Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

Meanwhile, Zhang Huaide's description of "weeds being trampled down" is completely consistent with the traces of fallen weeds on the south slope of the drainage ditch found during the on-site investigation. The direction of the fallen weeds is towards the location of the body, which is consistent with the trace characteristics formed when the body fell into the ditch.

"During Zhang Fenglu's struggle, did he resist you?" Wang Shuai pressed. Zhang Huaide nodded and said, "Yes, he tried to pry my arms off with both hands and even tried to kick me. My right hand was accidentally scratched by a nearby stone, and it bled a little." This statement perfectly matched the 2-centimeter superficial scratch on the back of the deceased's right hand found during the forensic autopsy. The forensic doctor had initially speculated that the scratch might have been caused during the struggle, and this was corroborated by Zhang Huaide's own testimony. Technicians immediately examined the location of the scratch described by Zhang Huaide and found a stone with small, angular edges. Trace amounts of blood remained on the stone, and DNA testing after extraction confirmed that it was Zhang Fenglu's blood.

"How long did you strangle him? What did you do after that?" Wang Shuai continued to ask. Zhang Huaide lowered his head and said, "I strangled him for about two minutes. I felt his body slowly soften, his struggles weakened, and finally he stopped moving. I checked his breath and found he was no longer breathing. I was terrified and wanted to throw his body into the drainage ditch to cover up my crime." He pointed to the slope on the south side of the drainage ditch and said, "I used all my strength to drag his body into the ditch. While dragging him, his body hit the sycamore tree next to him and made a 'thump' sound." This statement completely matches the previous report from the residents of Unit 2, Building 3, that "they heard a heavy object hitting downstairs around midnight the night before last," and the time is also highly consistent with the time of death estimated by the forensic doctor to be between 11 pm the night before last and 2 am yesterday.

Technicians immediately pointed to the friction marks on the trunk of the sycamore tree. These marks, 1.5 meters from the ground, were 30 centimeters long and 5 centimeters wide, with the bark peeled off to reveal fresh wood. These marks perfectly matched Zhang Huaide's description of the "corpse hitting the tree trunk." "After dragging him to the edge of the ditch, I pushed him down forcefully. His body fell into the ditch, lying face down, head facing west, feet facing east, his upper body embedded in the weeds at the bottom," Zhang Huaide stated. The original state of the body described by Zhang Huaide was completely consistent with the position and posture of the body recorded during the on-site investigation, further confirming his crime.

"What did you do after you pushed the body?" Wang Shuai led Zhang Huaide to the cement path south of the drainage ditch, where the tire tracks at point 1 were located. Zhang Huaide said, "After I pushed the body, I quickly changed into my sneakers, hid my rain boots in the nearby bushes, then ran to the alley outside the community, got on my electric tricycle that I had parked there, and came back here." He pointed to the tire tracks, "I parked the electric tricycle on the cement path to see if the body had been discovered, but I found that the body was already covered by weeds, so I was relieved." The technicians immediately compared the tire tracks extracted from the scene with the tires of the electric tricycle registered under Zhang Huaide's name. The tire width was 18 centimeters, and the longitudinal serration spacing of the tread was 1.2 centimeters, which was completely consistent with the characteristics extracted from tire track point 1 at the scene. There were also a small amount of black rubber particles remaining on the wheel, which matched the composition of the trace substance sample at point 2 at the scene.

"Why did you ride an electric tricycle back?" Wang Shuai pressed. Zhang Huaide replied, "I was worried the body would be discovered too soon, so I thought I'd move it elsewhere if necessary, but then I saw it was covered by weeds, so I didn't. Also, I wanted to clean up the traces left at the scene, like my footprints and the fallen fibers." He pointed to the black fiber fragment extraction point on the cement path and said, "When I was adjusting my coat, I accidentally dropped some fibers on the ground, so I tried to rub them off with my foot, but I didn't get them clean." Technicians immediately compared the No. 1 black fiber sample extracted from the scene with the fibers from Zhang Huaide's electric tricycle seat, confirming that the composition matched and proving that his explanation of cleaning the traces was true.

Subsequently, Zhang Huaide was escorted to the core area of ​​the drainage ditch. Technicians pointed to the location where the No. 1 core relic—a metal button—was found and asked, "What happened to this metal button?" Zhang Huaide recalled, "It must have been when I was dragging Zhang Fenglu that the button on his overalls was scraped off by a branch on the edge of the ditch. I didn't notice it at the time, and I didn't find it when I cleaned up the site later." The technicians immediately examined Zhang Fenglu's dark blue overalls and found that there was indeed a button missing from the waistband. The wear marks on the fabric at the missing location matched the "scraped off by a branch" characteristic described by Zhang Huaide, and the oxidation marks on the metal button were also consistent with the damp environment of the ditch.

"Did you leave any fingerprints by the ditch?" Wang Shuai pointed to the location where the core fingerprint #1 was extracted—in the silt below the right hand of the corpse. Zhang Huaide nodded and said, "I wanted to confirm whether Zhang Fenglu was really dead, so I squatted by the ditch and touched his hand. My fingers accidentally pressed into the silt, leaving fingerprints. I didn't pay attention at the time because the silt was wet, and I thought it would be washed away by the water flow soon." The technicians immediately compared the core fingerprint #1 extracted from the scene with Zhang Huaide's fingerprints, confirming that the patterns were completely consistent, verifying that his account of touching the corpse was true. At the same time, Zhang Huaide also confessed that when he climbed the ditch wall to check the condition of the corpse, he left two fresh scratch marks, which were completely consistent with the climbing scratch marks extracted from the north side of the ditch wall in the core area of ​​the scene. The two blurry fingerprints extracted from the scratch marks also matched Zhang Huaide's fingerprints after comparison.

"What other traces did you leave at the scene?" Wang Shuai continued to press. Zhang Huaide thought for a moment and said, "When I was looking for a place to hide my rain boots by the ditch, I accidentally cut my hand on a brick wall and bled a little, but I wiped it away with a tissue, so there shouldn't be any bloodstains left. Also, I saw a piece of nylon rope in the ditch, and I thought about picking it up and throwing it away to avoid being discovered, but then I thought it was useless, so I threw it back into the ditch." The technicians immediately investigated the location where Zhang Huaide had cut his hand and found a piece of brick with bloodstains. After extracting the bloodstains, DNA testing confirmed that it was Zhang Huaide's blood. At the same time, the core item left at the scene, the broken nylon rope, was found to be consistent in composition with a piece of nylon rope found in Zhang Huaide's home. The white fibers wrapped around the rope matched the fiber composition of Zhang Huaide's underwear, proving that his account of picking up and throwing away the nylon rope was true. (End of this chapter)