71 years ago, in an obscure mountain village in Ningyang County, Shandong Province, a huge and extraordinarily wrongful case occurred that shocked the Chinese people: 6 cadres and militia members "intentionally killed people", the evidence was conclusive, and all were sentenced to death. A year later, the truth came out, and the court realized that the verdict was wrong, but the 6 "prisoners" had already been shot. The twists and turns are bizarre, and if you're interested, you might as well take a few minutes and look down.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > plagued by bandits</h1>
Maoyizhuang is located in the northeast of Ningyang County, surrounded by mountains and dense forests, and has been plagued by bandits since ancient times. After the liberation of Ningyang County in 1948, bandits, spies, and remnants of the Kuomintang fled to the mountains, taking advantage of the dangerous terrain to resist stubbornly, and creating many incidents of brutal killing of revolutionary cadres and the masses, causing great damage to the newly established people's power.
In order to protect the safety of people's lives and property, the Ningyang County CPC Committee followed the instructions of its superiors and launched a struggle to "clean up bandits and oppose hegemony" throughout the county. In August 1949, the county bandit brigade severely damaged the bandits lurking in the southern mountains, except for the bandit leaders Geng Jiwu, Ning Yishan and a few others who escaped by chance, the rest of the bandits were killed and captured. However, Geng Jiwu and Ning Yishan were not willing to fail, and after escaping, they recruited soldiers everywhere, waiting for an opportunity to retaliate against the counterattack.
In September 1949, bandits were found in Da'an Village, Maoyizhuang and others. To this end, Pan Lizhen (director of the district supply and marketing cooperative) and Wu Yudong (secretary of the party branch of Da'an Village) led the formation of a militia team responsible for the protection of bandits in the mountainous areas, and at the same time issued 12 rifles to the militia in Maoyizhuang to deal with the bandits' sabotage activities.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > audit cadres were shot</h1>
Although Wu Yudong is a cadre, he came from the old society and still retains many bad habits, such as alcoholism and morality. He is good at drinking, and the amount of alcohol is also large, and he has partnered with Kong Lingren (militia squad leader) to open a homebrew hotel, first, for the convenience of drinking, and second, to make a little money. However, according to the law of the time, it was illegal to open a brewery without permission.
At the end of 1949, Wu Yudong's brewing hotel was reported by the masses, and Guo Zonglu, an inspection cadre, brought people to investigate and confiscated all tools and wine. However, not long after, Wu Yudong bought wine-making utensils again, and also pulled Pan Lizhen into the gang and continued to secretly brew wine. This time, although it was hidden deep enough, the paper could not contain the fire after all, and their illegal acts were once again reported.
On January 11, 1950, the three were summoned by the district office for examination, and Kong Lingren was very "righteous", and one person took full responsibility and did not involve anyone else. The district office saw that his attitude of admitting his mistake was not bad, and decided to give him a lighter punishment, but he must pay a fine of 300,000 yuan (old currency), which was limited to three days, and released him to go home on the 16th.
In the blink of an eye to the 18th, Kong Lingren did not move at all after returning home, and did not have the slightest intention of paying the fine. This afternoon, the district leaders sent Guo Zonglu to collect money, and considering that there were bandits on the road, they also specially arranged for the militiamen Liu Enli and Wang Chengduo to go to Maoyizhuang with their guns and Guo.
That night, when Guo Zonglu arrived at Kong's house, he happened to encounter Kong's wife squatting at the door eating noodles, and asked, "Younger sister, is Comrade Ling Ren at home?" ”
"It's Brother Guo, Old Kong, he's drunk, lying in the house, you come and sit down, I'll go and serve you noodles." As Kong's wife spoke, she pulled Guo Zonglu into the room.
"Don't eat, I still have urgent matters, I have to leave right away." You tell Ling Ren to come to the district tomorrow." After saying that, Guo Zonglu waved his hand and turned his head to leave.
Coincidentally, Wu Yudong was drinking at Kong's house at that time, and when he saw Guo Zonglu standing at the door talking, he also came out to greet him, saying that he had to let him enter the house for two drinks. But no matter how Wu Yudong persuaded, Guo Zonglu just wouldn't enter the house, and Wu Yudong was still a little angry, thinking that he wouldn't give him face. But people didn't drink or have no way, and in desperation, Wu Yudong had to personally send the "leader" out of the village.
Who would have thought that not long after Guo Zonglu left the village, there was a burst of gunfire outside the village, and Guo Zonglu and the two militiamen were shot and killed. The county public security bureau received the report and immediately rushed to the scene of the crime, and found the bodies of the three people lying next to each other, lying next to the road.
Guo Zonglu was shot in the head, shot three times in the waist, his head was picked by a bayonet, and there were obvious binding marks on his arms. Around his body, 8 shells were scattered, and none of the rifles they were carrying were missing. Three audit cadres and militia members were killed, which was a major case, and the county public security bureau immediately set up a special case team to investigate the case.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="18" > 6 people were innocently sentenced to death</h1>
The day after the incident, the special case team received a clue, and it was Kong Lingren who provided the clue, according to him: "Last night, a group of bandits entered the village and shot and injured the arm of the villager. The special case team immediately began to investigate, but the results of the investigation found that Kong Lingren was lying, and there were no bandits on the night of the crime.
At such a sensitive moment, why did Kong Lingren provide false clues? His abnormal behavior has aroused a high degree of suspicion among the case-handling personnel. After visiting and investigating, the special case team also found a fact, Kong Lingren, Wu Yudong, and others who brewed wine privately were investigated and handled by Guo Zonglu according to law.
Judging from the scene of the crime, there is no trace of a fight, and Guo Zonglu's three people were obviously plotted against others, rather than dying in a gunfight with bandits. After the incident, Kong Lingren deliberately provided false clues, apparently to divert the investigation attention of public security personnel. A comprehensive list of all kinds of indications shows that Kong Lingren and others have the motive for committing the crime and are suspected of committing major crimes.
The special case team immediately took action and arrested 13 brewers, including Kong and Wu. During the interrogation, Pan Lizhen was also confessed to participating in the brewing of wine, but considering that he was a district cadre, for the sake of prudence, the special case team did not arrest him, but conducted a secret investigation. This investigation found another clue.
Zhang Xianxiu, a mass member, reported to the task force that on January 18, he saw That Pan Lizhen had gone out with a gun on his back, and when he returned, there seemed to be blood on his bayonet. His words immediately made Pan Lizhen a major criminal suspect. After obtaining the approval of the superior leader, the public security police immediately arrested him and imprisoned him in the county detention center.
During the interrogation, Pan, Wu, Kong, and others confessed to the unauthorized brewing of wine, but they all denied the criminal fact of shooting and killing Guo Zonglu and the three people, and shouted that they had been wronged. This brought the interrogation work to a temporary halt, and the characterization of the case within the task force also led to disagreements.
Some comrades believe that Pan, Kong, and others were poor peasants before liberation, and now some people have become cadres in the district, some people have become militia members for suppressing bandits, and their political consciousness is very high, although there is a contradiction with Guo Zonglu, they will never poison their comrades. Moreover, the bandits in the surrounding mountainous areas have not yet been eliminated, and the possibility of bandits committing crimes cannot be ruled out.
Moreover, the guns of the three slain comrades have not yet been found, there is no physical evidence, there is no confession from the co-conspirators, and it is too hasty to draw conclusions based on indirect evidence alone.
However, another part of the comrades believed that there were contradictions between Pan, Wu, Kong, and Guo Zonglu, and had obvious motives for committing crimes. If it wasn't for them, why would Kong Lingren lie about the bandits and divert his attention?
Moreover, the people in the village also confirmed that shortly after Wu Yudong sent Guo Zonglu and others out of the village, they heard gunshots. What does this mean? It must have been killed by Wu Yudong and others. They do not confess their guilt because they are afraid of killing people to pay for their lives.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="29" > 6 people were sentenced to death innocently</h1>
In the course of the debate, the latter opinion gradually prevailed, and the special case team decided to intensify the interrogation and sentence the "first offender" Pan Lizhen. Of course, extorting confessions by torture was illegal, but in that era, the legal system was not yet perfect, and public security personnel lacked the concept of legal system, and such behavior was acquiesced.
After eating a meal of flesh and skin, Pan Lizhen finally couldn't bear it and confessed the "facts of the crime": "On the 16th, I went to Kong Lingren's house, and Kong said that the 300,000 fines we could not afford to pay, if he (Guo) dared to urge, he would beat him to death. If you don't dare, lend me the gun and use it. On the afternoon of the 18th, I gave the gun to Kong and asked him to deliver the gun to the Yujia Oil Mill after he finished his business. That night, Kong returned the gun and said it was done. ”
Pan Lizhen's confession made the special case team members overjoyed, thinking that they had found a breakthrough in the case, and then increased the intensity of interrogation of Wu Yudong and Kong Lingren. Soon, Wu and Kong could not resist the torture and confessed. However, once the torture device was removed, the two immediately retracted their confessions. After repeating this several times, the special case team personnel did not delve into the reasons, but determined that their attitude was not honest, laying the groundwork for the subsequent judgment of the wrong case.
Although the confession is there, the physical evidence is not known, and without the physical evidence, the case cannot be closed, which is sad for the case-handling personnel. At this time, Du Mou, the women's director of Maoyizhuang, provided an important clue, according to her: "On the night of the crime, I saw Wu Yudong and they went to Kong Lingren's house, as if there was another cadre, like a person in the district (referring to Pan Lizhen), listening to what they said about 'guns', 'wells in the west of the village' and the like. ”
The clues provided by Du made the case-handling personnel extremely happy and immediately went to Maoyizhuang. Sure enough, in a well in the west of the village, the case-handling personnel fished out three rifles. It was identified that the three rifles were the guns that Guo Zonglu had lost when they were killed. At this moment, the personal evidence, physical evidence, and confession were all complete, and the case was finally successfully closed.
In July 1950, the case was characterized as a "counter-revolutionary pre-murder case", and the Ningyang County People's Court sentenced Pan Lizhen, Wu Yudong, Kong Lingren and six others to death in accordance with the law. In November of the same year, six people were executed by firing squad.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > bandits planted stolen goods and brewed strange grievances</h1>
In June 1950, after the outbreak of the Korean War, bandits became active again. In order to stabilize the domestic situation, Luzhongnan and Tai'an Military Sub-districts sent heavy troops to vigorously suppress and suppress them. A large number of bandits were eliminated, the leader of the bandits, Geng Jiwu, was killed, and Ning Yishan was also captured alive.
At the end of 1951, Ningyang County arrested a bandit named Ji Duanqian, and during the interrogation, he always refused to account for any problems, and the case-handling personnel publicized the policy to him, saying: "As long as you confess painfully and quickly, if the problem is not big, you will be released soon, and the government will never wrongfully accuse a good person." ”
"Do you think I'll believe it?" Last year, Pan Lizhen and Kong Lingren and those people, they never killed anyone at all, they were all framed by bandits, but they were shot by you, and now they dare to say that they did not wrongfully accuse a good person? Ji Duanqian blurted out a rebuttal that stunned the case-handling personnel.
This remark caused a bombshell, shook the entire Ningyang County, and also aroused the great attention of the county party committee, so it immediately organized forces to review the case. Through the interrogation of the bandits, the special case team finally determined that this was a bizarre case in which the enemy took advantage of the contradictions among the people and borrowed knives to kill people.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="41" > the truth of the case</h1>
Fast forward to January 18, 1950, when Guo Zonglu and two militiamen went to Maoyizhuang and passed through the village of Montenegro, a woman saw them turn their heads and run to the village. Guo Zonglu thought to himself, "There must be someone in the village who brewed wine privately, and this woman went to ventilate the news", so he followed closely behind.
Just after chasing into a courtyard, someone inside actually shot at them, and in the case of unknown enemy conditions, Guo Zonglu and the three of them fought and retreated. Unexpectedly, they were facing the bandit leaders Geng Jiwu and Ning Yishan, who were outnumbered and captured by the bandits.
Geng Jiwu originally wanted to kill them immediately, but after learning about the contradictions between Guo, Wu and others, he changed his mind and decided to play a trick to kill people and marry them. Geng Jiwu said to them, "Don't be afraid, Zhuang Li Zhuang is close, I will not embarrass you, as long as you obey, you will naturally be let go, otherwise, your whole family's life will not be guaranteed." ”
Guo Zonglu failed to see through the bandits' tricks, and worried about the safety of his family, so he had to be at the mercy of the enemy, which made a big mistake. That night, Geng Jiwu changed into the clothes of the militia and escorted Guo Zonglu to Maoyizhuang, while the two militiamen were imprisoned by bandits. When the two came to Kong Lingren's house, the above scene occurred.
At that time, not only Kong Lingren was at home, but Wu Yudong and two militiamen were also in the Kong family, and as long as Guo Zonglu gave a hint, he could completely kill Geng Jiwu. Unfortunately, until Wu Yudong sent them out of the village, Guo Zonglu did not make any moves and hints of resistance, missing all opportunities to survive. After leaving the village, the three were killed, and their guns were thrown into the well by the bandits, forging the illusion of being murdered.
Kong Lingren heard that the three people had been killed, and worried that the public security organs would suspect him, so he colluded with several other brewing militiamen to fire a bunch of guns in the village, and the next day went to report the crime and falsely claimed to be a bandit. His purpose was very simple, that is, he wanted to turn the public security's investigation attention to the bandits, who knew that cleverness was mistaken by cleverness, but instead let himself be "planted" into it.
Geng Jiwu also did not expect that someone actually "cooperated" with his plan, and in addition to being overjoyed, he arranged for the bandit Zhang Xianxiu to give perjury and let the public security arrest Pan Lizhen as well. After a while, Geng Jiwu learned that there was no physical evidence that could not be decided, and he once again arranged for the bandit Du mou to give perjury and reveal the location of the gun disposal.
After the guns were salvaged, the task force believed that the evidence was "overwhelming", and in a hurry to make a decision under a pile of suspicious points, it finally made a big mistake. This bizarre murder case, led by the bandits from the beginning, was completely hit by the enemy's plan to kill people with a knife.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="50" > blood lessons are sobering</h1>
According to the analysis of the aftermath, the reason for this extraordinarily serious wrongful case mainly lies in the sloppiness of the investigation work. For example, on the night of the crime, Pan Lizhen drank outside until the middle of the night, during which many people looked for him, and then drank too much, and the boss deliberately let two employees send him back to the dormitory. At the time of the crime, Pan Lizhen had sufficient alibi evidence, and many people could testify, but this was ignored by the case-handling personnel.
For another example, the shell casings found at the scene of the crime have thick and shallow marks on the top fire cap, while the bullets used by Pan Lizhen are thin and deep, which is obviously not a gun. In this regard, the case-handling personnel had different opinions, but they were not adopted.
In the analysis of cases, there are also many people who raise objections. For example, Xu Xiliang, secretary of the district party committee, Zhao Guiqing, the mayor of the district, and others resolutely opposed the characterization of the case by the special case team. However, the investigators believed that they were defending the counter-revolutionaries and deliberately shielding the murderers. As a result, the two were revoked from their posts by the county party committee and suspended for reflection.
After the results of the review were reported, the Shandong Provincial Government sent someone to check it again, and finally determined that the case was indeed an extraordinarily serious and wrong case. On June 2, 1954, Ningyang County held a public trial meeting of 10,000 people, and the bandit leader Ning Yishan was shot. At the same time, he also solemnly rehabilitated 6 comrades, including Pan Lizhen, Kong Lingren, and Wu Yudong. Although more than 70 years have passed since the case, it is still shocking to read and deserves the vigilance of future generations.