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Body in 'wife murder' case to be exhumed
Police in Hubei Province's Jingshan County are preparing to exhume the remains of a woman buried more than a decade ago who was until recently believed to be She Xianglin's wife.
She Xianglin spent 11 years in prison for killing his wife, Zhang Zaiyu, after police found a body in their village in the wake of Zhang's disappearance in 1994. However, Zhang returned Hubei last month alive and with a 10-year-old son from her new family in Shandong Province. It was reported that police planned to open the mystery woman's grave to collect hair and bone samples for DNA tests. Jingmen City's Party Secretary Yuan Liangkuan visited She's father and apologized for the mistake Saturday.
Zhang has yet to see her former husband although she had a brief telephone conversation with She on Monday according to the Beijing News. "Do you remember when you had a fever of more than 40 degrees and you still went to work?" Zhang asked him over the phone. "You can also make it this time." Beijing University law professor Chen Ruihua said courts tended to convict suspects but impose lighter penalties when there was insufficient evidence. "They do not acquit suspects and declare them innocent, but nor do they impose the death penalty," Chen said. "They choose a 'middle road,'" he said, referring to the 15-year jail term handed to She. Li Guifang, a criminal law expert, said the case highlighted the problem of suspects having no access to lawyers in criminal cases. "We see from cases like this that suspects often don't know much about the law," Li was quoted by Xinhua as saying. "Suspects have a better chance of a fair trial if they are given access to lawyers at the start of their cases." He said prosecutors obviously overlooked the cases "many questionable
points."
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