Attempted murder case to be reviewed

The Shanghai Municipal People's Prosecutor's Office said on its official website Monday that it will re-examine the case of a local man convicted of conspiring to kill his wife in 1995.

The announcement comes after a retired prosecutor raised doubts over the fairness of the trial and called for a re-investigation.

Mei Jixiang maintained during his initial trial that he returned home from work on July 6, 1995, to find his wife, Gu Minli, lying half-naked in a pool of blood with head injuries.

Mei took Gu to hospital, where doctors treated her for her injuries and she eventually made a full recovery. Five months later, police interrogated Mei after Gu said her husband was the attacker.

Mei then admitted he intended to kill his wife when questioned by local police, adding that his brother, Mei Jiyang, acted as an accomplice.

However, Liu Binghua, a retired prosecutor who began investigating the case at the Mei family's request in February 2006, said both men's confessions were "extorted" by police, adding that several of the brothers' colleagues vouched they were at the factory where they worked when the attack happened.

The Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Mei Jixiang to death with a two-year reprieve in February 1997.

Mei Jiyang, the brother, was sentenced to 12 years for his role in the attempted murder.

The court rejected all requests for an appeal from the convicted duo from 1997 to 2006.

Mei Jixiang's sentence was commuted to life in prison after his brother was released in 2005.

"I have collected solid evidence over seven years proving that the brothers were wronged," Liu said.

"They did not have the time nor motive to carry out the crime. The court handed down its verdicts based on Gu's testimony," he added.

"The fingerprints, footprints, blood and hair found at the scene did not implicate the brothers," Liu said, adding that Gu had received compensation from a man surnamed Shu suspected of being the attacker.

During Liu's investigation, he found that Shu, one of Gu's colleagues, suffered injuries to his head, which were consistent with Gu's testimony that she wielded a stick and beat her attacker.

Shu did not see Gu when she was hospitalized despite their close relationship, and refused to give police a sample of his fingerprints.

Liu said Gu accused her husband of the attack because she didn't want to expose her extramarital affair with Shu.