and abdomen, and the knife went deep, and he himself was splashed with blood, like a demon.
Wang Xiaojun witnessed the whole process, his feet were weak in fright, and he hurriedly fled in the opposite direction. But before he could run two steps, he was caught up by Zhang Koukou, and he was also stabbed in the chest and abdomen, and the person lost his strength and rolled into the ditch on the side.
Zhang Koukou didn't stop, jumped into the ditch, and used all his strength to puncture Wang Xiaojun's heart and lungs.
The brothers gradually lost their breath, wiped their faces, and turned to walk towards the brothers' hometown. There is another person, today, he also has to cook with it.
Before he arrived at the door of the Wang family's house, he saw the brothers' old father Wang Lixin sitting at the door from a distance. This person is his last target.
After locking the opponent's position, Zhang Buckle took three steps and ran in two steps, stabbing the knife stained with his son's blood into the father's neck and chest.
A family of three was all killed in an instant. Seeing that Wang Lixin was out of breath, Zhang Koukou breathed a sigh of relief, with a weird smile on his face.
He didn't let go of the Wang family's car parked on the side of the road, went home and took two incendiary gasoline bottles, and burned them all.
He did not have the idea of absconding with impunity for fear of crime, and after the murder, he calmed down for two days and then ran to the public security organ to surrender himself.
Zhang Koukou's behavior gives people the feeling that killing people is the last major thing that must be completed in his life. When he was done, he was no longer afraid of death.
Judging from the logical sequence of his crimes, this is definitely not an intentional homicide under impulse. It should be said that he had premeditated it and had repeatedly deduced it many times in his mind.
His goal is also very clear, Wang Zhengjun, Wang Xiaojun, Wang Lixin, none of them can run. As for the others, even if he saw him killing, he would not harm them.
Most of such targeted killings are entangled in previous circumstances. Following this line of thought, the police found out their grievances.
It was also that period of grievances and grievances that made Zhang Koukou understand and be tolerated by public opinion.
The revenge of killing his mother, determined to take revenge
Before 1996, Zhang Koukou was a psychologically normal child living in a complete family.
His mother was a bit spicy, but she was very family-oriented and kind to him and his sister. My father is the main breadwinner of the family, and he is usually very responsible for caring for them.
At that time, their family and the Wang family next door had a stumbling block because of some financial problems. He was still young at the time, and he didn't really know what it was.
He only knew that one day in 1996, his mother was beaten and bruised, and she crawled back to her house from the door of Wang's house alone. It didn't take long for his mother to die in his arms.
For a child, you can imagine how impactful that picture will be. Zhang Koukou will never forget the scene at that time, the pain of his mother, and the closed eyes.
After becoming an adult, Zhang Koukou still remembers the details of that day clearly.
When asked why he killed the three members of the Wang family, he said: "My mother who beat the second and third children together, Wang Lixin also said that he would die, and after the death, he stood up." After saying this, the third child beat my mother to death with a stick. ”
In other words, Wang Lixin's father and son are all responsible for his mother's death. What happened on Chinese New Year's Eve may have been predestined from that day.
In addition to watching his mother pass away, Zhang Koukou also saw his mother's body being autopsied. It was on the side of that road, his mother was disemboweling under the hands of the forensic doctor, and he kept everything in his heart with his eyes wide open.
The Wang family did not receive too heavy punishment for killing a person, Wang Zhengjun was sentenced to 7 years, and Zhang Kou's father received less than 10,000 yuan in compensation.
A human life seems to have disappeared silently between heaven and earth. Everyone's days are gradually returning to calm, only Zhang Koukou is alone, and his heart is always turbulent and cannot be calmed.
When he grew up, he went to other places to make a living, suffered losses, was deceived, and even entered a pyramid scheme. In his own words, this is called nothing.
The more unsatisfactory his life became, the more his hatred for the Wang family grew. The events of 1996 were like butterflies fanning their wings, setting off a hurricane in Zhang Koukou's life.
is still the same sentence, murder pays for life, if the law can't testify for his mother, then he will be this wicked man himself, slash the enemy, and avenge his mother.
Therefore, the death of the three members of the Wang family was accidental and inevitable.
A child who has lost the protection of his mother may make a mistake at any time on the road of life. Not to mention, the child also knew the cause of his mother's death.
But anyone who is flesh and blood can understand the importance of a mother to himself. From the perspective of empathy, people can understand what Zhang Koukou is doing.
Killing three people in a row is indeed too extreme, but considering the cause and effect, everyone still hopes that the judge can be more comprehensive in sentencing, and not sentence Zhang Koukou to death.
The defendant's defense lawyer also submitted a request before the second trial to conduct a psychiatric evaluation for Zhang Koukou. Zhang Koukou's psychological problems are actually visible to the naked eye.
However, this request was also rejected by the presiding judge at the time, Cao Jianguo.
Under the tremendous pressure of public opinion, the cold-faced and selfless Cao Jianguo still resolutely sentenced Zhang Koukou to death, showing no mercy at all.
Public opinion once reached a climax when Zhang Koukou was executed, and Cao Jianguo was also attacked in some ways. It's just that as time goes by, the different voices gradually subside.
Until 2022, Cao Jianguo was suddenly exposed to illegal crimes and imprisoned. Could it be that the case a few years ago was really his misjudgment?
Corruption and bribery, the crime is clear
In April 2023, Shaanxi reported six typical cases of violating the eight central regulations. In the list of violators, people saw a familiar name, Cao Jianguo.
He is the final judge of Zhang Koukou's case, and he is the man who sentenced Zhang Koukou to death in a categorical manner. At that time, there was a lot of controversy in the case, but now that he has been investigated and punished, people suspect that Zhang Koukou's case may be suspected of misjudgment.
In fact, whether it was a misjudgment or not, just look at Cao Jianguo's crime.
As the deputy secretary of the party group and vice president of the former High People's Court, Cao Jianguo has accepted bribes from eight private companies since 2013, with a total amount of 180,000 yuan.
And that's only after 2013, when he took office in 2007, and it's highly likely that he started embezzlement after taking office.
Accepting bribes, accepting high-end gifts, these can easily become handles. After the state successively launched policies to crack down on corruption, Cao Jianguo, who had policies and countermeasures, shifted his behavior to the shadows.
If he can't collect money from private business owners in the right way, he will participate in mahjong games organized by these business owners.
Play a few rounds of mahjong, you lose a little, I lose a little, and the bribe that should be given will not go into Cao Jianguo's pocket impartially.
He thought he was doing something very hidden, but under the sharp eyes of the special investigation team, his behavior could not be hidden at all.
The imagination of what a vice president of a court will do, in collusion with private entrepreneurs, is open to imagination.
It is possible that when a soft-spoken worker engages in a lawsuit with a business owner, he will inconspicuously favor the business owner, resulting in the oppression of the worker but the failure to defend his rights.
It is possible that when two different enterprises conflict over land, factories, capital, etc., he will defend the right of the party who gave him the bribe, even if the right is not legitimate.
All in all, the trading of money and power is a taboo stipulated by the central government, and Cao Jianguo stepped into a deep pit with one foot and ended up on his back, which was also self-inflicted.
As for Zhang Koukou's case, this is not directly related to the reason for Cao Jianguo's dismissal, he was investigated for misconduct, not because of a mess of business ability.
All in all, Zhang Koukou is dead, and the matter is a foregone conclusion. From the perspective of legal procedures, the provincial high court sentenced an intentional murderer to death in accordance with the law, which should also make sense from the perspective of conventional logic.
The laws of the Republic should not be unrealistically challenged.
And the Zhang Buckle who avenged his mother, stabbed the enemy, and sacrificed himself, his life is really sympathetic and embarrassing.
epilogue
The entanglement between Zhang Koukou's family and the Wang family really responded to that sentence and repaid each other. From the moment his mother died, Zhang Koukou's life was ruined.
And what ruined him was not the law of just trial, but the perpetrator of the year, the indifference of the people around him to psychological problems, and his own extreme behavior.
References:
Overseas Network: "Zhang Koukou Killed 3 People for His Mother's Revenge and Maintained the Death Penalty in the Second Instance"
CCTV: "Zhang Koukou was sentenced to death: father and son and two broken homes"
Shangguan News: "The Director of Public Security and the President of the Court Have Been Notified Again!