Today, Lao Rongzhi was escorted back to Nanchang, conviction remains uncertain

The Xiamen courts have reported that on December 5, they transferred to the Nanchang courts in Jiangxi Province the fugitive murder suspect Lao Rongzhi, who had been on the run for 23 years and was involved in homicides in three locations that claimed seven lives. The Jiangxi police escorted Lao Rongzhi back to Nanchang the same day. A review by the Xiamen police found no evidence that Lao Rongzhi committed any crimes during her time hiding in Xiamen.
 

 Currently, how to convict and sentence Lao Rongzhi has become a focal point of attention. First, can Lao Rongzhi still be held criminally liable after being at large for 20 years?
 

 A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm stated,According to Article 87 of the Criminal Law, a crime shall no longer be prosecuted after the following periods have elapsed: (1) five years, if the maximum prescribed punishment is fixed-term imprisonment of less than five years; (2) ten years, if the maximum prescribed punishment is fixed-term imprisonment of five years or more but less than ten years; (3) fifteen years, if the maximum prescribed punishment is fixed-term imprisonment of ten years or more; and (4) twenty years, if the maximum prescribed punishment is life imprisonment or the death penalty. If it is deemed necessary to prosecute a crime after twenty years have elapsed, the matter must be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval.
 

However, Article 88 of China's Criminal Law provides that if a person evades investigation or trial after a case has been filed for investigation by a people's court, a public security organ, or a state security organ, or after a people's court has accepted the case, the limitation on prosecution shall not apply.
 

That is to say,Regardless of whether Lao Rongzhi's time on the run has exceeded 20 years, she will be held accountable under the law.
 

 However, whether Lao Rongzhi can ultimately be sentenced to a severe punishment is not optimistic.Here, we can refer to the 1999 Beijing West Railway Station gang rape and murder case.
 

On October 7, 1999, 19-year-old female white-collar worker Guo Xiaoyue mysteriously disappeared in the underground parking garage of Beijing West Railway Station, and for the following seven years there was no news of her. It was not until 2006, when a warehouse keeper went to the second underground floor to clean, and opened a sealed fan room that had been closed for many years, that her remains were discovered, having already turned into a mummified corpse. Even though the police later successfully arrested three criminal suspects, and these three suspects also confessed to the crimes they had committed, due to the lack of many key pieces of evidence in the case at that time, all three were ultimately acquitted.
 

What is reflected here isThe principle of “no punishment in doubtful cases” in China’s criminal lawBased on the currently disclosed case details, the evidence appears insufficient. Even if Lao Rongzhi truthfully confesses to her crimes, she cannot be convicted with only a confession and lacking other evidence.
 

In handling criminal cases in China, the principle of emphasizing evidence, investigation, and not readily relying on confessions is upheld.
 

According to Article 55 of China's Criminal Procedure Law: In the sentencing of all cases, emphasis must be placed on evidence and investigation rather than readily crediting confessions. If there is only the defendant's confession and no other evidence, the defendant cannot be found guilty and punished; if there is no defendant's confession but the evidence is indeed sufficient, the defendant can be found guilty and punished. According to the relevant provisions of the Interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law, if there is only indirect evidence and reasonable doubt cannot be excluded, guilt cannot be established.
 

Moreover, back then, Zi Ying had taken all the blame upon himself, and the verdict had long been made public. This effectively meant that Lao Rongzhi had already aligned her testimony with Zi Ying's. Her 20-year flight further demonstrates her strong will to survive; had she been even slightly clever, she would likely have long prepared her exculpatory statements.