On June 20th, Zeng Chuan, the defendant in the case of "killing prison guards and stabbing judges" in Chongqing, was sentenced to death in the first instance.
The Paper previously reported that on November 22, 2018, Zeng Chuan stabbed a female judge near Chongqing Nanchuan Court and fled. Leo Liu, a policeman from Nanchuan Prison passing by, and others saw the car chasing him. During the arrest, Zeng Chuan suddenly wielded a knife and killed Leo Liu, who was in front. Zeng Chuan was subsequently arrested and brought to justice by the police. At the time of this crime, Zeng Chuangang was released from southern Sichuan prison for 11 days.
The trial of Chongqing No.3 Intermediate People’s Court held that Zeng Chuan deliberately injured the judge Tian, who performed his duties according to law, with a knife in retaliation, and his behavior was a challenge to legal authority and contempt for legal dignity; In order to resist arrest, Leo Liu, a courageous prison policeman, was stabbed to death, which had a very bad social impact.
The Paper noted that Zeng Chuan, 41, spent more than one third of his life in prisons, detention centers and drug rehabilitation centers. Zeng Chuan was sentenced to 13 years in prison for robbery. After he was released from prison, he was detained for drug abuse and forced to be isolated and detoxified for more than two years. On August 15, 2017, Zeng Chuan was sentenced to one year and nine months’ imprisonment for the crime of seeking trouble.
According to a document obtained by The Paper, Zeng Chuan was transferred to Nanchuan Prison around 2011 after being sentenced for robbery. During this period, he threatened the police to be strictly controlled and given a demerit.
Do not commit a crime until 10 days after being released from prison.
The Chongqing No.3 Intermediate People’s Court found that Zeng Chuan was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on August 15, 2017 and released on November 11, 2018 for the crime of seeking trouble. After his release, Zeng Chuan tried many times to find the original case to undertake the police, prosecutors and judges.
At 11: 30 on November 22, 2018, Zeng Chuan started from home with a single-edged sharp knife with a blade length of about 15cm and a blade width of about 4cm, walked to the gate of Nanchuan Court, and then wandered around. At about 12: 17, Tian, a judge of Nanchuan Court, got off work, walked from Nanchuan Court to the east, and walked along the sidewalk of the South Street section of Xicheng Street. Zeng Chuan found Tian in the section about 100 meters away from Nanchuan Court on South Street. After going forward to confirm Tian’s identity through dialogue, he stabbed Tian’s legs in three places with a single-edged sharp knife he carried with him and fled the scene.
At that time, Leo Liu, Song Mou, Gong Mou, prison guards of Nanchuan Prison in Chongqing, who happened to drive by here, heard the cry, saw Tian Mou fall to the ground and Zeng Chuan ran away with his bag, thinking that a robbery had occurred, and immediately drove to arrest Zeng Chuan.
The Paper previously reported that Leo Liu and his colleagues drove to the vicinity of Bo ‘ai Hospital in Nanchuan District. When they saw that the time was ripe for arrest, Leo Liu got off the bus and rushed over to push Zeng Chuan to the corner. Zeng Chuan suddenly propped himself up and stabbed Leo Liu several times with a sharp knife in his hand. Leo Liu fell to the ground immediately after being stabbed, and finally died because of his injuries.
Leo Liu’s dormitory in Nanchuan prison. The Paper reporter Xu Hui data map
After identification, the degree of injury of the stabbed judge Tian was a minor injury (level 2); Leo Liu stabbed his chest and abdomen with a single-edged sharp instrument, which resulted in the disconnection of superior mesenteric artery and vein and the rupture of inferior vena cava, hemorrhagic shock, respiratory and circulatory failure and death.
The trial of Chongqing No.3 Intermediate People’s Court also found that Zeng Chuan was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for robbery on November 21, 2002, and six years’ imprisonment for robbery (omission) on January 21, 2003. He was sentenced to 13 years and six months’ imprisonment combined with the original eight years’ imprisonment and released on December 27, 2013.
Since then, he was detained twice for 15 days on November 12, 2014 and January 30, 2015 for taking drugs, and was forced to be isolated for two years on February 10, 2015.
After coming out of the compulsory isolation drug rehabilitation center, he was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on August 15, 2017 for the crime of seeking trouble, until he was released on November 11, 2018 before the incident.
He once injured himself in prison and threatened the police.
According to a document obtained by The Paper, Zeng Chuan’s family lives in Dongcheng Street, Nanchuan District, Chongqing, and has divorced. Both his parents have passed away, and he has a sister in Chengdu, but he has no contact. When Zeng Chuan was serving his sentence, almost only his uncle went to visit him, but he was old. At the request of his uncle, the Chongqing prison management department transferred Zeng Chuan from Sanhe Prison where he had served his sentence to Nanchuan Prison for the convenience of his visit.
During his two years and 11 months in Nanchuan Prison, Zeng Chuan was severely punished and given a demerit for self-injury and self-mutilation, threatening the police, and his sentence was not reduced during his sentence in Nanchuan Prison. Nanchuan Prison said that during his prison term, Zeng Chuan was "introverted, had little communication with other criminals, had indifferent relationship, and developed poor behavior. He was able to participate in labor, but he could only complete 80% of the tasks."
Before Zeng Chuan was released from prison, the prison administration informed his sister that he would be released from prison. According to the regulations, "released prisoners shall, within 30 days from the date of release, register with the original household registration police station and judicial office with the certificate of released prisoners, and go through relevant formalities. On November 11, 2018, after being released from prison, Zeng Chuan went to the Dongcheng Police Station in Nanchuan District to register, but he did not go to the Dongcheng Judicial Office until he committed the crime again.
On June 20, 2019, Chongqing No.3 Intermediate People’s Court held that Zeng Chuan stabbed Tian’s leg with a knife, causing Tian’s minor injury (Grade II) and Leo Liu’s chest and abdomen with a knife, causing Leo Liu’s death. His actions constituted intentional injury and intentional homicide respectively, and one person committed several crimes, with extremely serious harmful consequences.
Prior to this, Zeng Chuan was also repeatedly sentenced to punishment for intentional crimes, and after the execution of the punishment, he committed violent crimes such as robbery and trouble-making. He was a recidivist, and after several reforms, he refused to change his mind. It is extremely dangerous to commit a crime again only ten days after being released from prison. In retaliation, Tian Mou, a judge who intentionally injured him with a knife and performed his duties according to law, acted as a challenge to legal authority and a contempt for legal dignity. After stabbing Judge Tian with a knife, in the process of escape, in order to resist arrest, Leo Liu, a courageous prison policeman, was stabbed to death with a deadly single-edged sharp knife, which had a very bad social impact. After Zeng Chuan was arrested, he neither confessed nor repented. The court of first instance held that the harmful consequences of Zeng Chuan’s crime were extremely serious, the circumstances were extremely bad, the subjective malignancy was extremely deep, and personal danger was extremely great. The first instance was sentenced to death according to law.
The Paper noted that the notification of Chongqing No.3 Intermediate People’s Court after sentencing the case did not mention whether Zeng Chuan appealed.