A SUSPECTED killer who had been on the run for 19 years was caught by Longgang police recently in Hunan Province and taken back to Shenzhen.

    At the time of the murder, Li Shengli was a ticket seller for a bus route from Shekou to the Shenzhen airport. In June 1998, Li’s close friend Liu Bo came to Shenzhen from Hubei and wanted to start a business with Li and another man surnamed Xu. However, at a reception party in a karaoke club June 3, Liu quarreled with others at the next table. Li attempted to pull Liu away, but that irritated Liu, who thought Li was a coward and afraid of rushing to the fore to support him.

    On the way back to Xu’s home, the two quarreled and a scuffle ensued. Li became furious after being brought down and rushed upstairs to Xu’s home. He came down with a kitchen knife and hacked Liu, who later died at hospital.

    Li disappeared after the killing.

    Two police officers, Huang Zongning and Hu Weitong, went to Chibi City in Hubei, but they didn’t find any clues there.

    Hu then visited a local police station in Shekou in hopes of finding a clear photo of Li, as Li had been a ticket seller and worked as a driver in Shekou, so police may have kept files regarding Li’s driving tests. Hu was able to obtain a clear photo.

    Hu put Li’s photo into the online fugitive system. After comparing numerous photos in the population data bank, police confirmed in January that a man called Zhang Zhiyun living is Changsha was in fact Li.

    “I never expected to have killed Liu with a single stab,” Li told police officers.

    Li had escaped to Mohe City, the most northern city in China in Helongjiang Province, and lived with a fake ID that he’d bought. Years later, he moved to Changsha in Hunan Province and opened a shop selling construction materials.

    (Han Ximin)