On January 22, 2003, Deng Shiping, a logistics teacher at Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School, went to work at the school as usual, but since that day he has not returned home.
His family searched everywhere and called the police for help, but their whereabouts were never found.
So, they reasonably suspected that he had been killed, and the place where the body was dumped was under the school playground he supervised, for which they called the police several times, but never opened a case.
During this period, they were threatened many times and had to move out of the county for their own safety.
It wasn't until 16 years later, when the whole country swept away crime and evil, that their grievances were taken seriously, and then they really dug up Mr. Deng's remains at the location they suspected.
Why did they insist that Deng Shiping was killed? Who is the murderer, who can hide the truth for more than ten years?
All content in this article is based on official and reliable sources, and the specific information is detailed at the end of the article
The truth of the year
Deng Shiping, 53 years old at the time, was a logistics teacher at Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School, responsible for the school's infrastructure work.
It is understood that shortly before Deng Shiping's disappearance, he had a fierce dispute with Du Shaoping over the quality of the school's playground renovation project.
As the person in charge of logistics of the school, Deng Shiping has strict requirements for the quality of the project, and has repeatedly pointed out that there is a problem of cutting corners in the project contracted by Du Shaoping.
This caused Du Shaoping's dissatisfaction, and the contradictions between the two intensified.
Deng Shiping's colleague recalled that a few days before his disappearance, Deng Shiping had repeatedly complained to school leaders about the quality of the project and demanded a comprehensive inspection of Du Shaoping's project.
However, just as Deng Shiping was about to take further action, he suddenly disappeared.
On January 22, 2003, an invisible haze hung over the campus of Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School.
On this day, contractor Du Shaoping and his subordinate Luo Guangzhong hatched a heinous plan, and they decided to kill Deng Shiping of the school.
Du Shaoping was worried that his wrongdoing would be revealed, so he decided to take extreme measures to silence Deng Shiping's mouth forever.
In the morning of the same day, Du Shaoping invited Deng Shiping to the site office on the pretext of discussing engineering matters.
In the office, Du Shaoping had already prepared a drink mixed with drugs.
He pretended to entertain Deng Shiping warmly, and handed the topped drink to the unsuspecting Deng Shiping.
Deng Shiping began to feel dizzy shortly after drinking the drink, and Du Shaoping and Luo Guangzhong began to carry out their criminal plan.
They sealed Deng Shiping's mouth with duct tape, and then tightly tied Deng Shiping's hands and feet with ropes.
Next, Du Shaoping picked up the hammer that had been prepared and hit Deng Shiping's head hard.
In order to ensure Deng Shiping's complete death, Luo Guangzhong made up for it a few more times.
After killing Deng Shiping, Du Shaoping and Luo Guangzhong moved Deng Shiping's body to the area where construction was taking place on the playground.
They chose a deep pit and put the body in it, and in order to further cover up the crime, they also deliberately piled several large stones above the body to prevent the body from being accidentally found in the future.
Early the next morning, Du Shaoping instructed the workers to speed up the construction progress, quickly filling in the area where the bodies were buried, and laying it with concrete.
To outsiders, this is just a normal construction process, and no one would have imagined that there is a terrifying secret buried under this leveled playground.
Du Shaoping and Luo Guangzhong, after completing this crime, continued to live and work as if nothing had happened.
Hide the truth
However, Deng Shiping's sudden disappearance still aroused the suspicion of some people.
Faced with a possible investigation, Du Shaoping sought help from his uncle, Huang Bingsong, then the principal of Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School.
After learning of his nephew's crimes, Wong used his connections to obstruct the investigation.
Huang Bingsong first used his position as the principal to control the internal control of the school, requiring the faculty and staff not to talk about Deng Shiping's disappearance.
At the same time, he also used his local connections to put pressure on the relevant departments through various informal channels in an attempt to downplay the case.
Under Wong's leadership, the local police's attitude towards the investigation of Deng Shiping's disappearance became negative.
Although Deng Shiping's family has reported the case many times, the police have not formally filed and investigated the case on the grounds of "insufficient evidence".
The failure to file a case means that the police will not invest a lot of manpower and material resources in conducting an in-depth investigation, which is exactly what Du Shaoping and Huang Bingsong want.
As time passed, the case of Deng Shiping's disappearance gradually became an unsolved case.
The Deng family did not give up on finding the truth. They repeatedly reported to the higher authorities in an attempt to draw attention.
However, every report was like a stone in the sea, and no effective response was received.
In the process, the Deng family not only had to face the pain of missing relatives, but also had to endure pressure from all sides.
Some advised them to abandon the search, some hinted that they should not pursue the matter further, and even threatened them. This kind of pressure has made life extremely difficult for the Deng family.
Eventually, in order to avoid further harm, Deng Shiping's family had to make a difficult decision to move out of Xinhuang County.
This relocation not only meant that they had to abandon their familiar living environment, but also forced them to temporarily put aside the search for the truth.
For them, this is undoubtedly a great pain and helplessness.
In this way, under the combined effect of Du Shaoping's careful cover-up, Huang Bingsong's obstruction of the investigation, the inaction of the police, and the pressure from all sides, the case of Deng Shiping's disappearance gradually faded out of the public eye.
The case has become an unsolved mystery, buried under the playground of Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School, waiting to be uncovered one day.
Yet, justice may be late, but it will never be absent.
Sixteen years later, the truth is finally revealed.
How many similar cases have been hidden in the dark during these long years? Do those who use their power and networks to cover up the truth ever think that one day they will have to pay for their actions?
The two-sided life of the black boss
In Xinhuang County, Du Shaoping is a controversial figure.
In the eyes of the public, he is a successful entrepreneur and a philanthropist who is enthusiastic about public welfare.
On the surface, Du Shaoping is a leader in the construction industry in Xinhuang County. The construction company he founded was well-known in the local area and undertook many important engineering projects.
In addition to his business achievements, Du Shaoping is also known for his enthusiasm for public welfare. He frequently participates in various charity activities, donates money and materials, and sponsors poor students.
Every major festival, Du Shaoping will organize the company's employees to visit nursing homes and orphanages to send condolences and holiday blessings.
These acts of kindness have won him a lot of praise, and he has even been awarded many honorary titles such as "Caring Entrepreneur" and "Charity Model".
However, behind these glamorous appearances, there is a completely different Du Shaoping.
In the underworld of Xinhuang County, Du Shaoping organized a gang of thugs made up of idle people in society who were responsible for intimidating and threatening competitors who were unwilling to give in.
Du Shaoping also bribed officials of relevant departments to obtain internal information and gain an advantage in project bidding.
In the construction market, Du Shaoping's company has a monopoly on almost all large-scale projects.
Even if some projects are not directly undertaken by his company, they will extract benefits from them in various ways.
He forced other construction companies to pay "conservation fees" or they would not be able to undertake any work in Xinhuang County.
This monopolistic behavior has seriously disrupted the order of the local construction market, and many entrepreneurs have been forced to leave or change careers.
Du Shaoping's evil behavior is not limited to the construction industry. He also dabbled in illegal areas such as loan sharks, underground casinos, etc.
Through these gray industries, Du Shaoping has accumulated a lot of wealth, and at the same time, he has also controlled a number of debtors, further expanding his influence.
When he felt that his interests were threatened, Du Shaoping did not hesitate to choose to kill people.
Du Shaoping's ability to navigate the two worlds in the open and in the dark is largely due to his strong network.
Not only did he maintain close ties with local government officials, but he also had improper interests with some law enforcement personnel.
These relationships provided an umbrella for his illegal acts, allowing him to go unpunished for a long time.
However, no matter how powerful the net of protection is, it cannot hide the truth forever. When Deng Shiping's case was rediscovered, Du Shaoping's carefully constructed double-sided life also collapsed.
Find the bones
In 2019, a nationwide anti-gang and anti-evil special struggle was launched in full swing.
As an important part of this operation, the Central Anti-Gang and Evil Eradication Supervision Group was stationed in Hunan Province and began to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the local underworld and evil forces.
This move brought a turning point to the long-sealed Deng Shiping case.
After the supervision team was stationed, it received a number of reports about local underworld forces, including materials that Deng Shiping's family had been petitioning for many years.
The Steering Group realized that this could be a major case and ordered the local authorities to immediately launch an investigation.
Under the pressure of the supervision group, the Hunan Provincial Public Security Department quickly set up a special task force.
After repeated discussions and analysis, the task force made a bold decision: to dig up the playground of Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School.
In June 2019, under the command of the task force, the excavation work officially began. Construction vehicles entered the campus and began to systematically excavate the playground.
The excavation continued for several days and finally found an important clue in a corner of the playground.
Workers dug up a human remains, which were initially judged to be consistent with Deng Shiping's body characteristics. The task force immediately cordoned off the scene and organized forensic experts to conduct on-site investigation and evidence collection.
After DNA comparison of the teeth, the results finally confirmed that the remains were Deng Shiping, who had been missing for 16 years.
According to the clues collected in the early stage and the newly discovered evidence, the police quickly locked up the main suspects: Du Shaoping and Luo Guangzhong.
Under strong pressure, the suspect was quickly caught.
Faced with conclusive physical evidence, Du Shaoping and Luo Guangzhong finally chose to confess.
They gave a detailed account of the entire process of the murder of Deng Shiping 16 years ago, including the motive for the crime, the specific methods, and the way in which the body was hidden.
With the arrest of the suspect and the gradual clarification of the case, the truth of Deng Shiping's case was finally revealed.
This not only brought belated justice to the families of the deceased, but also sounded the alarm for society as a whole.
reap what you sow
In September 2020, Xinhuang's "playground burial case" was tried in the Intermediate People's Court of Huaihua City, Hunan Province.
After strict legal procedures and a thorough examination of evidence, the main culprit, Du Shaoping, was sentenced to death, deprived of political rights for life, and confiscated of all personal property for committing the crimes of intentional homicide, assembling a crowd to disrupt social order, and other crimes.
Du Shaoping's accomplice, Luo Guangzhong, was sentenced to death, with a two-year reprieve, and deprived of political rights for life for participating in murder and assisting in the concealment of corpses.
In addition to those directly involved in the crime, those who provided Du Shaoping with a "protective umbrella" were also punished by law.
Among them, Huang Bingsong, the principal of Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime of harboring.
Other public officials involved in the case were also punished accordingly according to their respective crimes, some were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment, and some were given administrative sanctions.
In the course of the case, the court also took into account the issue of compensation to the victim's family. After assessment and negotiation, Deng Shiping's family received a certain amount of compensation.
But in order to support the country's anti-crime and evil eradication, they gave up this compensation.
This case reminds all law enforcers that they must always be vigilant, stick to the bottom line of law and morality, and not be tempted by money and power.
Finally, the Deng Shiping case proves once again that no matter how cunning the criminals are and how they try to cover up the truth, as long as we persevere, justice will eventually triumph over evil.
Information sources:
The Paper "Details of the "Playground Burial Case" Exposed: Fearing of Affecting the Local Image, Some Officials Were Reluctant to Investigate"
Gongcheng Procuratorate's ""Playground Burial Case" The dust has settled, and 24 people have been sentenced! After more cruel details were exposed, the whole network was shocked ......"