This morning (August 18), the Higher People's Court of Jiangxi Province held a public hearing in accordance with the law to hear the appeal of Lao Rongzhi's alleged crimes of intentional homicide, robbery and kidnapping.

In the first instance, the court sentenced the defendant, Lao Rongzhi, to the crime of intentional homicide, robbery, and kidnapping, and was sentenced to the death penalty, deprived of political rights for life, and confiscated all personal property.

case review

　　From 1996 to 1999, four cases of robbery, kidnapping, and intentional homicide occurred successively in Nanchang, Jiangxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, Changzhou, Jiangsu, and Hefei, Anhui. Police investigation found that Faziying and Lao Rongzhi jointly committed these crimes.

　　In 1999, Faziying was arrested by the police in Hefei, and Lao Rongzhi waited for the opportunity to abscond.

In November of the same year, the Hefei Intermediate People's Court found that the defendant, Faziying, was sentenced to death for several crimes, including kidnapping, intentional homicide, and robbery. In December 1999, Faziying was executed.

　　In November 2019, Lao Rongzhi, who had been absconding for 20 years, was arrested by the police in Xiamen, Fujian.

　　In December 2020, the Intermediate People's Court of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province held a public hearing of the first instance to hear the defendant Lao Rongzhi's alleged crimes of intentional homicide, robbery and kidnapping.

　　In September 2021, the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court made a first-instance judgment in the Lao Rongzhi case according to law.

The defendant, Lao Rongzhi, was convicted of intentional homicide, robbery, and kidnapping, and was sentenced to the death penalty, deprived of his political rights for life, and confiscated all his personal property.

Lao Rongzhi appealed in court, saying that he was coerced by Faziying to participate in these cases.

　　On August 18, 2022, the Higher People's Court of Jiangxi Province held a public hearing in accordance with the law to hear Lao Rongzhi's appeal against intentional homicide, robbery and kidnapping.

In the past four years, Faziying and Lao Rongzhi have committed four crimes successively

　　From 1996 to 1999, in four years, Faziying and Lao Rongzhi committed four crimes, resulting in seven deaths.

On July 12, 1999, in a residential building in Hefei City, the public security police rounded up Faziying. The scene was very dangerous and tense.

With the arrest of Faziying, the four cases committed by him and Lao Rongzhi also surfaced.

　　The video data provided by the Hefei police recorded the entire process of arresting Faziying on July 23, 1999.

　　The police who participated in the arrest had persuaded Fa Ziying to lay down her weapons, but to no avail.

　　Considering that Faziying had weapons and hostages in her hands and was stubbornly resisting, the Hefei police urgently formulated an arrest plan.

　　According to the materials provided by the Hefei police, at 12:05 on July 23, 1999, when the persuasion failed, the police decided to use tear gas to force Faziying out.

At 12:10, when faziying couldn't bear the smoke of tear gas and had no hope of jumping off the building, she was forced out of the room and shot at the police, who immediately returned fire.

　　After a shootout, Faziying was finally captured, but Lao Rongzhi had already fled, and there was no trace of her for the next 20 years.

Until 2019, Lao Rongzhi, who had been incognito for more than 20 years, was arrested by the police in Xiamen, Fujian.

In the first instance, Lao Rongzhi claimed that he was coerced to participate in the crime

　　In December 2020, the case of Lao Rongzhi's intentional homicide, kidnapping and robbery was tried in the first instance of the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court.

Regarding these cases that year, Lao Rongzhi stated in the court trial that he participated in the implementation under duress. Regarding Lao Rongzhi's defense, the court conducted an in-depth investigation based on the evidence materials in the case, and made a first-instance judgment in accordance with the law.

According to the accusation by the procuratorate:

the defendant Lao Rongzhi and Faziying are in a relationship.

From 1996 to 1999, the two conspired and had a clear division of labor. Lao Rongzhi served as an escort in entertainment venues to find wealthy people as targets of crime. They were located in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and Anhui Province. Hefei City jointly carried out robbery, kidnapping and intentional homicide.

Prosecutor (public indictment):

This court believes that the defendant, Lao Rongzhi, and others illegally deprived others of their lives, resulting in the death of one person, kidnapped two people and caused the death of one person for the purpose of extorting property, and extorted RMB 75,000 of property for the purpose of illegal possession. , robbing and robbing other people's property by violent means, resulting in a total of 5 deaths, and the value of the property was 30,274.13 yuan and 33,840 yuan in cash.

HKD 110, USD 10, Jiangxi Posts and Telecommunications Enterprise Bonds 1,000, and bank deposit certificates totaling 95,000. The facts of the crime are clear and the evidence is indeed sufficient. He should be held criminally responsible for the crimes of intentional homicide, kidnapping and robbery.

　　Regarding the criminal facts alleged by the prosecutor, Lao Rongzhi argued that he was coerced by Faziying to participate in the crime.

Defendant Lao Rongzhi:

I do not agree with the prosecutor's charges against me, including the crime of intentional homicide.

I admit the crime of robbery and kidnapping. I said that in Changzhou and Hefei, I really cooperated, because I couldn't get rid of Faziying, and I was indeed coerced.

In the first instance, the prosecutor gave evidence on the facts of Lao Rongzhi's crime

　　So what exactly did Lao Rongzhi do in these four cases, whether he was coerced to participate in the crime, and what kind of legal responsibility should he bear?

　　In the first-instance trial of the case, the public prosecutor presented evidence on the criminal facts of Lao Rongzhi's participation in the implementation of the four cases, including witness testimony, relevant physical evidence and Faziying's confession during her lifetime.

　　The evidence in the case shows that the first case committed by Faziying and Lao Rongzhi occurred on July 28, 1996. At that time, the two were temporarily living in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province. While working in an entertainment place, Lao Rongzhi found a businessman named Xiong. As the target of the crime, Lao Rongzhi tricked Xiong to come to her rented place.

　　After Lao Rongzhi deceived Xiong to the rental house, he and Faziying robbed Xiong and threatened Xiong to give his home address.

That night, the two came to Xiong's house to continue the robbery. Faziying controlled Xiong's wife and daughter, while Lao Rongzhi rummaged through the room.

After the two committed the last crime, one absconded and the other was arrested

　　After the implementation of the first case, Faziying and Lao Rongzhi committed three more crimes in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, Changzhou, Jiangsu, and Hefei, Anhui. Also, Lao Rongzhi, in the name of part-time work, looked for rich people as targets of crime in entertainment venues. Control the victim, and then carry out the criminal acts of robbery, kidnapping, and murder.

　　In June 1999, the two carried out their last case in Hefei, Anhui Province. It was because of this case that Faziying was finally arrested and Lao Rongzhi absconded.

In this case, Lao Rongzhi also found Yin, the target of the crime, in the entertainment venue, and deceived him to the rented place.

Prosecutor (indictment):

Lao Rongzhi lured the victim Yin to the rented house, Faziying threatened Yin with a knife, and Lao Rongzhi tied Yin's hands and feet with ropes.

The public prosecution agency refuted Lao Rongzhi's defense

　　According to the court, in the four years from 1996 to 1999, Faziying and Lao Rongzhi committed four crimes successively, resulting in the serious consequences of seven deaths.

　　During the trial, Lao Rongzhi repeatedly stated that he committed the crime under the coercion of Faziying. In response to Lao Rongzhi's defense, the public prosecution agency conducted evidence materials such as witness testimony, physical evidence, and Faziying's confession during his lifetime. They refuted that Lao Rongzhi's conviction was fully and true, and that Lao Rongzhi and Faziying jointly committed a series of crimes, and both of them were the principal offenders.

Prosecutor:

In the four criminal facts, the two have clear conspiracy and division of labor. The way and division of labor that they committed crimes together with Faziying reflect their status as the principal criminals. will be judged fairly by law.

　　In September 2021, the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court publicly pronounced the first-instance judgment on the defendant Lao Rongzhi's intentional homicide, robbery, and kidnapping cases in accordance with the law. The court determined the role of Lao Rongzhi's criminal behavior in these cases.

The presiding judge:

Defendant Lao Rongzhi conspired with his co-accused Faziying, and Lao Rongzhi provided escort services in entertainment venues, identified the target of the crime, and then kidnapped or robbed the victim. It shows that before committing the crime, the two negotiated the location of the crime and the target of the crime. When committing the crime, the two had a clear division of labor. Lao Rongzhi committed crimes such as identifying and seducing the victim, tying the victim, and threatening the victim to steal property. It can be seen that Lao Rongzhi Zhi participated in the planning and specific implementation of the crime, and acted proactively and played a major role in the crime. Although his criminal status and role were lower than that of Faziying, he was also the principal offender according to law.

　　In the end, the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court sentenced the defendant Lao Rongzhi to the crime of intentional homicide, robbery, and kidnapping in the first instance. He was punished for several crimes, and decided to execute the death penalty, deprive him of political rights for life, and confiscated all his personal property.

The presiding judge:

This court believes that the defendant Lao Rongzhi and others deliberately and illegally deprived the victim of his life, and his behavior constituted the crime of intentional homicide. For the purpose of illegal possession, he used violence and threats to rob the victim's property, and his behavior constituted the crime of robbery. Kidnapping the victim for the purpose of extorting property constitutes the crime of kidnapping. Lao Rongzhi plays a major role in the joint crime and is the principal offender, and should be punished according to all the crimes he participated in.

The verdict is as follows: Defendant Lao Rongzhi was sentenced to death for intentional homicide and deprived of political rights for life; for robbery, he was sentenced to death, deprived of political rights for life, and confiscated all personal property; for kidnapping, he was sentenced to death and deprived of political rights for life. Confiscation of all personal property, decision to execute the death penalty, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property.

　　Lao Rongzhi expressed his dissatisfaction with the verdict in court and appealed.

　　At present, the second instance of the Lao Rongzhi case is being heard in the Jiangxi Higher People's Court.