HONG KONG'S FAMOUS CASE FILE: 5 WOMEN'S MYSTERIOUS DEATHS, THE KILLER WAS A SHAMAN

The scene of the massacre was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people; even seasoned police officers were horrified. This was the biggest murder case since Hong Kong opened its economy.

Around 6 pm on July 23, 1998, a group of Hong Kong police officers arrived at apartment 501, building C, De Fu Apartment Complex in Kowloon. The first thing that caught their eye was an iron pair of scissors wrapped in red string hanging from the small window above the apartment door. After repeatedly knocking without receiving any response, the police were forced to break down the door. The scene that followed was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people; even seasoned police officers were horrified. First, a woman's body in a red robe lay motionless on the living room floor, her face pale, her lips dark purple. Following that, police found four more female bodies in the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, two of them also wearing robes. All five women were in extremely gruesome positions.

Discovery of 5 female bodies at Duc Phuc apartment building

Earlier, on the morning of July 22, 1998, Hsu Ching-Chen, then chairman of the board of directors of the Hong Kong Qiaowei Group, stormed into the Kowloon Central police station and shouted at the officers: "My wife disappeared last night! Please help me find her!"

It is known that Hui Ching-chun's wife, Lam Chun-li, went to the bank to withdraw HK$770,000 (approximately 2.2 billion VND) on July 21st, saying she would deposit the money in a few days. However, she has been out of contact since that evening. Hui Ching-chun searched all the places she frequented and questioned almost everyone she knew, but none knew her whereabouts. Knowing his wife had withdrawn a large sum of money, Hui Ching-chun suspected she had been kidnapped.

While investigating, the police station received another missing person report, this time a woman named Cai Xiu-zhen. Coincidentally, Cai Xiu-zhen and Lam Chun-li were very close friends, maintaining close daily contact. Cai Xiu-zhen also disappeared with HK$220,000 (approximately 700 million VND).

Combining information from the two cases, the police immediately suspected there must be a connection between the disappearances of the two women, and that they were most likely both victims of fraud or kidnapping. The police department immediately dispatched officers to investigate the places the two women had visited over the past two days, as well as their social connections.

On the second day, neither Lin Chunli's nor Cai Xiuzhen's families received any ransom calls, making the disappearances even more perplexing. Further investigation revealed that Lin Chunli and Cai Xiuzhen shared a mutual friend in the local area named Xu Shuncai. The three women were close, like sisters, often going for walks or having lunch together.

However, when Xu Shuncai's phone went unanswered, the police felt something was amiss. Around 6 PM, according to information provided by Lin Chunli's friend, police officers arrived at Xu Shuncai's residence in room 501, building C, Duc Phuc apartment complex.

After repeatedly knocking on the door and calling Xu Shuncai's name, there was no response from inside. Simultaneously, a foul stench emanated from the crack in the door, causing the police officers' expressions to change. They were experienced in handling such cases and were all too familiar with this putrid smell.

Without hesitation, the police began to force open the door. When the door was opened, the sight inside filled everyone with horror.

On the living room floor lay a woman's body, wrapped in a robe. Her face was contorted, seemingly having suffered greatly before death. Comparing the photos, it was clear that this woman was the owner of the house, Xu Shuncai.

Since Từ Thuận Cầm died tragically here, fearing that the other two might also be involved in the accident, the police immediately searched the house. They found the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom doors all closed. Upon entering, they discovered the bodies of two women lying on the bathroom and kitchen floors: Lâm Xuân Lệ and Thái Tú Chân.

In the bedroom, two female bodies were found, both without robes. After comparing photographs, police confirmed they were Xu Shunqin's two daughters, Li Yingxi, 17, and Li Yinghui, 15.

News of the discovery of five female bodies in the De Fu apartment building spread rapidly throughout Hong Kong. The Kowloon Police Department dispatched a large number of officers to the scene to investigate.

Besides the bodies at the crime scene, police also found a large quantity of incense, paper offerings, eggs, amulets, etc., and the room's arrangement was quite unusual. Furthermore, Lin Chunli, Xu Shunqin, and Cai Xiuzhen were all wearing robes when they died, details that made the case even more terrifying and mysterious.

In addition, three pieces of paper were found at the scene, and after comparison, the handwriting was found to belong to all three women. Surprisingly, the notes all described the misfortunes and troubles of their families, such as the husband's infidelity, marital discord, and the husband's extramarital affairs.

The five female bodies were taken to the laboratory for autopsy. The results showed that none of them died from cyanide poisoning, and there were no wounds on their bodies, so the police could only preliminarily determine the case as "religious mass suicide." However, according to the families of the five victims, none of them showed any signs of wanting to commit suicide while they were alive. And if they did commit suicide, where did the millions of Hong Kong dollars they withdrew from the bank go?

Furthermore, Xu Shunqin's two daughters were not superstitious, and they were not wearing robes when they died. And if Xu Shunqin committed suicide because of her beliefs and religion, why did she take her two daughters with her?

On the day of the five victims' funerals, family members, when confronted by reporters' cameras, firmly asserted that they had been murdered and resolutely urged the police to apprehend the killer as soon as possible.

Excluding the religious element

Hong Kong police also took this case very seriously, with superiors setting a specific deadline for its resolution. Currently, based on existing clues, religious and metaphysical factors are being considered first. Therefore, the police are prioritizing Feng Shun masters and figures belonging to various religious sects.

After investigating the victims' social relationships, the police learned that Xu Shunqin had a friend surnamed Bi, known as a "Mao Shan Taoist." Significantly, this man had frequent contact with all three victims: Xu Shunqin, Lin Chunli, and Cai Xiuzhen.

Tất claimed to know a magical technique called "gold-planting magic," and that once performed, it would not only bring wealth to clients but also happiness and harmony to their families. Therefore, all three victims asked Tất to perform this magic. This was a crucial clue in the case, and the police quickly listed Tất as a suspect and prepared to arrest him.

But surprisingly, before the arrest warrant was issued, Tất showed up at their door. He said that he had read the news about the women's deaths and guessed that the police would come to question him, so he proactively came to explain.

According to Tat's testimony, he said that he was not in Hong Kong before the incident occurred, and he had ample witness testimony to support this claim. Through investigation, the police confirmed that what Tat said was true; he had a complete alibi. The case became even more complicated when this crucial clue was eliminated. Not long after, a police officer noticed a pair of scissors hanging on the door of Xu Shunqin's apartment. The day before the incident, there had been a suicide by jumping from a building in the same apartment complex. In the apartment of the woman who committed suicide, there was also a pair of scissors wrapped in red string; however, this woman and Xu Shunqin did not know each other, so was there a connection between the deaths of these people?

The police investigated the suicide of the woman and discovered that the reason for the death was... The woman who committed suicide did so because she followed a Japanese cult. There were many mysterious tools used for rituals in the house, and scissors were one of them.

Furthermore, the police learned through Tai Xiu-Chen's mother that she had also joined a cult around this time, often speaking in secretive tones. At her other residence, the police also found many similar tools to those found in the house of the woman who committed suicide.

With related suspicions, police visited the Xigong Church in Tzu Yunshan on July 25th, a Hong Kong religious center of the sect. After investigation, it was discovered that the sect had indeed been propagating the doctrine of "independent death" among its followers. This aligns well with the crime scene, where bodies were found in different rooms.

Furthermore, the sect encouraged writing down one's worries, which also aligns with details found at the crime scene. At this point, police could almost confirm that the deaths of the five victims were connected to the sect. However, the death of Tzu Shun-chin's daughter and the disappearance of millions of Hong Kong dollars remain unexplained.

Police hypothesized that during the rituals performed by Tzu Shun-chin's group, a member of the sect was present and killed them to steal the money. From this deduction, the scene...

But in the end, after thorough investigation, surprisingly, everyone had an alibis, and were successively eliminated, the trail was further interrupted.

The feng shui master is caught, the truth is revealed.

Just as the case was reaching a bottleneck, the police found another suspect by investigating the common social connections of all three. This person was Li Yuhui, a feng shui master from Shantou, mainland China.

According to Hong Kong immigration records, Li Yuhui arrived in Hong Kong on July 19th and left on July 21st. This coincided with the time the crime occurred at the De Fu apartment building.

When the police called Li Yuhui, he also confessed that he knew the three people, including Xu Shunqin, and had arrived in Hong Kong a few days earlier. He said, "I received invitations from the three of them and initially planned to hold a ceremony for them on the 21st. But on that day, they said they had other matters to attend to, so the ceremony was canceled. They then paid me a HK$3,000 penalty for canceling the ceremony, so I left."

Before hanging up, the police asked Li Yu-hui to come to Hong Kong as soon as possible to cooperate with the investigation. He said it would take a few days to complete the procedures to travel to Hong Kong. However, the police, through the Immigration Department, discovered that Li Yu-hui's entry permit was still valid, meaning he had lied and his suspicion of criminal activity increased.

Subsequently, the police raided Li Yu-hui's residence in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and found a blue nylon rope in the room. According to bank staff, this was the same type of rope that Lin Chun-li used to tie up money when she came to withdraw cash.

According to Hong Kong immigration records, Li Yu-hui arrived in Hong Kong on July 19th and departed on July 21st. This coincides with the time the De Fu apartment building incident occurred.

When police contacted Li Yu-hui, he confessed that he knew the three people, including Xu Shun-qin, and had arrived in Hong Kong a few days prior. He said, "I received an invitation from them and initially planned to hold a ceremony for them on the 21st. But on that day, they said they had other matters to attend to, so the ceremony was canceled. They then paid me a HK$3,000 penalty for canceling the ceremony, so I left." Before hanging up, the police requested that Li Yu-hui come to Hong Kong as soon as possible to cooperate with the investigation. He stated that it would take a few days to complete the necessary procedures. However, Hong Kong police, through the Immigration Department, discovered that Li Yu-hui's entry permit was still valid, meaning he had lied and his suspicion of the crime increased.

Subsequently, police raided Li Yu-hui's residence in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and found a blue nylon cord in his room. According to bank staff, this was the same type of cord that Lin Chun-li used to tie up money when she withdrew cash.

Police immediately listed Li Yu-hui as a prime suspect. Simultaneously, Hong Kong police contacted local police in Shantou and obtained Li Yu-hui's fingerprints. After comparing the 10 fingerprints found at the scene, all matched Li Yu-hui. Therefore, on the morning of July 27th, police from both locations formed a joint investigation team to track down Li Yu-hui.

But the cunning Li Yuhui sensed something was wrong the first time he received a call from the police, so he fled. When Shantou police arrived at his house, it was empty.

The investigation team then began investigating Li Yuhui's social connections and eventually identified three likely hiding places: Hainan, his hometown; Nanning City in Guangxi Province, where he had relatives; and Tongcheng, Hubei Province, where a friend surnamed Wang lived.

On September 14th, the investigation team arrived in Tongcheng. After several days of covert surveillance, they spotted Li Yuhui at his friend Wang's house. On the night of September 19th, the investigation team and Songcheng police raided the house and arrested Li Yuhui on the spot.

During the interrogation, Li Yuhui tried his best to deny any involvement, saying he fled because he was being hunted by gangsters, even going on a four-day hunger strike to protest against the police. But under the relentless questioning day and night, Li Yuhui's defenses finally crumbled, forcing him to confess to the entire crime.

Li Yuhui, originally from Shantou, Guangdong, became superstitious after his failed maritime business in 1992. He studied the I Ching on his own, and also devoted himself to Qigong, Qimen Dunjia, and the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams… With a solid understanding of metaphysics and a eloquent speaking ability, Li Yuhui became a master of the occult.

In June 1998, Li Yuhui met three people, including Xu Shunqin. These three women invited Li Yuhui to Hong Kong on June 14th for a fortune-telling session. After the session, they asked if he knew how to perform the "Heavenly Longevity" ritual. He replied, "It's not difficult. Prepare cash equivalent to the sum of your ages, 10,000 yuan for each age. I will return the money to you after the ceremony." They agreed to perform the "Heavenly Longevity" ritual in July. The three women thought they had met a "great sorcerer," but unexpectedly, they not only encountered a swindler but also lost their lives.

Seeing that the three women came from wealthy families, Li Yuhui conceived the idea of stealing their money and then murdering them. He obtained a bottle of cyanide from a friend and brought it to Hong Kong under the pretext of disinfecting a fish pond.

On the 21st, Li Yuhui asked everyone to prepare cash and bring it to Xu Shuncai's house. After everything was ready, he asked everyone to write down their troubles and worries on paper to distract from the Japanese cult.

After the ceremony began, while everyone was meditating with their eyes closed, he prepared poison in the kitchen, pouring it into five bowls. He told Xu Shunqin, "This is magic water. Not only must you all drink it, but everyone present in this house must drink it for it to be effective."

Without hesitation, Xu Shunqin brought the water to her two daughters in the bedroom. Then, Li Yuhui separated the three of them: Xu Shunqin stayed in the living room, Lin Chunli went to the bathroom, and Cai Xiuzhen went to the kitchen. Each of them drank the "magic water" and began to close their eyes and pray, waiting for a miracle to appear.

Li Yuhui's purpose in separating the three was to follow the Japanese cult's doctrine of "independent death." Soon after, groans and moans emanated from different rooms. Ultimately, all five died from poisoning. Li Yuhui hastily packed up all the money they had brought earlier, and also looted a considerable amount of cash and valuables from Xu Shuncai's house, before quietly leaving the De Fu apartment building.

After returning to Shantou, Li Yuhui was still smug about his brilliant scheme, unaware that he would soon receive a call from the police and be apprehended.

On March 23, 1999, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court tried Li Yuhui's case. He was sentenced to death for intentional murder and robbery, and deprived of his political rights for life. He was executed by firing squad the following April.