In a story that sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie script, a man convicted alongside two others of a triple homicide 16 years ago has been unearthed at a well-known temple. Zhang Liwei, who had been living under the assumed name Sun Hongtao, killed three people in his native province of Heilongjiang in 2000.
According to reports, the victims were stabbed to death in a club. In the wake of their crime, Zhang and his accomplices fled south, and Zhang eventually ending up at Longxing Temple in Anhui Province. While here, he worked his way up from a mere cleaner to abbot of the Buddhist site.
His long life on the lam came to an end on August 12, when local authorities arrested him following a portrait comparison between the felon Zhang and the erstwhile monk Hong. His partners in crime had been arrested some years before.
What is astounding about the story is not just how Zhang was able to remain undetected for so long at a relatively famous ancient temple, but that he was also able to conceal his true identity while becoming part of the region's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference committee. Might be time to buff up those background checks...
[Image via Beijing News]
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