Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
Pupils are still attending classes after investigators dug up their football field and found the remains of a murdered faculty member who had been missing for 16 years.
Xinhuang No 1 Middle School, which is in Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County in Central China’s Hunan Province, claims the chilling new twist in the cold case has had “no effect” on the day-to-day on campus.
This comes after local police announced the arrest of its former headmaster, Huang Bingsong, as well as his nephew and chief murder suspect Du Shiping, both of whom attended regular reunions with school alumni.
Pictures Credit: AsiaWire
Investigators who detained Du and his crew in April on organised crime charges acted on a newly acquired confession and dug up the school track and field venue on 20th June.
Under the football pitch and running track, they discovered the remains of former school administrator Deng Shiping, who was aged 53 when he went missing on 22nd January 2003.
Deng, who was in charge of services and contracts at the school, was tasked with overseeing the building of a new sports field – a job acquired by Du through his uncle Huang, who served as the school’s vice-principal from 1988 to 1998 before being appointed headmaster until 2004.
However, according to reports, Deng refused to sign off on the work after he noticed Du and his team cutting corners.
He also learnt that Du had been paid over 1.4 million RMB (160,000 GBP) for the 800,000-RMB (91,240-GBP) job before work had even began.
Deng reported his findings to the county education authority shortly before his disappearance, reports said.
Local police say Du confessed to killing and burying Deng under the sports field after one of his employees cracked in questioning and implicated his boss in the 16-year-old cold case.
Authorities then arrested Du’s uncle Huang, who signed the contract hiring his nephew for the job.
But police are still trying to determine whether he had any knowledge of, or actively participated in, the crime.
Deng’s family has since revealed that they had long suspected he was murdered for his whistleblowing, and that they even thought he might have been buried under the field he was helping to build.
But with no evidence to prove their suspicions, Deng’s disappearance was treated as a missing persons case for 16 years.
Images from the secondary school show a large section of the footage field having been dug up and cordoned off by police.
But despite this the secondary school has confirmed its pupils are continue to tend classes as usual, saying the investigation has had “no effect”.
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