Jiang Yuan had already read through the autopsy report and various scene photos. He summarized in words: "Both victims were seated in the back seat with their hands tied behind them. Due to the concentration of the fire on the upper layer, their heads were severely burned, and the skin on the upper body was practically burned off. However, in the first autopsy, it was still easy to see that the fatal wound on the upper body of both victims was the heart—one stab per person, very precise."
Jiang Yuan: "I reviewed the photos of the rib bones after de-boning of the two deceased. Both had no knife marks on their ribs. This indicates that the killer inserted the knife very precisely between the gaps of the ribs. This is not just precision, it may also relate to the technique and experience."
The few people present nodded as they listened.
Talking about the technique of killing, it’s a form of murder technique, with countless insights accumulated over thousands of years. Just the task of killing with one stab, those who act recklessly without understanding can’t find the accurate position, and those who understand but lack experience also face difficulties in operation on-site.
It’s like killing pigs every year in the countryside. Even a very skilled butcher often touches the spot before stabbing, making it easier to avoid bones and good at, and can stab the pig dead in one go. Because the pig is tied and controlled, even if the butcher’s hand touches the place to stab, it can’t resist.
Similarly, the bodies of the two victims were tied and controlled...
This suggests that the killer was at least experienced, perhaps soone with a profession similar to a butcher, who understood killing.
The so-called clean and swift stab requires many stabs to practice. For example, not just killing pigs in the countryside, even killing chickens, although one only grabs the chicken and slits its throat, in theory, anyone should be able to finish off a chicken with a sharp knife if they find the right spot. In reality, beginners rarely succeed in killing a chicken for the first ti.
Let alone little girls; there are many big boys who can’t bring themselves to do it. Even in schools with biology labs, you can see many students unable to kill frogs, twist small white mice to death, or finish off small fish...
The civilized atmosphere of modern society has significantly reduced the barbarism of modern society, making the characteristics of murderers increasingly rare.
Jiang Yuan counted on his fingers and said: "One stab at the heart is the murder thod. Binding the victim’s hands is the modus operandi. The binding thod is also characteristic; the killer wrapped the deceased’s pinky tightly. I think we can start from these three points to see if we can find connections with other cases."
Liu Zhuangshi hesitated beside him for a mont and raised his hand: "Regarding the connection of cases, we did think in a similar direction at that ti, but did not find any similar murder cases."
"You didn’t know at the ti that this was a case of taxi robbery," Liu Jinghui said tactfully, "You probably considered identifying the victims and the vehicle identity first, before considering connections to similar murder cases."
"That’s roughly how it was." Liu Zhuangshi admitted without much embarrassnt, as it was the routine procedure.
"Having no similar murder cases doesn’t an there are no similar cases," Liu Jinghui smiled, "In taxi robbery cases, the perpetrators themselves have escalation; had you known the case type at the ti, you might have considered that taxi robbery and murder is often the perpetrator’s final stage, and prior to this, they may have committed multiple robberies without murder."
Liu Jinghui’s words not only made Liu Zhuangshi’s eyes brighten but also did not provoke annoyance, fully demonstrating the high-quality traits of a provincial departnt senior officer.
Liu Zhuangshi slowly nodded: "When handling this case, I was still working at the municipal bureau and have asked soone to contact the police officers who handled it back then. The responsible colleagues have retired... Considering from the perspective of taxi robbery cases, we can start by pulling a case list from that year to see if anything can be discovered."
Liu Jinghui nodded slightly, thinking Liu Zhuangshi was indeed deserving of being a leader within the Criminal Police Brigade; in just a short statent, he managed to clear responsibility, explain the situation, and express personal vigor, showcasing strong leadership.
Director Wu Jingwei, seeing the discussion reached a conclusion, decided: "Let’s move forward according to this plan, and review the cases before and after this one..."
"I’d like to add sothing." Liu Jinghui cleared his throat and said: "So perpetrators from similar cases back then were not only involved in car robbery but also fencing stolen goods. Those with a Black Society background could be questioned. Since these individuals were adept in committing cris, and we suspect they have relevant experience, they certainly weren’t living in a vacuum at the ti, and there were definitely people who knew them in the past environnt."
Wu Jingwei nodded slowly: "This aspect is indeed where we were less thorough; there were issues due to inadequate ticulousness in handling the case... However, fifteen years ago, if these criminals were rely involved in robbery and fencing, they would have been released by now. This point... Xiao Li, organize a team from the bureau, liaise with colleagues at the judicial bureau, and also communicate with subordinate district bureaus and police stations, to see if we can find as many forr offenders to question."
If proceeding with Liu Jinghui’s final proposal, it shows the Anwan City Bureau’s investigative judgnt in this homicide case was insufficient, at least it shows they were either not attentive enough or not smart enough.
Nonetheless, given it’s a case fifteen years ago, if speaking of policing and investigative capabilities of the two major super cities fifteen years ago, there would be relevant matters, but in places like Pingzhou Anwan, it relied mostly on old-school detective thods; single-dinsional investigation was common, lacking comprehensive consideration, much like they didn’t attend the Criminal Police Academy back then, which wasn’t due to a lack of will.
Director Wu Jingwei felt that he needed to acknowledge the error in front of Jiang Yuan, but he swiftly mask it with work arrangents.
Jiang Yuan and others followed Wu Jingwei’s thoughts and quickly delved into specific details. In a matter of minutes, orders began to be layered down.
At this ti, Huang Qiangmin’s emotions suddenly had so release.
Among the people present, he was most familiar with Wei Zhenguo, and he was the only police officer who had experienced the entire incident. When the image of today’s task force overlapped with that of the task force from 15 years ago, his psychological burden also increased.
"Should we notify Captain Wei?" Jiang Yuan walked over to Huang Qiangmin and asked in a low voice.
Huang Qiangmin was silent for a few seconds and said, "No rush for now."
"Then I’ll go take a look at the remains." Jiang Yuan prepared to perform a thorough secondary autopsy. Although only skeletal remains were left due to the passage of ti, there was still a chance to gain so information.
Liu Zhuangshi quickly organized a few eting rooms and had people move in a massive amount of file docunts.
The electronic filing at the Anwan City Bureau started very late. Finding case information from 15 years ago or even earlier, like fingerprints, could be retrieved from the intranet, but finding criminal patterns or tying thods, especially when sifting through minor cases from those years for criminal patterns, required more than just electronic records.
After all, given the volu of incidents back then, cases of simple taxi driver robberies were given about the sa level of attention as cellphone theft cases in later years.
Liu Zhuangshi was brimming with enthusiasm as he imrsed himself in the process of reviewing the old case files.
mbers of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team were also brought in to sift through the files together.
A group of leaders, to show their commitnt, simply stayed at the Criminal Police Brigade, drinking tea and boosting morale.
According to their understanding of Jiang Yuan, as long as the task force was set in motion, and Jiang Yuan entered the investigation state, the next step would be a celebration.
As ti ticked away, the taste of the tea beca increasingly bland.
Huang Qiangmin sensed a familiar aura, first had soone change a pot of tea, then said, "We’re not likely to get results today. I think we should stop waiting and get back to other tasks first..."
"That’ll work." Director Wu stood up and said, "If there’s any developnt, inform at once. I’m on standby at any ti."
"Certainly." Huang Qiangmin shook hands with Director Wu and others in turn.
After seeing everyone off, Huang Qiangmin turned back and found Liu Jinghui, saying, "So many people investigating and we haven’t had any feedback. Where do you think the problem lies?"
Liu Jinghui, who had been pondering, said, "There could be many scenarios. What worries the most...is the killer’s significant escalation."
"From what extent, escalating to murder?"
"From non-injurious robbery directly to robbery and murder." Liu Jinghui gave a straightforward answer, then looked at Huang Qiangmin and said, "You lived through that ti. When taxi robbery cases were rampant back then, so taxi drivers didn’t even report the robberies because taking a statent takes ti, which affects their earnings. Anyway, whether they report it or not..."
"They couldn’t catch anyone, and even if they did, there was no compensation." Huang Qiangmin added.
Liu Jinghui nodded, "Let’s assu a scenario where the perpetrator committed non-injurious robberies once or multiple tis, and the victims didn’t report them. During one robbery, the victim, Li Huimin, unexpectedly appeared. As a police officer’s family mber, her words might have provoked the perpetrator, leading to an escalation of the cri..."
"Ningtai’s taxis have always been available for carpooling. It’s indeed possible that Li Huimin was unexpectedly in the car. But didn’t you and Jiang Yuan both determine that the killer’s murder technique was skillful and the modus operandi was practiced? If the escalation was significant, how did he hone his skills?"
"If we talk about possibilities, the perpetrator might have committed other types of cris like kidnapping, robbery, or homicide and found taxi robbery simpler, thus deciding to commit it. Also..." Liu Jinghui paused and said, "Taxi robbery, in the past, was often committed by freshly released ex-convicts. If the perpetrator had done similar cris long ago, served ti, and then recommitted..."
Robbing taxis requires no capital, no skills, and doesn’t even require scouting the area. Many ex-convicts, dazed when they first enter society, if they decide to commit cris for money, would unconsciously choose this pattern.
From a logical standpoint, Huang Qiangmin admitted that Liu Jinghui’s words made sense, but if the investigation scope had to be adjusted according to his hypothesis, it ant expanding the types of cases and lengthening the tiline...
"I don’t want to hear possibilities, I want to hear certainties!" Huang Qiangmin dragged Liu Jinghui back to reality with one sentence.
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