Jiahong, He; Ran, He --- "Wrongful convictions and tortured confessions: empirical studies in mainland China" [2013] ELECD 389; in McConville, Mike; Pils, Eva (eds), "Comparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) 73

Book Title: Comparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China

Editor(s): McConville, Mike; Pils, Eva

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781955857

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Wrongful convictions and tortured confessions: empirical studies in mainland China

Author(s): Jiahong, He; Ran, He

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

In January 1994, Zhang Zaiyu, a woman from Yanmenkou Town in Hubei’s Jingshan County, disappeared. Her husband, She Xianglin, told friends and relatives that Zhang had left home after quarrelling with him over some trivial household matter, but many did not believe him, in particular Zhang’s mother. More than two-and-a-half months later, someone found a female corpse in a mountain pond and called the police. A forensic examination determined that the deceased had drowned after being struck on the head with a blunt instrument. Police inquiries at nearby villages found no one missing and, aware that Zhang Zaiyu had been missing for several months, police called in her relatives to identify the corpse. Although the corpse was in an advanced stage of decomposition, Zhang’s mother and older brother both positively identified it as Zhang, and police named She Xianglin the prime suspect.