civil forensic

Chapter 1347 Possibility

Jiang Yuan had already read the autopsy report and various scene photos. Now, summarizing his thoughts, he said, "Both victims were sitting in the back seat with their hands tied behind their backs. Because the fire was concentrated on the upper half of the building, both of their heads were severely burned, and the skin on their upper bodies was almost completely burned away. However, in the first autopsy, it was still easy to see that the fatal wounds on both of their upper bodies were to their hearts, one stab wound to each person, very precise."

Jiang Yuan: "I looked at the photos of the ribs of the two victims after their bones were removed. There were no knife marks on either of their ribs. This shows that the murderer inserted the knife very precisely into the gap between the two ribs. This is not only accurate, but may also be related to the method and experience."

The people present all nodded in agreement.

The technique of killing, when discussed, is the art of murder, and countless experiences have been accumulated over thousands of years. Even with a single stab wound, those who are ignorant and act recklessly will struggle to find the precise spot, while those who are knowledgeable but lack experience will find it difficult to execute the act on the spot.

Just like slaughtering a pig in the countryside, even a very skilled butcher will often feel the spot where he will cut to make the incision, so that he can easily avoid the bones and good meat, and still kill the pig with one stroke. Because the pig is tied up and controlled, it cannot resist even if the butcher's hand is feeling the spot where he will cut.

Similarly, the bodies of both victims were also bound and restrained...

This suggests that the murderer was at least experienced, having worked in a profession similar to a butcher, and knew how to kill.

The so-called clean and swift cut requires many cuts of the knife to master. Take, for example, killing a chicken, not even in the countryside where pigs are slaughtered. Although it's just grabbing a chicken and slitting its throat, in theory, anyone can kill a chicken with one swift cut as long as the knife is sharp and the spot is right. In reality, very few novices can do it the first time they kill a chicken.

Don't even mention little girls; there are plenty of grown men who can't bring themselves to do it. In schools with biology labs, you'll see tons of students who can't kill a frog, can't twist a mouse, and can't kill a small fish...

The civilized atmosphere of modern society has significantly reduced its barbaric atmosphere, making the characteristics of murderers scarce.

Jiang Yuan counted on his fingers and said, "A stab to the heart, that's the method of murder. Tying and controlling the victim's hands, that's the modus operandi. The way of tying them up is also distinctive; the murderer tightly bound the victim's little finger. I think we can start with these three points and see if we can find other cases that are connected."

Liu Zhuangshi hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and said, "Regarding the cases involving parallel links, we also considered similar directions at the time, but we did not find any similar murder cases."

“At the time, you didn’t know it was a taxi robbery case,” Liu Jinghui said tactfully. “Your first consideration should have been to identify the victim and the vehicle before considering the connection between similar murder cases.”

"That's about right." Liu Zhuangshi wasn't embarrassed to admit it; this was the usual route.

“The absence of similar murder cases does not mean the absence of similar cases.” Liu Jinghui smiled and said, “Cases like taxi robbery are inherently escalating. If you had known it was this type of case, you would have considered that robbing a taxi and then killing someone is often the final stage of the perpetrator. Before that, the perpetrator may have committed multiple robberies, but not necessarily murder.”

Liu Jinghui's words not only brightened Liu Zhuangshi's eyes but were also not at all annoying, fully demonstrating the high quality of a senior police officer from the provincial department.

Liu Zhuangshi nodded slowly: "When I was handling this case, I was still working at the Municipal Bureau. I have already asked someone to contact the police officer who handled the case at that time. The officer in charge at that time has already retired... If we consider cases like taxi robberies, we can first compile a list of cases from that year to see if we can find anything."

Liu Jinghui nodded slowly, thinking that Liu Zhuangshi was indeed worthy of being the leader of the Criminal Investigation Detachment. In just a few words, he not only absolved himself of responsibility, explained the situation, but also expressed his practical spirit, which showed great leadership ability.

After the discussion reached a conclusion, Director Wu Jingwei made the final decision: "Then let's proceed with this plan and review all the cases before and after this one..."

"Let me add something," Liu Jinghui cleared his throat and said, "Back then, some criminals involved in similar cases were not only carjackers, but also those who sold stolen goods and big shots with triad backgrounds. We can find them and ask them. Since these people were very skilled at committing crimes, and we suspect they had relevant experience, they didn't live in a vacuum. In the circumstances back then, there must have been people who knew them."

Wu Jingwei nodded slowly: "This is indeed something we didn't do well enough. It's probably because we weren't thorough enough in handling the case, which led to problems... However, criminals from 15 years ago, if they were just robbed and sold stolen goods, have already been released. So... Xiao Li, could you organize a team from the bureau to contact the comrades in the Justice Bureau, and then communicate with the district bureaus and police stations below to see if you can find as many repeat offenders as possible to question."

If we follow Liu Jinghui's final suggestion, it means that the Anwan City Public Security Bureau's investigation and judgment in this murder case were inadequate. At the very least, it shows that they were not attentive enough or clever enough.

However, it was a case from 15 years ago. While the security and investigative capabilities of the two megacities 15 years ago were still somewhat commendable, places like Pingzhou and Anwan relied mainly on the old methods of veteran detectives. It was common for them to rush into investigations in one direction without considering all aspects. Just like how they didn't apply to the police academy back then, it wasn't that they didn't really want to.

In front of Jiang Yuan, Wu Jingwei still felt he had to admit his mistake, but he quickly covered it up with work arrangements.

Jiang Yuan and the others followed Wu Jingwei's line of thought, and the group quickly discussed the specific details. A dozen minutes later, the orders began to be issued from top to bottom.

At that moment, Huang Qiangmin felt a release of his emotions.

Of all the people present, he was the one most familiar with Wei Zhenguo, and the only police officer who had witnessed the entire incident. When the image of today's task force overlapped with that of the task force 15 years ago, his psychological burden became even greater.

"Should we notify Captain Wei?" Jiang Yuan walked up to Huang Qiangmin and asked in a low voice.

Huang Qiangmin was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Don't rush."

"Then I'll go take a look at the remains." Jiang Yuan planned to conduct a second autopsy. Although only bones remained due to the passage of time, there was still a chance to obtain some information.

Liu Zhuangshi quickly tidied up several meeting rooms and then had a massive amount of case files moved up.

Anwan City Police Department started digitizing its operations very late. While information such as fingerprints can be found on the intranet for cases from 15 years ago or even earlier, electronic files are insufficient for finding modus operandi or methods of binding, especially for small cases from that time.

After all, given the crime rate back then, a simple case of robbing a taxi driver might have received about the same level of attention as a case of stealing a mobile phone in later generations.

With great enthusiasm, Liu Zhuangshi threw himself into reviewing the old files.

Meanwhile, the criminal police officers of Ningtai County Public Security Bureau were also mobilized. Under the command of Liu Wenkai, the captain of the criminal investigation team, they began the arduous task of tracing back old cases. The electronic infrastructure in Shannan was only slightly better than in Pingzhou, so in the end, everyone had to go through the files.

Members of the Jiangyuan backlog case task force were also added to the team and they went through the files together.

To show their importance, the leaders stayed at the Criminal Investigation Detachment, drinking tea and boosting morale.

Based on their understanding of Jiang Yuan, once the special task force is established and Jiang Yuan enters the case-handling mode, it will be time to celebrate.

Time passed by, and the flavor of the tea grew weaker and weaker.

Huang Qiangmin sensed a familiar presence, first asking someone to bring him a new pot of tea, then said, "We might not get any results today. I think we shouldn't all stay here any longer; let's go back and take care of other things..."

“That works.” Director Wu stood up and said, “If anything happens, let me know immediately. I’m always on standby.”

"Definitely." Huang Qiangmin shook hands with Director Wu and the others in turn.

After seeing everyone off, Huang Qiangmin turned around and approached Liu Jinghui, saying, "So many people have conducted the investigation, yet there's been no feedback at all. Where do you think the problem lies?"

Liu Jinghui had been thinking, and at this moment he said, "There are many possibilities. What I'm more worried about is... the killer's leapfrog escalation."

"From what point did it jump to murder?"

"From robbery without injury to robbery and murder." Liu Jinghui gave a very direct answer, then looked at Huang Qiangmin and said, "You experienced that time. Back when taxi robberies were more common, some taxi drivers who were robbed didn't report it to the police because taking statements would take time and delay their earnings. Anyway, they were already robbed..."

"We can't catch them, and even if we do, we won't get any money," Huang Qiangmin added.

Liu Jinghui nodded: "Let's suppose a scenario: the perpetrator commits one or more robberies without causing injury, and the victims do not report them to the police. During one of the robberies, the victim, Li Huimin, unexpectedly appears. She is a police officer's family member, and her words may provoke the perpetrator, leading to an escalation of the crime..."

“Taxis in Ningtai have always been available for carpooling, so it’s possible that Li Huimin accidentally took a ride. However, you and Jiang Yuan both judged that the murderer’s methods were skilled and proficient. If he had made such a leap in skill, how did he learn to do it?”

"If we're talking about possibilities, the killer could have committed other types of crimes, like kidnapping, robbery, or murder, and found that robbing taxis was easier, so he decided to do it. Another possibility is..." Liu Jinghui paused, then continued, "In the past, the people who most frequently committed taxi robberies were ex-convicts who had just been released from prison. If the killer committed a similar crime a long time ago, was released from prison, and then committed the crime again..."

Robbing a taxi requires no capital, no skills, and not even reconnaissance. Many ex-convicts are lost and confused when they first enter society. If they decide to commit crimes to make money, many will subconsciously choose this method.

Logically, Huang Qiangmin admitted that Liu Jinghui's argument made sense, but if the scope of the investigation were revised according to his reasoning, it would both expand the types of cases and extend the time span...

"I don't want to hear possibilities, I want to hear certainties!" Huang Qiangmin's words brought Liu Jinghui back to reality.

(End of this chapter)