Tan Xiuyi Rape and Murder Case 谭修义强奸、故意杀人案

The defendant/exoneree 

  • Tan Xiuyi (谭修义). He was born in 1954, and was thirty-nine years old when detained and sixty years old when exonerated.

Facts

  • On July 16, 1993, Tan Xiuyi (“Tan”) went to a fellow villager’s home to chat after supper. About 8 p.m. that night, victim Tan B, who was hanging out with Tan’s two daughters, stayed with them at Tan’s house. Tan went home about 10 pm. The next morning, Tan woke his younger daughter for school. After the daughter left, Tan B got up, told Tan’s mother that she had to go home to fix a meal, and left.

  • After Tan B left Tan’s house on July 17, 1993, Tan went out with his wife to do farm work and came back home around 5 p.m.

  • Around 3 p.m. on July 17, 1993, a fellow villager surnamed Liu and his wife went to Tan B’s house and saw her body hanging from the ceiling beam. Liu immediately smashed the lock on the door with a shovel. Liu’s wife went to get help from other villagers. They went inside to take down Tan B’s body, and found Tan B’s parents had been murdered. Tan B’s mother was found with a half a broken sickle stuck in her throat.

  • Forensic reports concluded that Tan B had been strangled to death, and Tan B’s parents had been killed by a sharp instrument and a blunt instrument, respectively.    

Procedural history 

  • On July 21, 1993, Tan was detained on suspicion of murder.

  • On December 14, 1999, Tan was convicted of murder and sentenced to death with two-year reprieve by the Zhoukou Intermediate People’s Court (“Intermediate Court”) in Henan Province.

  • Tan appealed his conviction. On May 18, 2000, the Henan Provincial High People’s Court (“High Court”) remanded the case to the Intermediate Court on the grounds that the facts of the case were unclear.

  • On January 1, 2002, the Intermediate Court retried the case, convicted Tan of rape and murder, and sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve.

  • Upon Tan’s second appeal, on July 31, 2003, the High Court affirmed the Intermediate Court’s decision and approved Tan’s sentence. Tan was sent to prison.    

Date of the conviction

December 14, 1999

Date the wrongful conviction was reversed

December 16, 2022

Days incarcerated

10,744

Why was the case reopened/reversed 

  • Tan petitioned many times while serving his time in prison.

  • His family petitioned to the High Court in December 2016. One year later, the High Court dismissed Tan’s petition for retrial on the grounds that the conviction and sentencing were appropriate and were supported by clear facts and reliable and sufficient evidence.

  • Tan’s family petitioned to the Henan Provincial People’s Procuratorate (“Provincial Procuratorate”) in May 2017. The Provincial Procuratorate determined that the conviction was erroneous and was based on unclear facts and unreliable and insufficient evidence. Therefore, it filed a request to appeal with the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (“SPP”) on June 18, 2020.

  • The SPP appealed to the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) for retrial on March 16, 2022.

  • The SPC decided to reopen the case on July 18, 2022 and remanded it to the High Court for retrial.

  • On October 20, 2022, Tan was released from the prison after serving his time.

  • On December 16, 2022, the High Court acquitted Tan.  

Factors contributing to the wrongful conviction

  • False confession

  • Investigator’s tunnel vision

    • Forensic testing of the red stains at the crime scene indicated that elements of blood were found, but they were not conclusive and did not connect the stains with Tan.

    • Witness statements proved Tan’s activities before and after the crime, but didn’t prove Tan committed the crime.    

Other Developments 

In September 19, 2023, Tan received RMB 7.87 million (US$1.08 million) as state compensation.