Female nurse addicted to gambling stabs best friend 196 times to death, why was she sentenced to death with a reprieve?

On the evening of January 29, 2018, a murder occurred at the Taigu Hotel in Lingling District, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. The victim, Wang, was chased and stabbed from the 10th floor to the 2nd floor by her "best friend," and was ultimately stabbed 196 times and died. It is understood that Wang and Fang are nurses at the same local hospital and were close friends who shared everything. However, after Fang became addicted to gambling, he repeatedly borrowed money from Wang and even threatened Wang with a knife.

(Photo of Wang before his death)

On the night of January 19, 2018, Fang arranged to meet Wang in a hotel room under the pretext of giving an IOU. After arriving, Wang found a knife in Fang's bag. Sensing danger, she quickly ran out. Fang chased after her with the knife. Surveillance footage shows Wang being stabbed from the 10th floor to the 2nd floor, ultimately suffering 196 stab wounds and dying instantly from hemorrhagic shock.

　　First-instance judgment: Fang sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve

On December 20, 2018, the Yongzhou Intermediate People's Court found Fang guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve. Wang's family could not accept this and filed an appeal with the court requesting that Fang's death penalty be carried out immediately.

This verdict sparked a wave of public debate. Judging from the entire course of events, it is shocking: after failing to borrow money, he brutally killed his friend with 196 slashes, then chased him from the 10th floor to the 2nd floor, with clear evidence of intentional homicide and extremely serious circumstances. Why was he sentenced to death with reprieve instead of immediate execution?

　　A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm stated that based on the terms "slashing 196 times," "chasing from the 10th floor to the 2nd floor," and "death on the spot," Fang's behavior was indeed very egregious, but the case should be analyzed from multiple angles.

In order to respond to netizens' doubts, the Yongzhou Intermediate People's Court issued the following notice on July 25:

The reason why this case was sentenced to a suspended death sentence instead of an immediate death penalty has been fully explained by the court in the announcement:

　　“Based on the evidence provided by and accepted from the procuratorial authorities,Fang and Wang are in a same-sex romantic relationship., Wang had lived at Fang's house for a long time. Wang wanted Fang to participate in online gambling, and Fang lost a lot of money. Fang's parents sold their property to repay the debt. In 2017, the two went to the police station over financial issues, and since then, both sets of parents forbade their children from interacting with each other.

　　"In view of the fact that Fang committed murder being homosexualCaused by emotional disputes and economic disputes, and Fang has the legalLeniency for a truthful confessioncircumstances such as penalties。"

Therefore, in this case, the main reasons why the criminal suspect Fang Qi was not sentenced to a suspended death sentence are: first, the influence of the victim's own fault on sentencing; second, the dispute arose from emotional and financial conflicts, and the suspect posed a relatively small threat to society; third, the criminal suspect Fang has circumstances such as confession that legally warrant a lighter punishment.

　　01. The victim's own fault

From the court announcement, it can be seen that it was the victim Wang who led Fang to develop a gambling habit, and the two therefore had an economic dispute. To a certain extent, it can be considered that the conflict was intensified due to the fault of the victim.

　　02. The dispute between the two parties arises from emotional and financial conflicts, and lenient punishment should be applied.

According to the "Several Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Implementing the Criminal Policy of Balancing Leniency and Severity":

Article 10: Strictly punish serious criminal offenses,The defendant's subjective malice must be fully considered.And personal danger. For defendants who have meticulously planned and plotted crimes in advance, defendants with circumstances such as being habitual offenders or professional criminals, or defendants who have previously been subject to criminal punishment for intentional crimes and commit crimes again during probation or parole, they should be severely punished according to law to achieve the special preventive function of punishment.

Article 22: RegardingRomance, marriage, family, neighborhood disputesCrimes caused by intensified civil conflicts, crimes caused by labor disputes, mismanagement, and other reasons where the criminal motive is not malicious, sudden crimes caused by the victim's fault or out of righteous indignation, or crimes with defensive factors,[2] should be given lenient punishment as appropriate.。

Article 29: It is necessary to accurately understand and strictly implement "Retain the death penalty, strictly control and cautiously apply the death penaltyThe policy. For criminals who have committed extremely serious crimes, if the crime warrants the death penalty, it must be resolutely imposed in accordance with the law. The application of the death penalty should be strictly controlled in accordance with the law, and the standards for judging death penalty cases should be unified.Ensure that the death penalty is applied only to a very small number of criminals who commit extremely serious crimesThe evidence for conviction or sentencing in specific cases proposed for the death penalty must be true and sufficient, leading to a single conclusion. For crimes that are extremely serious, as long as it is legally possible not to execute immediately, the death penalty should not be executed immediately.

Therefore, this case involves emotional disputes, economic disputes, and mitigating circumstances, and the court's imposition of a suspended death sentence on the other party is indeed beyond reproach.

Moreover, the current attitude of our country toward the "death penalty" is "cautious use of the death penalty" and "strict control and prudent application of the death penalty." This is because a country's criminal punishment is closely related to social development and the level of civilization. 'In troubled times, heavy penalties are used.' As a country develops, it means that the number of executions will decrease.

　Why are the people so 'obsessed' with the death penalty?

The reality is that every time a heinous incident occurs, such as the recent case of molestation of a young girl or the trafficking of women and children, online voices are not lacking comments like 'the death penalty must be imposed.' Why are citizens so 'obsessed' with capital punishment?

First of all, the order of values of life and freedom differs in the minds of people from different ethnic groups and countries. Just as in the eyes of Americans, life imprisonment is a very severe punishment, this may be related to Americans' value of cherishing freedom. Of course, in some countries, religion occupies the highest position, above life and freedom, so many religious believers are willing to use themselves as human bombs to protect their religion.

　　而In the perception of the vast majority of people in our country, 'it is better to live poorly than to die well,' and life always has the highest value., compared to taking away life, taking away freedom seems not as important. Therefore, in the consciousness of our country's citizens,For evil deeds, one should be punished with the severe penalty of death.

Secondly, thisIt is even more inseparable from the problems in the establishment of punishments in our countryAccording to the current Criminal Law of our country, there is a serious 'gap' in actual execution between the current death sentence with reprieve, life imprisonment, and immediate execution of the death penalty. In reality, life imprisonment in our country allows for release after being incarcerated for more than 13 years, while a death sentence with reprieve effectively allows release after more than 15 years of incarceration. This kind of life imprisonment is not comparable to life imprisonment that truly lasts for life and, therefore, carries far less punitive force than the death penalty. Once public authority fails to adequately punish heinous crimes, it is very likely to cause public dissatisfaction, and even private revenge by the victims or their families. This may also be an important reason why the Zhang Koukou murder case triggered such a reaction.