Despite being married only 2 months, Liao Fengxian had entered into an inappropriate relationship with her husband’s friend. One day, she was killed by her own lover during an argument. However, after investigating, the police uncovered an unexpected truth.
The Body Floating in the Lake
In the early morning of May 10, 2013, at a park in the city of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province (China), some residents out for their morning jog discovered a female body floating in the lake. Police immediately arrived at the scene after receiving the report.
Authorities then retrieved the body from the water. The victim was about 1.6m tall, around 27-28 years old. She was still wearing jewelry and had money in her wallet. Initially, police ruled out robbery or assault as there were no wounds on the body. The woman’s death was determined to be from drowning.
Apart from a gold necklace and cash, the woman had no other identification, making it difficult for police to verify her identity.
The police immediately opened an investigation. But with no surveillance cameras or monitoring equipment in the park, the probe could not find any leads and soon hit a dead end.
Around 3 pm that same day, a local man named Li Liang came to the police station reporting that his wife was missing. According to Li, his wife Liao Fengxian had not returned home since going out alone on her electric bicycle the previous night. He had searched everywhere all day long but to no avail. Worried something untoward had happened to his wife, Li hurriedly filed a report with the police.
Based on Li Liang’s description of Liao Fengxian’s age, height, and the clothes she was wearing when leaving home, the police identified the woman retrieved from the lake as Li’s wife.
The Newlywed Tragedy
Li Liang stated that he and Liao Fengxian had just gotten married two months ago and he deeply regretted his wife’s death. The man said on the day of the incident, he had just bought his wife a new electric bicycle. That night, his wife was eager to practice riding it so she left the house alone despite his objections. According to Li Liang, Liao Fengxian may have drowned after falling into the lake while practicing.
From this information, the police revisited the scene to search. And just as Li Liang said, a new electric bicycle was found at the bottom of the lake. Li confirmed this was the one he had purchased for his wife.
At the police station, Li appeared devastated, blaming himself for not being a good husband by allowing his wife to practice riding alone, resulting in this tragic accident. He also expressed deep regret, saying he should not have bought her that kind of vehicle.
To further investigate the case, the police expanded their search area and obtained surveillance footage near Li Liang’s residence. The footage showed that around 9 pm that night, Liao Fengxian did indeed go out alone on her electric bike. After entering the park, she never came out.
The evidence obtained seemed to corroborate Li Liang’s account. However, the investigators still had some lingering doubts in their minds.
The Suspicious Death
To further investigate the case, the police expanded their search area and obtained surveillance footage near the victim Liao Fengxian’s residence with her husband Li Liang. The footage showed that around 9 pm on May 9, 2013, Liao did go out alone on her electric bicycle. After entering the park, she never came out again.
The evidence obtained seemed to corroborate Li Liang’s account that his wife may have drowned after falling into the lake while practicing riding. However, the investigators still had doubts. The artificial lake in the park where Liao’s body was found is about 30km from her home. Why would she go so far just to practice riding?
More suspiciously, the water in the lake was only 1.4m deep. Even if the victim was not a good swimmer and accidentally fell in, she should not have easily drowned.
With these doubts, the police checked Liao Fengxian’s call history on the night of the accident. They discovered one number had called her repeatedly and almost continuously after she left home that evening.
A few days before Liao fell into the lake and died, this same number had also texted her asking to meet at the artificial lake area. The police deduced that the person calling Liao’s mobile from this number was likely the last person in contact with her, and only through him could all the suspicions be resolved.
At this point, Li Liang told the police he was using that number. However, Li had an alibi – the man did not leave home at that time and did not frequently make calls like that. It was clear he was lying.
The Illicit Affair
According to the police investigation, the phone number initially belonged to Liao Fengxian, who then gave it to her husband to use. Next, another man used it before the incident occurred, after which it returned to Li Liang.
Soon after, the identity of this unfamiliar man was also verified. He was Zhou Jiuwei, Li Liang’s high school friend.
In the surveillance footage near the park, police spotted Zhou Jiuwei also present at the scene when Liao appeared at the artificial lake that night. But this man seemed to have “vanished” since that evening.
The police immediately intensified their search and one month later, they managed to locate Zhou Jiuwei. During interrogation, this man was very cooperative and quickly recounted the events to the police.
According to Zhou Jiuwei, he and Li Liang were close friends. When he came to Changzhou city, he stayed with the married couple due to the difficulties he was facing.
This man admitted that after some time, he began having an affair with Liao Fengxian. On the day Liao drowned, the two had arranged to meet at the park to discuss and end their illicit relationship.
Unexpectedly, as Liao rode her electric bike to return home, she lost control and drove straight into the lake. According to Zhou’s testimony, due to the darkness, he could not see exactly where his lover fell. Overcome with fear, Zhou silently fled the scene and did not call the police, afraid that Li Liang would find out about their affair.
At first listen, Zhou Jiuwei’s confession seemed plausible. However, the victim’s husband’s abnormal reaction caused the investigators to keep raising doubts.
The Suspicious Behavior
Although Zhou Jiuwei – the lover of victim Liao Fengxian and friend of her husband Li Liang – had confessed to their affair and insisted Liao’s death was an accident, the husband’s abnormal reaction caused the investigators to keep raising doubts.
First, since there were still many unclear details in the case, the police did not rush to issue a death certificate for Liao Fengxian’s death. But Li Liang was quite eager about this matter. He repeatedly went to the police station to inquire and even urged the authorities to issue a death certificate for his wife. His reaction was completely opposite to the normal psychology of a grieving husband because if his wife’s death still had many mysteries, Li Liang should have wanted the police to actively investigate to find the truth.
Additionally, Li Liang kept lamenting and appearing devastated, blaming himself for not being a good husband by letting his wife practice riding alone, leading to this tragic accident. But when he learned about his wife and friend’s affair, he remained completely silent and showed no surprise. Normally, a husband in this situation would only be immersed in grief, but Li Liang even went to the police station multiple times to inquire about the case resolution timeline. It seemed he wanted to quickly close the case after this information surfaced.
In the early morning when Liao Fengxian went missing, Li Liang drove around searching for her, but he only looked for 26 minutes before returning home.
The Crucial Clue
The police later discovered that Li Liang’s marriage to Liao Fengxian was his second marriage. According to Li Liang’s relatives, although newly married, the couple’s relationship was very strange. They almost never shared a room after getting married. Li Liang’s ex-wife had returned to her hometown to care for Li’s sick father. It did not seem like a real divorce.
Surprisingly, according to Liao Fengxian’s younger brother, before getting married the two were always very affectionate. Li Liang treated Liao very well, buying her many gifts like a gold necklace, mobile phone, etc. Li fulfilled whatever request Liao made.
With these clues, the police grew increasingly suspicious of Li Liang. They believed there was some connection between Liao Fengxian’s death and her husband.
At this point, Liao Fengxian’s parents provided the police with valuable information. According to them, after getting married, Li Liang purchased not just one but two personal accident insurance policies for his wife with a 1-year term worth a total of 4 million RMB (around 560,000 USD). If Liao died, the beneficiary would be Li Liang.
Li Liang had previously run an internet cafe business, but due to poor management, it continuously lost money and eventually had to close down. He was also addicted to gambling and deeply in debt with no way to repay and under immense pressure.
The Shocking Truth
Under interrogation by the police, Zhou Jiuwei – Liao Fengxian’s lover – finally confessed that he was the one who killed his lover.
According to him, in early 2013, Liao Fengxian married Li Liang. But right after the wedding, Li Liang became cold and indifferent towards his wife.
At that time, Li Liang told his wife that his friend Zhou Jiuwei was going through difficulties, so he wanted to help his friend by letting him stay at their home temporarily. Li Liang convinced Liao Fengxian that Zhou would soon make arrangements to move out. Although initially opposed, Liao eventually had to listen.
Living with her cold and indifferent husband, while Zhou showed the opposite – caring and understanding – gradually caused Liao Fengxian to soften. In the end, the two began an affair.
Zhou stated that after some time, Liao Fengxian grew increasingly worried about their secret relationship being exposed. Therefore, she arranged to meet Zhou Jiuwei at the park near their house to end the affair.
On the evening of May 9, 2013, Liao told her husband she was going to the park to practice riding her electric bike, but in reality, it was to meet Zhou. After their conversation, an argument broke out between them. Unable to control his anger, Zhou Jiuwei killed his lover by drowning her in the lake in the park. To cover up the crime, Zhou staged the scene to make it look like Liao had an accident while riding her electric bike, causing her to fall into the lake and drown.
However, based on the clues they had gathered, the police still doubted this story. After repeated interrogations by the police, Zhou Jiuwei finally confessed the whole truth, leaving the investigators utterly shocked. According to him, the mastermind behind the incident was the victim’s husband – Li Liang.
The Elaborate Plan
Overwhelmed by debt, Li Liang hatched a plot to kill for the insurance money, but could not carry out this scheme with his ex-wife. Therefore, Li Liang constantly tried to create conflicts with his wife so he could divorce her.
Afterward, with the aim of finding someone suitable for his plan, Li Liang went online and got acquainted with Liao Fengxian. At this time, Liao had just divorced and was extremely depressed. To get close to Liao, Li Liang always portrayed himself as a knowledgeable, wealthy, and generous man. Just 13 days after they met, Liao agreed to Li’s marriage proposal.
After getting married, Li Liang tricked his wife into making him the beneficiary of the two high-value insurance policies.
With that settled, Li Liang began acting indifferently and plotted to kill Liao Fengxian. Being a cunning man, he did not want to get his own hands dirty. He thought of his high school best friend Zhou Jiuwei, promising to give him 200,000 RMB (over 28,000 USD). After hearing this offer, Zhou quickly agreed.
The two men schemed to make Liao fall for Zhou. To make his wife cheat, Li Liang always created opportunities for just her and his friend to be home alone together. Meanwhile, Zhou was always attentive and caring towards Liao, doing things like cooking for her and taking her out. This plan eventually succeeded.
One day, while walking around the artificial lake in the park, Li Liang noticed a broken section of railing. Immediately, this man thought the opportunity had arrived.
Li Liang then told Zhou to find a way to lure Liao to the artificial lake in the park. The two walked around the area until around 11 pm. At this point, seeing no one else around, Zhou told Liao to get on the bike so he could give her a ride home.
When they reached the bridge, Zhou deliberately drove the bike off into the lake from the broken railing section. But what he did not expect was that the lake was not deep, so although they fell into the water, they were both able to quickly stand back up. Seeing this, Zhou then pushed Liao’s head down into the water until she stopped struggling.
The entire plan was under Li Liang’s control, but he was very cunning and deliberately kept sending messages urging his wife to come home on the night she died. Finally, Li Liang pretended to drive out to search for his wife, and the next day went to the police station to report her missing.
But no matter how elaborate the plan, this man still made a mistake. Based on Zhou Jiuwei’s confession and the evidence collected, the police arrested Li Liang.
In January 2014, the court sentenced Li Liang to death and fined him around 50,000 RMB for insurance fraud and intentional murder. Zhou Jiuwei also received the same fate with a fine of over 28,500 RMB.
