The retrial of the “Wisteria Lane Murder Case” from 21 years ago in Shanxi is set to begin next week, following a directive from the Supreme People’s Court for a retrial four years ago.

The 21-year-old “Wisteria Lane Murder Case” in Shanxi is set to go to retrial.

On December 14, the original defendants in the case, Dong Yun, along with their defense attorneys Deng Xueping and Lin Yunli, and defense attorney Wei Jingfeng for the defendant Li Wenhao, informed The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that they received a notice from the Shanxi Provincial High People’s Court indicating that the retrial will be held on December 19 and 20.

Both defense attorneys for Dong Yun and Li Wenhao stated they will plead not guilty. Four years ago, the Supreme People’s Court instructed the Shanxi Provincial High People’s Court to conduct a retrial of the case. Dong Yun and Wei Jingfeng told The Paper that during these four years, the Shanxi High Court held two pre-trial meetings, the most recent of which was on September 13, 2024. Dong Yun mentioned that during the pre-trial meetings, they submitted a request for the exclusion of illegal evidence.

In a previous report by The Paper, it was detailed that on October 2, 2003, Ma Zhao-hui, a cadre from the Family Planning Commission in Yicheng County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province, was murdered at his home on Wisteria Lane in Beiguan Village, suffering 49 stab wounds. Following the incident, Ma Zhao-hui’s wife, Li Huihe, and her lover, Li Wenhao, were taken into custody by the police on suspicion of intentional homicide. Dong Yun, who lived nearby, was accused of forging the crime scene to shelter the actual perpetrators.

Dong Yun, who was originally a technician in charge of crime scene investigation at the Yicheng County Public Security Bureau in Linfen City, was sentenced to ten years in prison for harboring a criminal due to the above-mentioned murder case. After serving his sentence and being released in February 2016, Dong Yun consistently claimed his innocence and continued to appeal.

The case underwent three years of investigation and eight years of trial, with six court trials across both the Yicheng County and Linfen City courts. In 2014, the Shanxi Provincial High Court issued a ruling in Case No. (2014) Jin Xing Yi Zhong Zi No. 18, rejecting the appeal and upholding the original judgment: Li Huihe and Li Wenhao were found guilty of intentional homicide and each sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve; Dong Yun was sentenced to ten years for harboring a criminal; Li Hui’s sister, Li Cuixian, was convicted of obstructing justice but was exempted from criminal punishment.

Subsequently, Li Hui, Li Wenhao, Dong Yun, and Li Cuixian all expressed their dissatisfaction, filing appeals. On January 15, 2018, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate deemed that there were “indeed errors” in the relevant rulings of the Shanxi Provincial High Court and recommended that the Supreme People’s Court conduct a retrial according to the trial supervision procedure.

Two years later, Dong Yun and others received new updates. On September 21, 2020, Dong Yun and others were informed via a phone call from the Shanxi Provincial High Court that their case would be retried. In September 2020, Dong Yun told The Paper that he had received a notice from the Shanxi Provincial High People’s Court, indicating that the Supreme People’s Court had instructed the Shanxi Provincial High People’s Court to conduct a retrial for this case.

The retrial decision document provided by Dong Yun shows that after reviewing the case concerning original defendants Li Wenhao and Li Hui for intentional homicide, original defendant Dong Yun for harboring a criminal, and original defendant Li Cuixian for obstructing justice, it was determined that the appeals of Li Wenhao, Li Hui, Dong Yun, and Li Cuixian met the criteria for retrial as stipulated in Article 253 (1) and (2) of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China. In accordance with Article 254, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, the decision was made to order the Shanxi Provincial High People’s Court to conduct a retrial.

The retrial decision document is stamped with the official seal of the Supreme People’s Court and is dated June 18, 2020.