On the evening of December 4, taxis on the streets of Zhaoyuan County were waiting for passengers. Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang reporter Yan Xueqing/photo
Daqing Public Security Bureau chased the criminal police and escorted Yang Tong (third from left) from Henan to Heilongjiang. Photo courtesy of respondents
On December 4th, Sun Yanhui, head of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Zhaoyuan County Public Security Bureau, came to the scene where the first driver was killed. Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang reporter Yan Xueqing/photo
Interpol Liu Zhigang has been looking for a rose.
As the most critical "blood color" in 12 murders, this "flower" has disappeared for 14 years.
In less than three months from 2005 to 2006, a six-member gang successively robbed and killed 12 taxi drivers in two provinces and three cities, including 11 men and 1 woman, and seized more than 4,000 yuan. This is "the largest serial homicide case against taxi drivers" since 1949.
The day after the last case happened, the series of cases were solved, three people in the gang were brought to justice, and two minors were sentenced to life imprisonment, but one person has not yet been brought to justice. The confession of the accomplice points to this man named Yang Tong, saying that he was the first mastermind who decided to rob and kill. Since then, looking for Yang Tong, the principal criminal who disappeared, has become a "must-test big question" for Heilongjiang police every year.
In the wanted order issued by the police, the 22-year-old young man has a handsome appearance, and his features include "a red rose tattooed on his right upper arm".
victim
He Qiaolian (a pseudonym) remembers that on February 26, 2006, her husband Liu Zhongchun (a pseudonym) was in a hurry to go out and pull a job just after lunch.
The red Xiali taxi he drives will be scrapped in seven days. The couple bought it with a loan from the bank. Although it is always bad, it is still the only source of income for the family.
Liu Zhongchun and his wife calculated that they would quit after running these days and do some business in the future. Seeing that his niece is getting married, he wants to run for money. If he has a lot of work, he can also run for a ticket and go back to his hometown in Jilin to see his parents.
Before going out that afternoon, the family-oriented man soaked two clothes in a basin and asked his wife to wait for him to come back and wash them.
The next day, 43-year-old Liu Zhongchun was found in a drainage ditch 28 kilometers away from anniversary, with 56 knives. He Qiaolian’s sister said that in order to let the knife penetrate the abdomen smoothly, the murderer opened Liu Zhongchun’s upper body cotton-padded clothes.
This is the seventh taxi driver murder case in Zhaoyuan County, Daqing City, Harbin City and Zhaozhou County of Heilongjiang Province since December 2005. The public security organs found that these cases were committed by the same group by analyzing the means of committing crimes, comparing the knife edges and inspecting the traces on the scene.
The murdered drivers were all in dozens of knives. After a driver was killed, the only 24 yuan money on his body was taken away; Two drivers were killed and thrown into the same grave; A driver tried to escape, but the murderer threw him down and killed him … … Liu Zhongchun was the victim who was stabbed the most.
Before killing Liu Zhongchun, a group of murderers clashed. After participating in two robberies, 17-year-old member Jiang Ming (pseudonym) stole two stolen mobile phones and more than 200 yuan while other members were in the bath center, and then fled.
Subsequently, other people had no money to pay for the bath, so they "mortgaged" one person, and the other three people went out to rob and kill a red Xiali taxi driver, that is, Liu Zhongchun.
Two days later, Jiang Ming enabled the stolen mobile phone, and Daqing Public Security locked the signal to capture it.
Liu Zhigang, Yu Tao, Sun Yanhui and other police officers in different positions at that time all remember that in those days, the weather in Daqing was very cold, and almost all the public security organs in the city took to the streets to participate in the arrest, and police cars flashed warning lights throughout the city.
Three days later, the remaining four people in the killing gang were arrested. Three of the five people were sentenced to death and two were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Fourteen years later, He Qiaolian told reporters that she forgave two underage adults, but the nightmare did not completely let her go.
She often dreams that her husband comes back to wash those two clothes. She cries and asks "Where are you" and "Why don’t you go home", but the husband in her dream always doesn’t look at her.
In the home where Liu Zhongchun will never go back, there is no trace of his life. He Qiaolian moved away from the former site and raised her daughter alone. This 50-year-old woman has many empty bottles of eye drops at her bedside. Her eyes are not good, and the font in her mobile phone can only be seen when it is adjusted to extra large. She once heard a doctor say, "Tears are hot, and crying all the time burns the fundus."
The case materials and old newspapers of that year were sandwiched in the family photo album by her. She and her daughter seldom talk about Liu Zhongchun, let alone the sixth man who disappeared. She had seen Yang Tong’s name in the litigation materials. She hated this young man who had never met before, and even wanted to go to his hometown to find out, "Why would he want to kill someone?".
Chaser
Liu Zhigang kept Yang Tong’s photos and wanted orders in his computer and mobile phone, and also printed out a copy at hand, then took it out and stared at it regularly.
When Yang Tong absconded in 2006, Liu Zhigang was 33 years old. He was a criminal policeman of the Eighth Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of anniversary Public Security Bureau, mainly responsible for chasing fugitives.
The closest one was in March 2006, when Liu Zhigang learned that Yang Tong was in Harbin, but when he got there, he had already fled. The 14-year hunt has begun. In the words of Han Yanchun, a colleague from Liu Zhigang, in this world, apart from Yang Tong’s parents, "we are the people who miss him the most".
Over the years, the police have received many tips about Yang Tong. Some say that he smashed the stall selling eggs, some say that he bought explosives and guns to do something important, some say that he wants to sneak out of Yunnan, and some people post that Yang Tong inquired about the policy of "surrender leniency". All these clues are finally "checked out".
After 2010, Yang Tong’s ID card information was registered in many places, such as Didi, Alipay, Baidu Takeaway, ofo bike-sharing, YY voice account, Perfect World, Street Basketball, Jiuyin Zhenjing and other game accounts, and dozens of mobile phone numbers were also registered. The police speculated that the A-level wanted order of the Ministry of Public Security sometimes appeared on the boot screen of the computer in the Internet cafe, and the identity information was easily "borrowed" by others.
In 2012, Liu Zhigang took over as the captain of the pursuit brigade. His superior, Tianhua Wang, then the criminal investigation detachment leader of Daqing Public Security Bureau, told him, "If you don’t do anything for a year, you can just get Yang Tong back.".
In the past 14 years, the task force that pursued Yang Tong has changed five batches and the criminal police have changed three times. Liu Zhigang and his colleagues spend almost a third of their time chasing after each other all over the country every year. Knowing that Yang Tong may go home for the New Year, they will go to his hometown to lurk next door, or hide in the van to spy on him.
Liu Zhigang is 47 years old, with wrinkles and white hair. Criminal investigation detachment has been joined by criminal police after 80 s and 90 s. When newcomers report for duty, they will listen to the "old policeman" telling the story of the sixth man who disappeared and the serial murders of that year.
After 80s, Wang Shuai was transferred from other provinces and saw the world, but when he heard the tragic murder, he still said it was "unheard of". Later, he took the initiative to join the task force.
"Every quarterly, annual assessment or special action, the superior must mention Yang Tong." Luo Hongwei, deputy detachment leader of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Daqing Public Security Bureau, said that sometimes "the face is red when asked", and "12 people died violently, the principal offender could not be found, and the family members were restless. For the criminal investigation police, this is a great shame."
The new office building of Zhaoyuan County Public Security Bureau is on the bank of Songhua River, and the glaciers in the sun are particularly bright. But for criminal police, what is more conspicuous is the left front of the gate and the place where the tenth victim was dumped. At the time of the crime, it was still a wasteland.
Yang Tong’s name and his white and delicate face have been flowing in the huge data system of public security organs, looking for relevant data.
Iterative technology is like a finer mesh screen, with smaller mesh and higher precision.
In 2016, after a nationwide systematic screening, the police determined that Yang Tong had not activated his identity information, inferring that he was using someone else’s identity or living under a false identity.
In August, 2020, Sanmenxia Public Security Bureau of Henan Province used the database to match a person who was imprisoned for theft, which was very similar to Yang Tong.
perpetrator
No one can tell why Yang Tong, who just turned 22 in the winter of 2005, suddenly took two young boys to rob him.
He was born in Erjingzi Town, Zhaozhou County. His parents are still alive. He has a younger sister at home. When he was 6 years old, his family moved to neighboring Zhaoyuan County to sell candy bars. He graduated from primary school, went out to work at the age of 18, sold seafood in Harbin and Shuangyashan, cut vegetables for restaurants and talked about love.
According to the confessions of accomplices Wang Dongcheng and Fan Mingkun, 20-year-old Wang Dongcheng is a neighbor of Yang Tong, who works in anniversary. One day at the end of November 2005, Yang Tong found Wang Dongcheng and said that he would take him to do a job of "making more money". Later, the two returned to Zhaoyuan County, and Yang Tongdao introduced Fan Mingkun, a 21-year-old elementary school classmate, to Wang Dongcheng.
The three initially planned to rob the grocery store. When they walked to the door and saw many people in the store, they gave up.
The reason for robbing a taxi is that there is no need to look for the target of the crime, and it is all over the street; There are ready-made vehicles to escape; More importantly, the taxi must have cash.
"Even if a person just went out and didn’t pull it, the driver must have change with him. The change can at least break a 100 yuan." Fan Mingkun confessed. The first selected driver "looks like an old man" and "speaks softly and has no energy".
For the first time, Yang Tong didn’t do it. A policeman who handled the case said that Yang Tong was a "ghost" (flexible in mind) and mainly assumed the role of strategist and finance. He is responsible for chatting with the driver, observing the surrounding environment and waiting for an opportunity to signal to stop. After committing the crime, he insisted on selling or destroying the victim’s mobile phone, and the money he grabbed was also distributed by him.
On December 14th, 2005, three people returned to Saertu District of Daqing City, which means "the place where the moon rises" in Mongolian. Here, they robbed a yellow Alto taxi. This time, "Yang Tong stabbed the driver in the back with a knife".
When killing the fourth driver, Yang Tong suddenly became "frightened".
On December 18th, 2005, near midnight, Yang Tong robbed a red Jetta taxi in Daqing, and Yang Tong and Wang Dongcheng dragged the tied driver to a grave. After a while, Yang Tong came back by himself and said, "I can’t do it" without saying why. Fan Mingkun didn’t ask, took the knife and walked to the grave. At this point, Wang Dongcheng has pushed the driver against the tree, and Fan Mingkun stabbed the driver in the chest. After the driver broke free, he ran two steps and cursed them for "not paying attention" and "killing people after taking the money". Fan Mingkun threw himself on the ground and stabbed him with a knife.
Yang Tong believes that "those two people are crazy". He told the police that he couldn’t control Wang and Fan Er people, and they also had differences on how to deal with their mobile phones.
Yang Tong left. More than two months later, Wang Dongcheng and Fan Mingkun found Fan Mingkun’s brother Fan Minghui and two 17-year-old teenagers Jiang Ming and Sun Xiao (a pseudonym) to join in.
The new gang is even crazier. From February 25th to 28th, 2006, they committed eight crimes in four days.
Local taxi drivers began to be alert, and there were not many men on the night shift. Fan Minghui’s left leg was amputated at a high position due to electric shock, and he relied on a crutch. From February 25, he stood alone on the street and took a taxi, and then picked up the other four people in the name of "picking up friends". When the car shop goes to a remote place, Fan Minghui will say, "My leg is numb and I need to change my position" and let the driver stop.
"My image, standing on the side of the road, there is no taxi." Fan Minghui said during the trial.
The driver of Hafei Lubao taxi was the only woman among the 12 victims. On the afternoon of February 25, she met these five men in Zhaozhou County by car and took the initiative to whistle and ask them if they wanted to take a taxi.
"I didn’t want to rob her, but this model has never been seen before. She took the initiative to recruit us and got on the bus." Afterwards, Wang Dongcheng confessed.
After Jiang Ming confessed that Yang Tong was the mastermind, Daqing police went to Erjingzi Town to arrest people. According to the police investigation afterwards, the head of the village where Yang Tong’s family is located said, "What happened to your Yang Tong? Why did the city bureau come?" When Yang Tong’s father heard that he immediately found his son and learned that he had "killed", he gave him 1000 yuan money to help him escape. Father Yang and the village head were both sentenced for harboring crimes.
Yang Tong boarded the train from Harbin to the south and got off at Zhoukou Station at random. After being arrested, he told the police that he had found an ID card and used it to work in a hotel in Taikang County, Zhoukou City. In 2008, Yang Tong was jailed for two years for theft in this capacity.
When he was released from prison, he was almost a different person. Since then, he has stopped taking trains, planes and buses, and he is afraid to register an Internet account. In a sense, he disappeared.
Search with Chinese search engine, you can see the discussion of the case by netizens. Some people listed Yang Tong as the "Top Ten Most Wanted", ranking third, and speculated why he wanted to tattoo a red rose on his body.
Impersonator
On October 29th, 2020, Liu Zhigang saw the flower again. It appeared on the arm of a man in Henan province, and its appearance was exactly the same as that obtained by the police 14 years ago.
At this point, Yang Tong, a Class A wanted criminal of the Ministry of Public Security, was finally arrested.
In September this year, the fifth task force to hunt down Yang Tong was set up. They have prepared winter clothes and will go to Henan to fight a protracted war.
In 2010, Yang Tong, who used another person’s identity, was released from prison. Sun Yanhui, now the head of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Zhaoyuan County Public Security Bureau, investigated his cellmates that year, and narrowed the last place where Yang Tong appeared to Jicui Community in Luohe City, and the time was also locked in 2013.
Not long ago, standing on the street of Jicui community, 10 policemen felt like "10 ants": there were two wholesale markets with a large floating population. In 2010-2013, when Yang Tong appeared, there was also a woven bag factory with 30,000 employees, which had closed down and the workers were scattered everywhere. "Want to find a 7 years ago or even 10 years ago ‘ Dummy ’ " Luo Hongwei said that it was extremely difficult to check one by one, so he decided to start with the flower market first. After years of pursuit, they met "a little luck" — — An old couple saw Yang Tong’s photo and said, "Isn’t this the small northeast?"
It is said that "Little Northeast" has long stopped sending flowers, changed to rockery business, and opened its own store. Luo Hongwei and his party quickly found the store address provided by the old couple.
In order to avoid the exposure of the northeast accent, Han Yanchun entered the store to inquire about the situation with the cooperation of a local police station in Henan. Henan police talked with the woman at the front desk, while Han Yanchun walked to the back yard and found a man with long hair lying in a tent in the courtyard covered with a quilt.
After only one look, Han Yanchun decided that eyebrows and eyes could not be wrong, and this person was Yang Tong.
When he was held down, Yang Tong still denied his identity. He didn’t admit it until the policemen who came to support tore off his clothes and saw the red rose.
In the live video recorded by the law enforcement recorder, in order to ensure correctness, the police asked Yang Tong the names of his parents and sister, and he answered verbatim.
The missing sixth person has finally been found.
After the news of Yang Tong’s arrest was announced, Liu Zhigang, Luo Hongwei, Han Yanchun and others "went crazy in the circle of WeChat friends", and some people got hundreds of praises, "the most in history". Some retired policemen specially called to ask how they caught Yang Tong.
At the beginning of November this year, the police of the task force escorted Yang Tong back to their hometown.
When passing through Erjingzi Town, Yang Tong suddenly said, "Leader, why don’t you turn a corner and let me go home and see my parents? I haven’t seen them for so many years."
Returning to the scene of the first murder, Yang Tong, who shocked Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces in those years, is no longer the 22-year-old young man. He has long hair, fat body and blurred eyes — — When he saw a policeman with his hands in his pockets, he immediately squatted on the ground.
"What happened to Yang Tong?" Yu Tao, deputy director of Zhaoyuan County Public Security Bureau who led the team to identify the scene, asked.
"I thought you were going to shoot me." He straightened up when he saw that the police took out a mobile phone, not a police gun.
In 2006, Wang Dongcheng and others’ criminal incidental civil judgment, the victims were no longer "taxi drivers" in the news. Behind their names, the column of relatives’ names showed that two 61-year-old Harbin elderly people lost their sons; Two elderly people in Qinggang County who were over 70 years old also lost their sons; A 44-year-old man in Zhaozhou County lost his wife and his newly grown son lost his mother. Two elderly people in Helen who were over eighty lost their sons, and their 12-year-old grandson lost his father. Two 36-year-old and 37-year-old anniversary women, two 29-year-old Jilin women and a 35-year-old Helen woman all lost their husbands. An 11-year-old girl in anniversary lost her father.
After the first trial, Jiang Ming was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The victim’s family insisted on appealing, and did not hesitate to give up civil compensation, only seeking severe punishment. Finally, Jiang Ming was sentenced to life imprisonment. At the beginning of the lawsuit, the families of the victims called each other to express their condolences. Later, they stopped contacting each other because many families could not afford the telephone bill.
When he finally arrived at the case, Yang Tong had been married for 10 years and had a son and a daughter. The wife is 36 years old and knows nothing about her husband’s past. More than 2,000 kilometers away, He Qiaolian saw the news that Yang Tong was arrested, and tears came out. She was also 36 years old when her husband died with 56 knives.
She and Liu Zhongchun’s daughter are 18 years old, and have long forgotten her father’s appearance, and even can’t remember calling her father. When Yang Tong left Luohe, the policemen opened the window and let him see his family. His 2-year-old and 4-year-old children don’t understand what happened. They stand on the street and wave to their father in the window: "Bye, Dad."
Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang reporter Yan Xueqing Source: China Youth Daily
