On June 28th, The Paper obtained the second-instance judgment of Wu Xieyu’s murder case from authoritative sources. It shows that during the trial of the second instance, whether Wu Xieyu should be given a psychiatric appraisal triggered a heated debate between the prosecution and the defense. The Fujian Higher People’s Court put forward six reasons in the judgment of the second instance, arguing that Wu Xieyu had complete recognition and control ability when committing crimes, and there was no fact or evidence to prove that he should be identified by forensic psychiatry at the time of committing crimes.
A month ago, the Fujian Higher People’s Court publicly pronounced the case of Wu Xieyu’s intentional homicide, fraud, and buying and selling identity documents, and ruled that the appeal was rejected and the original death sentence was upheld. At present, the case is in the stage of review of the death penalty by the Supreme Court.
Controversy between prosecution and defense: Should Wu Xieyu be appraised for mental illness?
The Paper previously reported that on August 26th, 2021, Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court publicly pronounced the case of defendant Wu Xieyu’s intentional homicide, fraud and buying and selling identity documents in the first instance. Wu Xieyu was convicted of intentional homicide, fraud, and buying and selling identity documents. He was sentenced to death, deprived of political rights for life, and fined 103,000 yuan.
Later, Wu Xieyu appealed.
According to the judgment of the second instance, Wu Xieyu’s appeal reasons are: he is extremely remorseful after committing the crime, willing to accept punishment for his crimes, and willing to compensate the cheated relatives and friends for their economic losses. He is not unrepentant as found in the first instance, asking for a reprieve and giving him a chance to make amends alive.
According to the judgment, Wu Xieyu’s defenders Xu Xin and Zheng Xiaojing suggested that when talking with Wu Xieyu, they felt that the appellant Wu Xieyu often couldn’t focus, answered irrelevant questions and often fell into self-fantasy; Wu Xieyu’s third aunt, Wu Mou Mei, suffers from mental illness and is still hospitalized in a mental hospital. Wu Xieyu’s fourth aunt, Wu Mou, has a mental disability. Wu Xieyu’s family has a history of mental illness, and she may have inherited mental illness.
The defender also claimed that Xie Tianqin, the mother of Wu Xieyu, was introverted, withdrawn and sentimental, and often thought that life was meaningless. As can be seen from Xie Tianqin’s letters, diaries and Wu Xieyu’s own confession, Xie Tianqin may have psychological barriers, which also had a negative impact on Wu Xieyu, who tried to commit suicide many times.
The defender entrusted three groups of experts to identify Wu Xieyu’s mental state when he committed the crime, and all the conclusions were that Wu Xieyu suffered from serious mental problems and severe depression, which led to the decline of control and recognition ability when he committed the crime. Wu Xieyu belongs to a mentally abnormal person, and the evidence in the case cannot rule out the reasonable suspicion that he is a mental patient. Therefore, Wu Xieyu’s mental state at the time of committing the crime should be identified.
The procurator at the Fujian Provincial Procuratorate believes that the original judgment found that the appellant Wu Xieyu committed the crimes of intentional homicide, fraud and buying and selling identity documents. The facts are clear and the evidence is true and sufficient.
The prosecutor in court believes that the evidence in the case is enough to confirm that Wu Xieyu can clearly understand the nature of the murder and the consequences of the punishment. It is well-planned before committing a crime and has strong anti-investigation ability; After being brought to justice, the interrogation was answered to the point, and the incident could be recalled coherently, which was consistent with the on-site investigation. Therefore, Wu Xieyu’s ability to identify and control the crime is complete, and he has full criminal responsibility. It is not necessary to identify his mental state at the time of committing the crime.
Regarding whether Wu Xieyu should be appraised in forensic psychiatry, during the trial of the second instance, the defender presented the psychiatric hospital diagnosis certificate and community certificate of Wu Xieyu’s relatives to prove that Wu Xieyu had a family history of mental illness. Show the relevant contents of the victim Xie Tianqin’s diary and witness testimony to prove that Xie Tianqin has long-term mental and behavioral disorders and serious negative emotions or personality characteristics, which has obvious adverse effects on the formation or aggravation of Wu Xieyu’s depression; Produce materials such as Expert Consultation Opinion on Wu Xieyu’s Mental State, Expert Investigation Opinion and Forensic Psychiatric Literature Examination Opinion, so as to prove that many experts believe that Wu Xieyu should be appraised in forensic psychiatry.
The procurator in court of Fujian Provincial Procuratorate presented the testimony of neighbors and community cadres of Wu Xieyu’s relatives, the certificate of mental illness and hospitalization records of their relatives, to prove that Wu Xieyu’s relatives were ill the day after tomorrow and Wu Xieyu had no family history of mental illness; It is believed that the expert opinion was made on the basis of incomplete review of evidence materials and no pathological examination of Wu Xieyu. Experts believe that the basis for forensic psychiatric appraisal of Wu Xieyu is insufficient. The prosecutor in court believes that Wu Xieyu has complete recognition and control ability when committing a crime, and there is no need to identify his mental state when committing a crime.
Final judgment: the court explained why the psychiatric appraisal was not conducted for six reasons.
Article 18 of the Criminal Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that a mental patient who causes harmful consequences when he is unable to identify or control his own behavior shall not be held criminally responsible after being identified and confirmed by legal procedures. If a mental patient who has not completely lost the ability to identify or control his own behavior commits a crime, he shall bear criminal responsibility, but he may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment.
Whether Wu Xieyu has complete identification ability and control ability when committing a crime is the focus of controversy between the prosecution and the defense. In the judgment of the second instance, the Fujian Higher People’s Court put forward six reasons, arguing that Wu Xieyu had complete recognition and control ability when committing a crime, and there was no fact or evidence to prove that he should be identified by judicial psychiatry at the time of committing the crime.
According to the verdict, after investigation, Wu Xieyu’s aunt Wu Mou Hua confirmed that Wu Mou Hua’s sister Wu Mou Mei was mentally abnormal at the age of 20; My sister Wu Mou has abnormal mental development. Neighbor Wu Mou Pan confirmed that Wu Mou Mei had mental problems when she was young because of emotional stimulation. Wu Mou got meningitis when he was about two years old. Because he was not treated in time, his brain developed problems and his intelligence was lower than that of normal people. Wu Mou Hua also confirmed that Wu Xieyu’s father, Wu Zhijian, and his mother, Xie Tianqin, are both college students. Wu Xieyu’s grades have been excellent since childhood, and his family has no history of mental illness. The testimony of Wu Xieyu’s relatives, neighbors, classmates, teachers and cohabiting girlfriends confirmed that Wu Xieyu was mentally normal.
In addition, the disease diagnosis certificates and inpatient medical records of Zean Psychiatric Hospital and De ‘an Psychiatric Hospital in Xianyou County confirmed that Wu Mou Maines had been hospitalized in 2008, and the history of admission, Wu Zhijian and Wu Mou Hua, denied that their two families and three generations had a history of mental illness and family hereditary diseases.
The Fujian High Court said that Wu Xieyu confessed that her mother Xie Tianqin lacked love, affection and friendship in her life, especially after her father died, and her mother’s life was meaningless. At the same time, I feel that my life is not perfect and I have suicidal thoughts, but if I die before my mother, I will disappoint my mother, so I decided to kill Xie Tianqin. It can be seen that Wu Xieyu has realistic motives for killing people.
Before committing the crime, Wu Xieyu carefully planned, prepared the tools for committing the crime, planned the means of killing and arranged and cleaned up the scene of the crime, which showed that Wu Xieyu had a full understanding of the nature and consequences of his behavior and a clear consciousness, and there was no obstacle to his ability to identify and control his own behavior.
After committing the crime, Wu Xieyu handled the scene for a long time, set up a monitoring probe, forged Xie Tianqin’s handwriting and submitted his resignation to Xie Tianqin’s unit. He repeatedly used Xie Tianqin’s QQ and mobile phone text messages to communicate with relatives and friends. The conversation was logical and meticulous, and the situation was created enough for relatives and friends to think that Xie Tianqin was still alive, indicating that Wu Xieyu had obvious self-protection consciousness. Wu Xieyu confessed that when he fled from yongcheng city, Henan Province, he knew that the mobile phone calling card could locate his location, so he broke the calling card to avoid the arrest of the public security organs. Wu Xieyu bought other people’s identity documents to avoid investigation, and demanded that the information on the identity documents should be the same as his age, not a wanted man, and not have a criminal record. When he was just arrested, he also used false identity information to make a confession, indicating that Wu Xieyu had anti-investigation ability.
The Fujian Higher People’s Court also held that Wu Xieyu had excellent academic performance and entered a prestigious university. After he was brought to justice, he confessed the whole crime process and details completely and clearly, which was mutually confirmed with the evidence in the case. During the trial, his mental state was normal, his thinking was clear, he answered questions to the point, and there was no mental abnormality.
Fujian Higher People’s Court: "Mother and son have a family relationship" and "every inch of grass is blooming in spring", and Wu Xieyu’s crime is extremely serious.
The Fujian Higher People’s Court stated in the judgment that "the mother is kind and generous, and the mother and son are family members". The testimony of the victim Xie Tianqin’s neighbors, colleagues, relatives and friends, as well as Xie Tianqin’s diaries and letters extracted from the scene investigation by the public security organs can confirm that the appellant Wu Xieyu and Xie Tianqin have a good relationship. Wu Xieyu’s daily performance and excellent studies are Xie Tianqin’s greatest psychological comfort. After her husband died of illness, Xie Tianqin made every effort to raise Wu Xieyu and ensure his normal study life, so that he could be admitted to a famous key university. The above evidence proves that Xie Tianqin did not think that his life was meaningless.
The Fujian Higher People’s Court held that Wu Xieyu had the idea of killing his mother because of his misunderstanding. Before committing the crime, he carefully planned, prepared the tools for committing the crime, planned the means of killing and arranged and cleaned up the scene of the crime. At the time of committing the crime, Wu Xieyu slammed Xie Tianqin’s head and face with dumbbells, causing his death. Later, he tried to dismember the body and cleaned up the scene for a long time. The means of committing the crime were particularly cruel and the circumstances of the crime were particularly bad. After committing the crime, Wu Xieyu forged Xie Tianqin’s handwriting and resigned. He repeatedly used Xie Tianqin’s QQ and SMS to create the illusion of Xie Tianqin’s survival to defraud relatives and friends of money. When he realized that his crime might be exposed, he began to buy other people’s identity documents online, and destroyed his mobile phone card to avoid investigation. He used the defrauded money for sexual transactions many times to enjoy himself, without any intention of pleading guilty or repenting. "An inch of grass blooms in spring", and Wu Xieyu’s killing of his mother Xie Tianqin is a serious violation of family ethics, trampling on the normal feelings of human society, with extremely bad social impact and extremely serious crimes.
The Fujian Higher People’s Court held that the appellant Wu Xieyu deliberately and illegally deprived others of their lives, resulting in one death, and his behavior constituted the crime of intentional homicide; For the purpose of illegal possession, fictional facts, concealing the truth, defrauding others of money is particularly huge, and its behavior constitutes fraud; In order to avoid criminal punishment, buying resident identity cards also constitutes the crime of buying and selling identity documents. According to the law, several crimes should be combined with punishment. Wu Xieyu defrauded others of a huge amount of money. In view of some victims’ understanding of his fraud, he was given a lighter punishment as appropriate for his fraud. The original judgment found that the facts of the whole case were clear, the evidence was indeed sufficient, the conviction was accurate, the sentencing was appropriate, and the trial procedure was legal. The ruling dismissed the appeal and upheld the original judgment.