kvmb Chapter 1239 Zhou Zhiqiang confesses to the murder
Chapter 1239 Zhou Zhiqiang confesses to the murder
Zhou Zhiqiang's breathing became rapid, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto the interrogation record. "I... I just went to the mountains to collect some firewood, and I covered it with a canvas to keep it from getting wet from the dew." His voice began to tremble, and his fingers gripped the gaps in the handrail tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. The first crack appeared in his psychological defenses—he hadn't expected that the police had even obtained the village secretary's testimony and had conducted a thorough inspection of the tricycle.
Xiao Zhou then produced a second piece of evidence—a photo of a cigarette butt from the crime scene: "At the burial site in the cornfield, we found a 'Hongtashan' cigarette butt. The saliva DNA on the cigarette butt matches perfectly with the DNA sample you left when you were punished for gambling. You said you weren't at the burial site, how do you explain this cigarette butt?" He pushed the photo in front of Zhou Zhiqiang; the bite marks on the cigarette butt were clearly visible, perfectly matching Zhou Zhiqiang's usual smoking habits.
The moment Zhou Zhiqiang saw the photo, his body trembled violently, his face turned deathly pale, and his eyes filled with terror. "I... I don't know... Maybe someone else threw it away, it has nothing to do with me." His voice trembled with sobs, and he began to speak incoherently. His last shred of hope was crumbling—the DNA evidence was too direct; he couldn't deny it at all and could only hope that the police had no more evidence.
"It has nothing to do with you?" Xiao Zhou produced a third piece of evidence—a surveillance screenshot. The image clearly showed that at 8:20 PM on August 12th, Zhou Zhiqiang was driving a black farm tricycle on a country road near a cornfield. A black object appeared to be lying in the back of the vehicle, partially covered by a tarpaulin. "This was captured by a private surveillance camera at a shop in the neighboring village," Xiao Zhou pointed to the screenshot. "The time, location, and vehicle all perfectly match Li Baoren's time of death and the burial site. Do you still want to deny it?"
Zhou Zhiqiang lowered his head even further, burying his face in his hands, letting out suppressed sobs. "I... I didn't mean to... Li Baoren forced me!" He suddenly raised his head, tears mixed with sweat streaming down his face, his psychological defenses completely collapsing. All his previous provocations and excuses seemed utterly inadequate in the face of irrefutable evidence. He knew that further resistance was pointless and he could only confess to his crimes truthfully.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Xiao Zhou softened his tone and handed Zhou Zhiqiang a tissue. "Tell me the whole story clearly. This is your only chance to get leniency."
Zhou Zhiqiang took the tissue, wiped his tears, took a deep breath, and began to confess intermittently: "I worked with Li Baoren last year and owed him 3000 yuan in wages, which I haven't paid back. This August, he asked me for money several times, saying that his wife was sick and needed money, and that I should pay him back quickly. I was short of money and loved to gamble, so I didn't have any money to pay him back. I came up with an idea—I lied to him and said that there was a construction site in a neighboring city that needed workers, with high wages, and that I could pay him back all the previous wages at the same time, so that he could come with me."
His voice was filled with remorse as he recalled the events of the day: "On the afternoon of August 12th, I called Li Baoren and asked him to meet me near the cornfield at 8 pm, saying I would take him to see the route to the construction site. He didn't suspect anything and came on time, still wearing that black jacket and carrying the canvas bag I had lent him before. After we met, he brought up the matter of repaying the money again. I said, 'I'll give it to you when we get to the construction site,' but he didn't believe me and said, 'You have to repay it today, or I'll go to your house and ask your mother for it.'"
“I panicked. My mother isn’t in good health, and I didn’t want her to know I owed money and gambled. So we started arguing. He pushed me, and I got angry too, so we started fighting. He was stronger than me, and I couldn’t beat him, so I grabbed a shovel from the ground and hit him on the head.” Zhou Zhiqiang’s voice began to tremble, and his eyes were filled with fear. “He fell to the ground, bleeding from his head. I thought he had just passed out, so I wanted to drag him to the cornfield and bury him there, and explain to him when he woke up.”
“But when I dragged him to the cornfield furrow, I found he was already dead.” Zhou Zhiqiang’s voice choked, and tears streamed down his face again. “I was terrified. Afraid of being discovered, I dug a hole with a shovel and buried him. After burying him, I took his canvas bag and jacket home, intending to find a chance to throw them away, but before I could, you found me.”
"Why did you take his jacket and canvas bag home instead of burying them together?" Xiao Zhou pressed, making sure he wasn't hiding any crucial details. Zhou Zhiqiang lowered his head, his voice barely audible: "I panicked. I thought there might be my fingerprints on the jacket and bag, and I was afraid you'd find them if I buried them, so I thought I'd take them home to wash or burn them. But after getting home, I didn't have a chance to deal with them, so I hid them in the closet and under the bed. I didn't expect you to find them anyway."
"Why did you run away on the night of August 14th?" Xiao Zhou continued to ask. Zhou Zhiqiang sighed: "I heard that you were investigating Li Baoren's whereabouts and even inquired about me in the village. I was afraid that you would find evidence, so I thought I would hide in a mine in the mountains and come out after things calmed down. I drove my tricycle with some dry food and water and headed into the mountains, but I didn't expect that you would still find me."
To confirm the details, Xiao Zhou took out a survey map of the burial site in the cornfield: "Where exactly did you bury the body? How deep was the pit you dug with the shovel? Did you see anyone else around?" Zhou Zhiqiang pointed to the furrow on the survey map: "Right here, I dug a pit about half a meter deep and buried him face down. It was already dark at the time, and there was no one around. After I buried him, I even tamped the soil down, thinking that no one would find it. I didn't expect that Li Erhu would still dig it up while farming."
His confession was completely consistent with the on-site investigation and forensic examination results: the location where the body was buried was the same as the location where Li Erhu found the body, the depth of the pit dug with the shovel matched the traces of soil disturbance at the scene, the details of the head injury matched the forensic determination of "blunt force head injury" as the cause of death, and even the characteristics of Li Baoren's clothing and the whereabouts of his canvas bag corresponded one by one with the evidence held by the police.
The interrogation lasted three hours. Zhou Zhiqiang fully confessed to the entire process, from luring Li Baoren to a meeting, to the argument over wages, the accidental killing, to burying the body, concealing evidence, and fleeing to evade punishment. Every detail was repeatedly verified by Xiao Zhou to ensure nothing was omitted or concealed. When Xiao Zhou asked him to sign the interrogation record, his hand trembled violently, the pen leaving crooked marks on the paper, each word seeming like a confession for his crimes.