Zhu Ling Thallium Poisoning – China

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The attempted murder of Zhu Ling, a bright student of China’s most prestigious university remains to be one of the most popular unsolved cases of the country. What started as what everyone thought were flu symptoms ended up almost taking her life and leaving her with the mental capacity of a 6 year old. No one would have known it was a murder attempt if not for the efforts of two of Zhu Ling’s friends and hundreds of doctors from around the world exchanging information on an online forum. Just what were the events that led to this? Who was out to kill her? What exactly did they have to do to make sure almost no one finds out?    

Zhu Ling was a sophomore at Tsinghua University in Beijing where she majored in Physical Chemistry. She was described by her classmates and professors as an attractive, intelligent and talented student. She excelled not only in academics but was also a talented musician. As perfect as her student life was during her second year in the university, Zhu Ling suddenly showed strange symptoms by December of 1994. This included acute stomach pain and extensive hair loss. She was hospitalized at TongRen hospital during which, doctors concluded that she was just experiencing the winter flu. Following hospitalization, her condition gradually improved and she was allowed to get back to class.  

On March of the following year, however, after her flawless performance at a guqin recital, she started to exhibit symptoms again – only this time, they were far worse. This time, symptoms included pain in the legs, partial facial paralysis and inability to breathe. It got very bad that she had to be placed on a respirator.  

Doctors were baffled and had no idea what could be going wrong with Zhu Ling as she had no history of a fall or trauma to the head and no history of any neurological defect, the sudden onset of symptoms just could not be explained. Until, Dr Li Shun-wei, a physician at Peking Union Medical College Hospital strongly suspected Thallium poisining as he saw a resemblance to a diagnosis he had in the 60s.

Zhu Ling, however, denied any known exposure to Thallium during her classes and laboratory experiments. This was also confirmed by the Chemistry department of her university. Ultimately, the doctors had to rule this out and were once again clueless of what her condition could be.  

As time went on, Zhu Ling’s condition only worsened and worsened. This led two of her good friends, Cai Quanqing and Bei Zicheng, sought for the help that the help they needed online. In April, they started posting letters on a number of forums and groups on the internet, which read: “Docs in China unable to diagnose this disease. HELP!!”, describing Zhu Ling’s condition and symptoms. In a matter of hours, thousands of responses from Western physicians came in and roughly a third proposed the possibility of Thallium poisoning – further suggesting giving Zhu Ling doses of Prussian blue, Thallium poisoning’s known antidote.  

Presented with this theory, Zhu Ling’s doctors were skeptical at first – having already scratched off Thallium poisoning as a probable cause. However, after subsequent tests and pretty much having nothing to lose anymore as Zhu Ling’s condition only worsened, they started to administer doses of Prussian blue. Almost instantly, Zhu Ling got better and was saved from the brink of death. Although the antidote did save her life, the neurological damage that she suffered thus far were irreversible. Although she recovered the ability to breathe without a respirator, she has lost the ability to speak, remains largely paralyzed and visually impaired and was left with the mental capacity of a 6 year old. The once young, bright and talented student was left crippled and unable to function without 24/7 care. 

During subsequent tests, it was later discovered that Zhu Ling has been exposed and even ingesting Thallium for months – with increased amounts towards the last weeks. In fact, almost ten times the lethal dose was found in her system. The fact that she was able to survive the poisoning was considered to be a miracle in itself.   

This now begs the question, if Zhu Ling was never involved in any experiment or class with direct contact to Thallium, how was she poisoned? All the signs immediately pointed to none other than Sun Wei, Zhu Ling’s own roommate. Sun Wei came from a wealthy family. However, compared to Zhu Ling, when it came to academics and musical talent, she was considered average.

Witnesses reported that Sun Wei was jealous of Zhu Ling’s talents and intelligence. How could a less privileged peer be better than her? More importantly, as a science major and research assistant to a top professor, Sun Wei had access to Tsinghua’s modern laboratory of obscure chemicals – including Thallium, a soft metal that is odorless and carries no trace; a single gram has the ability to inflict a long and lingering death when ingested.  

Sun Wei was questioned by the police for eight hours. However, she was quickly released. The case became cold with no new leads and was closed in 1998. Everything was quiet until 10 years later – when in 2005, a former student of Tsinghua University went online to accuse Sun Wei as the only person who could have poisoned Zhu Ling – having means, motive and opportunity. Even after all those years, however, and even when the case was still fresh. Sun Wei seemed to be protected. It was alleged that her family had close ties to then-president as well as the senior mayoral official in Beijing.  

Over the years, classmates and peers started to speak up. How Sun Wei had been completely indifferent and hostile to her dying roommate. It seems that Sun Wei was not very discreet about her jealousy of Zhu Ling’s talents. Sun Wei eventually moved to the US and has now supposedly changed her name into Jasmine Sun – leaving the case still cold and no justice has been served for Zhu Ling.  

At one point, Sun Wei did post her own response, saying that she was also a victim of hearsay and hostile public opinion. She then proceeded to add that the laboratory’s security during that time was lax and that anyone could have gotten their hands on Thallium when they wanted.  

In the end, the question remains: who poisoned Zhu Ling? Was it really Sun Wei? Was there really a cover up? Or was it someone else? Someone who somehow had access to Thallium as well? Will the truth ever be uncovered? Will justice prevail for Zhu Ling?  

Blogger’s Note:

Finally back after a looooong period without posting. This case got my attention in particular as I thought about how it could easily have been the perfect murder. If no one figured out it was Thallium poisoning, Zhu Ling’s condition could have easily been dismissed as an unfortunate neurological disease that struck out of nowhere. This, however, was not the case. Thanks to Zhu Ling’s loyal friends and thousands of doctors from around the world, Zhu Ling was properly diagnosed and treated. I guess the question that remains is, who did it to her?

Sun Wei was the only suspect of the case and even though she did have the means, motive and opportunity, a thing that’s most crucial to convicting murderers is missing: physical evidence. All the police has up to this point is purely circumstantial – witness accounts and hearsay. It does make me think though, if the police had just dug further, would they have been able to solve this case? I mean, if Sun Wei really wasn’t responsible, could the police have found the suspect?

It is my hope that this case will one day be solved – and that Zhu Ling gets the justice she so deserves after a whole life ahead of her was snatched from her very hands. To this day, even when efforts were made to make sure this case was never talked about again, people are still seeking justice for Zhu Ling. In fact, a similar case in 2012, one that involved another poisoning by a roommate (which unfortunately led to death this time but thankfully a conviction as well) sparked interest in this case once again. A case I might even talk about in the next few posts. Until then, stay safe, keep healthy and stay at home.

Sources:

https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/05/the-resurrection-of-zhu-ling-poison-victim/275644/

https://newrepublic.com/article/113116/zhu-ling-attempted-murder-case-weibo

https://www.wired.com/2013/07/the-chemist-as-murderer-a-thallium-story/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallium_poisoning_case_of_Zhu_Ling

Sasebo Schoolgirl Murder – Japan

This is a story that shook Japan just this 2014 – when a 15-year-old committed a gruesome murder a lot of adults can’t even fathom. The never ending question is, was the perpetrator really too mentally unstable to be tried for murder or did she had this hideous murder planned all along?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the photos on this post. All the credit goes back to the owner.

Our story begins on a Sunday morning after the parents of 15-year-old Aiwa Matsuo called the police when Aiwa didn’t come home the night before. Aiwa had left the house at 3 PM on Saturday after telling her parents that she would be shopping with a classmate.

The day before, which was a Saturday, Aiwa had gone out to meet with some friends and go shopping. By the end of the night however, one of her classmates invited Aiwa over to her apartment. Little did Aiwa know that this classmate, her friend, would end up taking her life.

For the purpose of this narration, we will be calling this classmate “X” since she was never really named to protect her since she was a minor. After a day of shopping and hanging out, Aiwa went over to X’s place maybe to hang out some more.

X actually lived in an apartment alone. Her father decided that it would be best for X to live alone and got her an apartment because of one incident that made him terrified of his own daughter. See, just a year back, X’s Mom died of cancer on October of 2013. By January of 2014, her father remarried. We don’t know for sure if this is what caused X to be agitated that day on March of the same year but it was reported that she attacked her father with a metal baseball bat and injured him pretty badly because she got so mad.

X’s Dad arranged for her to live alone and away from him and his new wife. This gave X all the freedom that she needed to commit this gruesome murder. Since X lived alone, her and Aiwa had the apartment all to themselves and it was at 8 PM  that Saturday that X took Aiwa’s life. She hit Aiwa with a metal object (maybe a hammer, a pipe or something similar because the police never disclosed what she hit Aiwa with they just said that when they found the body it laid next to a metal object) and then proceeded to strangle her. Aiwa died right then and there on X’s bed.

On Sunday morning, the police arrived at X’s apartment to look for Aiwa. However, we don’t know for sure how the police figured to look for Aiwa in X’s apartment. We do know that they were able to access the messages that the two girls sent each other which shows X inviting Aiwa over. The police end up discovering the dead body of Aiwa laying on X’s bed with her head and left hand severed. X admitted to the crime there and then and was arrested by the police.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the photos on this post. All the credit goes back the the owner of the photo.

When asked why and how she did it, X responded that she simply wanted to know “how it felt like to dissect someone”. In fact, when police looked through her online activity, it was revealed that she posted photos of a bloody hand on an online forum and even questions like “Help me. How do I make the blood stop? It feels like it just keeps on pouring out of her body even though I wipe and wipe and wipe.” As well as “What color is the brain so I could check?”

This event caused an uproar within the community especially since just 10 years ago, another murder was committed by a schoolgirl within school grounds. The schools were urged to conduct activities and make ways to make sure that the students are reminded of the sanctity of life.

During the trials, it was argued that  X couldn’t be tried for murder on the reason that she was mentally unstable when the murder was committed. However, the prosecution found evidence that X was in fact researching about cases that can be filed against juvenile murderers. This was enough proof for the prosecution that X had committed pre-meditated murder and that she could be tried for it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the photos on this post. All the credit goes back to the owner.

In response to what happened, an anime series called Psycho-Pass, a show that features the murder of schoolgirls was cancelled. In July of 2014, X’s father also apologized to the family for what his daughter had done saying that his daughter’s actions “can never be forgiven for any reason or cause.” He later hanged himself on October of the same year.   

In 2015, three officials of the Nagasaki Prefectural Child Consultation Center were officially reprimanded by the government after it was revealed that they failed to take action even after a psychiatrist who examined X after she hit her father had actually contacted the consultation center to tell them that “If she (X) is left as she is, she could kills someone.”

Today, schools in Japan are trying harder to remind students of the sanctity of life; trying to prevent yet again another murder committed to and by a minor.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the photos on this post. All the credit goes back to the owner.

Blogger’s Note:

What shocked me the most about this case is how X just didn’t have a motive for killing. She never had a grudge against the Aiwa – they never got into any kind of fight. To X, Aiwa was just an easy target; available to her at the perfect timing – when they were all alone and there was nobody to witness what she would do.

I guess the question that I have is, what was she planning to do next? I mean, she clearly hadn’t thought through to make sure she wouldn’t get caught. She just kind of “went for it” when she had the chance. If the police didn’t figure out to come to her place, would she have done any effort to hide the body at all? Or would she have continued posting online, maybe even take photos of the dead body? Comment your thoughts below.

Anyway, sorry I haven’t been able to post in a while. I’ve been very busy for a while. On other news, I did just graduate high school! So that’s a yay. Please do leave a comment below and share your thoughts. It would also mean a lot if you could share this to your friends and family too. See you with another true crime post next

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasebo_schoolgirl_murder

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/14/national/crime-legal/girl-sent-medical-reformatory-murder-classmate-sasebo/#.XP-iNogzbIU

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/06/national/crime-legal/dad-alleged-schoolgirl-murderer-dies-apparent-suicide-sasebo/#.XP-iNogzbIU

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/japanese-schoolgirl-beheaded-classmate-reports

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/30/the-chilling-details-of-a-japanese-teenage-murder-and-decapitation/?utm_term=.aeded073ba4e

The Black Magic Killer – Indonesia

Powerful shaman or straight up psycho? This week, we cover the story of Ahmad Suradji, a serial killer from Indonesia that took his victims’ lives for a taste of their saliva claiming that it was the ghost of his deceased father who told him to do so.

Like the past two cases we’ve covered, we start this one by telling you some information about Ahmad Suradji, our serial killer. Ahmad Suradji was a cattle breeder who lived in the outskirts of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, Indonesia. While he was a cattle breeder, he mostly earned from being a famous “shaman” or “witch doctor” with people coming over from different cities and regions for his services – earning $200 to $400 for each service. Specializing in love potions and giving “magical solutions” to marital and fertility problems, most of his “clients” were women. He had three wives which are all sisters who allegedly helped him commit his crime and were later sentenced with him.

His killing spree of 11 years was only unearthed after 21-year-old Sri Kemala Dewi was reported missing and later discovered buried in a sugarcane field near Suradji’s home. On the 24th of April 1997, Dewi asked Andreas, a 15-year-old rickshaw puller, to take her to “Datuk”, the name that Suradji is famously known by. As mentioned before, most women who came to Suradji asked for “magical solutions” on marital, love and fertility problems which didn’t make it unusual for Dewi to ask Andreas to keep her visit a secret as they made their way to Suradji’s house. Upon their arrival, she also informed Andreas that she didn’t need to be picked up. Whether she already knew the way back from one trip to the house or she was planning on going somewhere else after meeting Suradji, we don’t really know why she told Andreas that she didn’t need him to come back later.

What we do know, however, is that she will later be the strangled, found buried and naked near Suradji’s home. On the 27th of April 1997, only three days after Andreas dropped Dewi off at Suradji’s home, a man was gathering weed to feed his livestock in the vast sugarcane field near Suradji’s home. It had been raining heavily the previous day which made the soil muddy and displacing the top soil off patches of the field. As the man searched for weed, he stumbled upon a mound on the ground that seemed oddly out of place just 10 meters upon entering the field. The man immediately informed Sugito, the village head of his discovery.

Later, a group of men from the village were tasked to check the scene. There, they dug and prodded the mound with a stick which later sent them running and throwing up as a strong smell of decay filled the air. They later reported it to their superior, who in turn, reported to the military. As the location  was basically in the middle of a field which is surrounded by cattle breeders, the military weren’t immediately alarmed by this report. Instead, they advised the village to keep digging and see what they find. Sugito, the village head was quoted saying, “The military advised us to dig deeper. He told us to leave the mound alone if it was human. But if it’s just an animal, it’s up to us to decide [what course of action to take next]”.

At around 7 PM, a group of villagers, composed of six men, then started to dig the mound upon Sugito’s orders and onlookers started to surround the area as they went further into the night and the decaying smell becomes worse and worse. The smell was reported to be so bad that Sugito reported that it took them long to dig as the villagers had to keep on running away every time the smell got worse. Soon, they discover that it was in fact the body of a naked, decomposing woman and as soon as the sun rose, police were on the scene. Although not immediately, onlookers were able to identify the corpse as Dewi and her family was later brought in for the horrific news. It was later found out that Dewi only went out that day for a small errand but never returned. The family had no idea that Dewi made a trip to meet Suradji. This was until Andreas, the rickshaw puller who brought Dewi to Suradji’s home stepped forward as a key witness.

Villagers digging for Dewi
Disclaimer: Photo not mine

Andreas told the police and Dewi’s family everything. From the moment Dewi asked him to take her to Suradji to when she asked him to keep her visit a secret. The police immediately acted on this information and visited Suradji’s home. Although he denied any claim to Dewi’s murder, the police did find Dewi’s belongings in Suradji’s home; including her handbag, dress and bracelet. Ahmad Suradji was later arrested and brought into police custody on the 20th of April 1997. During interrogation, he only initially confessed to killing 16 women during a 5-year period. Upon further search, however, police found clothes and jewelry belonging to 25 identified missing women in Suradji’s home. After further drilling questions, Suradji later admitted to killing over 42 women – including Dewi, in an 11 year period. All his victims, ranging from 11 – 30 (some reports state 17 – 40 ) years old, mostly sex workers, were never linked to him for all those years as police believed that they were too embarrassed to tell anyone that they were confiding in Suradji most likely for problems he was famous for.

Suradji’s reenactment of his crimes.
Disclaimer: Photo not mine.

As interrogations went on, excavation went underway as piles and piles of human bones, all belonging to women, were found in the very same field. A policeman who was involved in the search commented that there was so much bodies, he believe that there could actually be more than 42 victims who may be buried in a different location. In a reenactment with the police and with the whole nation watching through their TV screens, Suradji shows everyone how he kills his victims. In the guise of a “ritual”, Suradji takes the victims into the sugarcane field, digs a waist-deep hole in the ground, makes the girls sit with their legs outstretched. Their, he sits behind them and proceeds to strangled them. Sometimes with his bare hands and other times, a cable wire. Immediately after his victim’s breathing stops, he sucks their saliva and bury them with their heads facing the direction of his house believing that this would grant him stronger powers.

When asked about his motives, the police were shocked beyond belief. He claims that his reason for killing all 42 women was because years ago, his deceased father, who was also a “shaman”, came to him in his dream saying that if he successfully drinks the saliva of a total of 70 women, his powers would grow. Although much later, Suradji admits that his father didn’t directly asked him to kill. Suradji simply thought that killing would be a much faster way of drinking 70 women’s saliva.

In the end, Suradji, along with Tumini, his first wife and eldest of the three, were both sentenced to death by firing squad while Suradji’s two other wives were sentence with life imprisonment. In 2008, Suradji was killed by firing squad while Tumini won a plea and got her sentenced reduced to life imprisonment.

Blogger’s Note:

This is our first case about a serial killer and I immediately had no idea how I feel about this. It’s entirely different from serial killer documentary or podcasts I’ve listened to because none of them had a motive that was, well for me, this crazy. And to think his wives were actually on board with his madness, helping him bury the bodies and hide his crimes. Maybe a tip for people who plans on visiting shamans soon? If they’re making you sit on a hole in the ground and making you turn your back on them, consider that a red flag. You’re literally sitting on your grave.

Let me know how you felt in the comments and help me share this blog. See you soon with another case next week!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Suradji

https://hellhorror.com/serial-killer-33/Ahmad-Suradji.html

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/ahmad-suradji-41485.php

https://www.learning-history.com/ahmad-suradji/

The Eight Immortals Restaurant Murder – Macau

This is the story that shook China in 1984 – when a family of 10 was murdered and dismembered in their own restaurant which the perpetrator later managed. But are the stories real? Did the perpetrator really serve the family’s meat in the restaurant’s signature pork buns and fed them to the customers?

Let’s begin our story by getting to know our perpetrator – Huang Zhiheng. He was born in mainland China before he immigrated to Hong Kong in the 70s. Before the murders, Huang Zhiheng was also involved in a dispute with an unnamed man in Hong Kong that resulted in the man’s death. Guilty of murder, Huang later flees for Guangzhou, in Southern China. After a few years of living in Guangzhou, Huang married his landlord’s daughter. The couple was then forced to elope as the woman’s family disapproved of Huang. However, before leaving, Huang burned off his own fingertips in order to avoid being tied to the murder in Hong Kong.

Huang Zhiheng met his future victims when he entered the gambling scene in Macau. Zheng Lin and his wife were noted to be heavy gamblers. They did, however, owned the Eight Immortals Restaurant – a restaurant connected to the Eight Immortals Hotel. Zheng Lin had humble beginnings. He used to be a street vendor who later moved his business into an establishment in the 60s which later became a financial success. He lived near the restaurant with his entire family and they assisted him run the business.

Victoria Hotel, Macau. The Eight Immortals Restaurant used to be at the back of this hotel.
Disclaimer: Photo not mine.

Huang Zhiheng and Zheng Lin met during a series of high stakes bet against each other in 1984 which resulted to Huang winning 180, 000 Yuan from the Zheng couple. Ultimately, the Zhengs were unable to pay the debt. This problem was resolved with a verbal agreement that the Zheng couple would give up their restaurant to Huang if they won’t be able to pay the dept in a year. However, a year passed and the Zhengs were unable to repay their debt and according to Huang, their debt only continued to pile up as they kept losing to him. In total, Huang claims that the couple owes him 600, 000 Yuan.

The actual murders happened during the night of August 4th in 1984. Pass closing time, nine members of the Zheng family, including the Zheng couple, were busy cleaning the restaurant and preparing for next day’s business. During this, Huang entered the restaurant and demanded that the Zhengs pay him 20, 000 Yuan, 10 000 less of what he as originally asking for – only a part of the 600, 000 Yuan that they owed him. Huang grew agitated when Zheng Lin not only refused to pay but also refused to turn over the restaurant just as he had promised. Huang Zhiheng ultimately grew aggressive and later broke a beer bottle, using the sharp glass that remained as a weapon. He then took the couple’s son as hostage and forced the family to tie and gag each other up while he held the weapon against the neck of the couple’s son.

Untold movie scene where the Zheng family is being tied up.
Disclaimer: Photo not mine.

During this, one of the family members broke free and started to scream for help which further agitated Huang. This caused Huang to stab her in the neck with the jagged bear bottle. He then proceeded to either strangle or stab nine members of the family with his makeshift weapon. After this, knowing that Zheng Lin still had another sister who wasn’t with them, Huang stepped out of the restaurant to lure her in. He succeeded in doing so and later killed her as well. He then proceeded to dismember the bodies in eight hours which he later wrapped in black plastic trash bags, which he later disposed of either by throwing them into the ocean or into the dumpsters. After all this, he recovered cash and a safe key from Zheng Lin’s dead body. He then closed the restaurant, left a note at the door that announces a 3-day closure to the customers and suppliers and later stay the night at his on victims’ residence nearby.

The following morning, a delivery truck driver found the restaurant closed and read the note. He then walked to the family’s home where Huang Zhiheng was. When questioned where the family was, Huang only told the delivery man that the family had left for a trip to the mainland. This delivery man became a key witness as he was also the last one who saw the family well and alive just the afternoon before the fateful night. After three days, Huang reopened the restaurant and managed it himself.

Over a year later, on August 8th in 1985, a swimmer found eight pieces of human limbs, including four right hands, at Hac Sa, a nearby beach. It was originally suspected that either smugglers were involved or a shark somehow attacked swimmers. However, during an examination, both theories were proved to be wrong.  It was found that the limbs were cut precisely suggesting that they had been severed. This prompted a police investigation and a search for missing persons that the limbs may belong to. Over the next days, forensics determined that the limbs actually belonged to four different people. Over the following week, three more body parts were found on Macau’s beaches. The last body parts that were linked to the murders were found in a trash dump in 1989.

After finding out that a whole family was missing as reported by relatives, police discover that the limbs belonged to the Zheng family. While the police found it unusual that Huang was running the business, they couldn’t exactly pin the blame on him as everyone knew that he was associated with the family (In some articles, I also found that Huang had actually worked for the family before) and was in possession of the restaurant’s documents. Aside from running the restaurant, Huang also started to collect rent from the family’s home.

The police did, however, start getting suspicious of Huang’s activities and began investigating him. When they started to search his bank holdings, they had found documents that belonged to Zheng Lin and the student ID cards of the couple’s children. Once again, Huang planned an escape path to mainland China but this time, he was caught and arrested on the 28th of September in 1986. Shortly after, he was convicted and charged with the murder of all ten members of the Zheng family on the 2nd of October 1986.

After his conviction, Huang got involved in a fight with another inmate within only a day of being in prison. He was sent to the hospital to recover where he attempted another escape but still failed. On the 6th of October of the same year, he confessed to the murders and went on to tell investigators how he killed each member in detail. While in prison, Huang attempted suicide twice. Succeeding on his second try on December 4th of the same year, where he slit his wrists using a trash can lid. Huang left a suicide note along with a letter to a local newspaper explaining what he had done. In his note, Huang says that his suicide was not his acceptance of his sin but was rather a way to escape his chronic asthma.

Although Huang never confessed to having an accomplice, police strongly believed that he had someone help him. After all, Huang was around 50 years old when he allegedly took hostage and killed 10 people.

Untold Story poster.
Disclaimer: Photo not mine.

From this crime, an urban legend that still sends chill down people’s backs was formed. It was rumored that while Huang was running the restaurant, he had used Zheng family’s remaining meat in place of pork meat in the restaurant’s signature pork buns and served them to clueless customers. Although police never claimed any allegation, is it really possible that other missing parts were cooked and served? We may never find out.

Blogger’s Note:

The only pictures I can find are that of the movie adaptation’s poster. The crime did happen in the 80s and it’s kind of hard to find photos from then. It’s most likely that the only photos were published in newspapers but were never posted online. Anyway, what I do know is that where the restaurant used to be is now known as “Victoria Hotel” in Macau.

References:

https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/blog/mean-streets-hong-kongs-most-infamous-murders-083016

https://courseofhorror.wordpress.com/2017/11/01/fancy-some-meat-buns/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Immortals_Restaurant_murders

Suwon Murder – South Korea

On the 1st of April, 2012, a murder in the city of Suwon shocked the nation of South Korea. This is a story of a woman abducted, killed and mutilated into 365 tiny pieces. A story that caused an uproar against the South Korean police for reportedly failing to immediately respond and save the victim even after a 7-minute call to 112 for help.

Our story begins with our murder suspect, Wu Yuanchun, a 42-year-old Chinese migrant worker who’s also half Korean. It was reported that he came to Korea in 2007 and started to work at construction sites, earning around 1.5 to 2 million Korean Won a month – sending them back to his wife and kids in China.

Wu Yuanchu as he reenacted how he committed the crime. Disclaimer: Photo not mine

During my research on this case, I wasn’t actually able to find any reports if Wu Yuanchun had a clean police record or not. So it’s not entirely clear if he had run-ins with the police before or if he had committed smaller crimes in the past that would’ve slowly led to this one big act of abduction and mutilation. Ironically, when his neighbors were interviewed, they even said that Wu Yuanchun was just a quiet man who liked to drink alone.

All we know is that this all started on the evening of April 1, 2012, while Wu Yuanchun was on his way home from a local shop. Nothing was said on what specific store he went to or what he bought but as he was walking home from the shop, he had bumped into a 28-year-old woman (who was actually never named; perhaps in efforts of protecting her identity and to just give her family some privacy on this tragic loss). Little did this woman know that merely grazing this man’s shoulder would be the cause of her demise. When the woman had bumped into him, Wu Yuanchun reacted violently. He reportedly responded by threatening her and forcing her into his home where he intended to rape her.

When they arrived at his home, we don’t know for sure if he attempted to rape her, failed, and entered the bathroom or he immediately entered the bathroom and left her in the room when they arrived. But we do know that during the time that he went into the bathroom, the woman managed to call 112 (South Korea’s police hotline). While police initially reported that the call only lasted for 50 seconds, later reports reveal that the call had in fact lasted for 7 minutes. Where the woman described where Wu Yuanchun took her in detail, even giving landmarks of schools in the area and allowed for GPS tracking. The 112 call was actually released to the public. A transcript of a translation of the first few seconds of the call are as follows:

Police: This is the police at 112.

Victim: Hello, I am in a house before Mot-gol playground and getting sexually harassed.

P: Mot-gol playground?

V: Yes, it’s somewhere in the direction of the playground but I can’t tell which house.

P: In Ji-dong?

V: Yes, it’s past the Ji-dong primary school, on the way towards Mot-gol playground.

P: I will try location-tracking with your mobile phone.

V: Ok.

P: So, you are getting sexually harassed now? It’s sexual violence you are getting?

V: Yes, yes.

P: You don’t recognize the detailed location?

V: It’s somewhere before reaching the Mot-gol playground, starting from the Ji-dong primary school…

P: From Ji-dong primary school…

V: …before reaching the Mot-gol playground.

P: Who, who is doing this to you?

V: Some guy, it’s some random guy. Please be quick, please.

P: Who is this, do you know him in any way?

V: It’s someone I don’t know.

P: What did you do to the door of the room you are in?

V: I’ve locked it just now.

P: Have you locked the door?

V: I have, while the guy was away for a while.

P: Will you let me know once again when you enter?

V: (sound of the door being forced open) I beg you, please, I’m sorry…

P: Hello, can you tell me the address once again?

Because this was translated from Korean to English, some words or phrases obviously won’t exactly be the same as how the woman and the operator talked. However, it is very clear that the operator somehow made no sense at all. I mean, the woman had clearly described where she was. Although she didn’t give a specific address, she has successfully created a virtual image of where she was (after the primary school but not reaching the playground). She literally handed the operator a marker and circled a rough perimeter of where she could be for him/her.

To the right of the circle is Ji-dong primary school while to the left is Motgol area (presumably the area where you’ll find Motgol playground)
Photo from Google Maps

Eventually, Wu Yuanchun was able to knock the door down and attempted to rape her again. The 112 operator had heard her struggle against her abductor and how she screamed in pain and begged for her life as the woman didn’t end the call in hope that the operator would be able to track her location down a lot easier if the call remained connected. The call lasted for 7 minutes before it was disconnected and the 112 operator didn’t hear from the woman again.

Despite this rough perimeter that the woman had given, a clear description of where she could be, and keeping the line connected in hopes of being tracked, she was only found 13 hours after she had made the call even when it was later found out that the station was a mere 7 minute walk from the house she was being held in. Police reported that they had initially sent 35 officers to patrol the area in search for the woman but residents reported that they never saw any police officer around the area during the time of their alleged patrol. It was later found out that there were 20 police officers on duty that night and yet not a single one took a step outside to look for the woman.

A rented house where Wu Yuanchu lived and committed the murder.
Disclaimer: Photo not mine.

13 hours after the call was made, police knock down the door of Wu Yuanchun catching him in the act of wrapping up tiny mutilated parts of the woman in plastic one by one and placing them inside 14 different bags. A store owner actually testified against the suspect saying that he had bought the plastic bags from him in the early hours of April 2, asking if there were any black bags available to which the owner replied that there were only blue – which Wu Yuanchun then bought. Later, the suspect confessed that after several failed attempts to rape her, he later killed the woman at 5:00 am in the morning of April 2 by striking her in the head with a wrench and then strangling her. He then took her body to the bathroom where he started chopping her.  

With all these discoveries, the public was outraged with the nation’s “finest”. Their incompetence led to the death of a 28-year-old woman who was calling so desperately for help. The family of the victim also filed a suit against the police saying, “The police could have prevented the murder if they responded promptly to her call. We will seek compensation for what we suffered and will suffer from her death. The police could have prevented the murder if they responded promptly to her call. We will seek compensation for what we suffered and will suffer from her death.”. Although I couldn’t find news on the suit and whether or not the family won. What I do know, however, is that Cho Hyun Oh, police chief of the time, stepped down from his position as he took responsibility for what had happened.

Meanwhile, Wu Yuanchun was initially sentenced to death following allegations that he was planning to sell the body parts back in China. However, this charge was later dropped as there was no “sufficient evidence” proving this allegation. Instead, Wu Yuanchun was sentenced to life in prison and is still serving his time in South Korea.

Blogger’s Note:

I hope you enjoyed the first case that we covered! I actually had mixed emotions as I was researching for and writing this blog post. Thinking of how different things could’ve been if police were able to immediately respond and find the woman. It’s also pretty terrifying if you put yourself in the situation. Imagine being merely 7 minutes away from a police station as you make a call only to be found 13 hours after. I mean, A LOT could happen in 13 hours. The fact the Wu Yuanchun was able to kill, mutilate into hundreds of pieces, and wrap them up one by one is proof. Also, what made him snap? I mean, surely that wasn’t his first time bumping into anyone, right?

If you liked this story and want to hear more from me, share this blog with your friends! Also, leave a comment below and share your thoughts! I’d love to hear from you. See you next time on another True Crime Asia post!  

Disclaimer:

None of the photos belong to me. All credit go back to the owner. This article was researched from different links. For reference:

https://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/incompetent-police-fail-to-prevent-horrific-murder-of-woman.html

http://thethreewisemonkeys.com/2012/04/09/police-fail-to-save-murder-victim-despite-seven-minute-phone-call-gps-tracking-police-commissioner-resigns/

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/s-korea-top-court-rejects-death-penalty-in-brutal-murder

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/04/117_108575.html

https://www.ucanews.com/news/chinese-murderer-appeals-death-sentence/53385

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20120615002100315