The most hair-raising unsolved murder case in China that I’ve ever known happened in 1996.
It is a cold-blooded murder, but what makes the case particularly macabra and mysterious is its follow-up.
The victim, Diao, was an introverted, quiet girl studying at a university in Nanking 20 years ago. On the night Diao went missing, she was last seen leaving the campus alone. She didn’t tell her classmates where she would go or what she planned to do. A few days later, in the early morning, a street cleaner found on the nearby riverbank a bag stuffed with body remains. Some other bags were found somewhere else. She was brutally murdered and dismembered.
It made the headline on local newspaper and Nanking police officers wasted no time in connecting dots to find the diabolic murderer, yet to no avail. CCTV camera was not a thing at that time, and the application of DNA tool in forensics kicked off only around late 80s, investigation still heavily relying on traditional methods.
As such, the buzz surrounding the case soon faded, until 2008, when an internet user caught public attention, making the case known nationwide.
In 2008, a netizen, under the alias “Black Mass”, posted on TianYa forum his thoughts about the unsolved murder case 12 years ago. At that point, TianYa was the biggest Chinese on-line discussion forum that covers a wide range of topics.
In this post, he offered a rather detailed profile of the murderer - his appearance, age, job, character traits, how he possibly met the victim, his mentality - and suggested Nanking police reinvestigate the case in that direction.
Interest sparked, more users chimed in, including retired police officers, detective enthusiasts across the country and a handful of Nanking locals who once read, heard about the murder firsthand.
Then someone pointed out: “Black Mass”’s deduction and description, eerily match all the information contributed by other users, and there is almost no logical loophole.
Speculations ran wide. Who is this “Black Mass”, under a demon-worshipping name, so interested in a case known only to Nanking locals more than ten years ago. They say psychotic murders relish in their perfect crimes and seek public attention, don’t they?
In denial, “Black Mass” replied he wrote it because he was bored. It didn’t end there. People soon found the user who wrote a long, equally detailed and chilling comment to question “Black Mass” was suspicious too.
The whole thread became such a sensation that Tianya users were ready to hack into “Black Mass”’s account and called on Nanking police to grill... both.
And so they did. Both “Black Mass” and the user who questioned him were inquired by the police.
But there was no follow-up, at least not known to the public.
That’s not the only spooky part of the thread. Someone noticed in the sea of comments, a Nanking user said something along the lines:
“I suspect it was my neighbour, a family of two brothers. The elder one had a girlfriend studying in the victim’s university. I remember when police officers knocked on our door, my family said they didn’t notice anything suspicious. But later my family accidentally mentioned that they heard people quarreling and the sound of hammering from the next door. About one month later or so when the utility company’s staff came to collect fees, I happened to be at home. The neighbour’s electricity bill was ridiculouly high. The mother said her younger son was squeamish and had to sleep with light on. But why would a middle school boy fear darkness? It doesn’t make sense. ” The user didn’t make any reply after that.
“Black Mass”’ s post, along with all the comments, was removed at the request of police, most likely due to the concern that some murderous psycho might get inspiration and conduct copycat crimes.
Like the world-infamous Jack the Ripper, it is regrettable that murderers are at large and justice can’t be brought to victims.
It could be that technology was backward, witnesses lied, suspects were inquired but released for a lack of substantial evidence,or, as some netizens suspected, police have already found the murderer who was too powerful to fall.
Anyway, the case is still unsolved today, and the statute of limitations expired in 2016. Continue reading
Comments
Post a Comment