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'Murdered' villager reappears after 11 years

A MAN thought to have been killed 11 years ago walked back home alive and well in central China Henan Province after his convicted murderer served a decade in jail.

Villagers in Zhaolou in Shangqiu City thought Zhao Zhenxiang was killed in a fight with fellow villager Zhao Zuohai in 1999. But his reappearance this May to claim social security checks shocked everyone, after they buried a headless body in 2000 in his name.

Zhao Zuohai was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over the murder, and has been serving time at Henan's No.1 Prison while his term was reduced to 29 years, reported People's Daily today.

But Zhao Zhenxiang said that he fled the village in 1999 because he feared he might have killed Zhao Zuohai in the fight over a woman. He showed a scar in his belly to prove his identity, the report said.

Villagers said Zhao Zhenxiang has been taken to the police station but officers have refused to comment.

While Zhao Zuohai has been in prison, his wife has remarried and three of his four children were adopted by strangers, according to his brother-in-law Yu Fangxin.

Yu said Zhao Zuohai might have been tortured into confession.

A police officer said DNA tests in 1999 were inexact and could not prove whether the headless body was Zhao Zhenxiang's.



 

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