National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 429 - 429 396 Bold Assumption

429: Chapter 396 Bold Assumption 429: Chapter 396 Bold Assumption The results for corpse number four were similar; the body was that of a 28-year-old female, 165 cm in height and weighing around 50 kg.

She died 20 months ago, which by order made her the third victim to have died among the four bodies found so far.

Jiang Yuan extracted DNA from bodies three and four and sent it directly to the provincial laboratory.

Extracting DNA is a complex science.

The DNA labs at regular police stations, those equipped with about 3 million yuan worth of equipment as required by the ministries, have no trouble with DNA from blood, muscle, or certain fluids, but they’re somewhat powerless when it comes to older, decomposed bodies.

Jiang Yuan also held an LV4 in Forensic Material Evidence, which was why he was able to extract samples from the bones.

However, he was still rather apprehensive about obtaining a match, as the DNA profiles of average people are generally not preserved.

As work on this end was nearing completion, once again, voices conveyed news from the site.

Human skeletal remains were found again.

It wasn’t surprising at all.

The killer had been burying the bodies along the national highway.

Of course, without the use of police dogs, these bodies would likely remain undiscovered.

The timeline clearly showed that the later the body, the deeper the killer had buried it.

The burial depth of corpse number four was around 60 to 70 centimeters, and corpse number three was even deeper.

This depth was already difficult for ordinary police dogs to detect, indicating a kind of escalation in the killer’s criminal behavior.

From whole bodies to headless corpses, from shallow graves about 30 to 40 centimeters deep to those 60 to 70 centimeters deep, it was evident that the packages became smaller and smaller, which also related to the difficulty of burying the bodies.

Digging 30 to 40 centimeters in the wilderness is not easy, and for a young person, digging to a depth of 60 to 70 centimeters, or even a meter, would take two to three hours and be a sweat-inducing effort.

Dismembering the body into parts meant the hole could be shallower, but then there was the extra effort of disposing of the remaining parts.

Following this trend, once the killer had to dig holes 1.8 to 2 meters deep, detecting a body by scent would become even more difficult.

Jiang Yuan arrived at the scene of body number five with utmost speed.

Just like before, it was a shallow pit, with a snake skin bag nestled inside.

“Is it another repeat body?” Liu Jinghui stood outside the perimeter, not entering, waiting for the answer.

Jiang Yuan silently conducted his examination before finally nodding with an “Mhm” and saying, “It’s number three’s, the other leg.”

“Cut so evenly, it would take him all day to bury a whole body like this,” Liu Jinghui had some inkling, as it was way too perverse for a killer to bury one leg and leave the other.

Now it was clear, they were dealing with a killer of a common level of perversity, and Liu Jinghui’s thoughts became more active.

While Jiang Yuan was examining the body, Liu Jinghui pondered and commented, “This killer probably doesn’t have a high level of education, and in terms of work and social life, he is likely quite solitary.”

Most serial killers are quite solitary, Jiang Yuan thought to himself, but he didn’t interrupt Liu Jinghui, not wanting to disturb his train of thought and stop the reasoning king in his tracks.

Despite the discovery of so many bodies, there was no decisive evidence.

This was one of the more frustrating aspects of cold cases.

In theory, if the killer had left fingerprints on a bag, or cigarette butts in the grave, or a pool of fresh blood, the case could be closed immediately.

But time eroded much, and the killer had been very meticulous at first.

However, Liu Jinghui’s reasoning does have some merit.

From the recent excavations at the crime scenes, it’s clear that the killer shows obvious signs of growth, but still has a local modus operandi.

Not to mention, dismembering the body was meant to hide it, and burying it served the same purpose.

Yet, the killer initially buried the bodies too shallowly, and although subsequent burials were deeper, they still weren’t deep enough.

At the root of it, if the killer had buried victims numbers one and two a bit deeper, the 805 case could have been delayed further.

And all this knowledge can be acquired from publicly available books.

To kill so many people and yet not study the relevant knowledge seriously, that’s a sign of low cultural education.

In fact, even petty thieves with a high school diploma, once they enter prison, will find time to read about the law, only those who struggle with reading, like those with only an elementary school education, would feign disinterest saying, “Studying that stuff is useless.”

Of course, committing a crime is also a matter of cost-benefit analysis.

The entire Criminal Law doesn’t use severe punishment like during the era of “laying down the law with strict rules,” to make people think twice about committing or continuing to commit crimes, rather than all rushing to commit vicious and ruthless acts, which come with consequences.

The 805 case killer is certainly lacking in this area.

Liu Jinghui continued, “These past two days, I’ve also compiled a list of people living and working nearby.

Personally, I’m more inclined towards the latter group.

Because most locals here are villagers, they would have more burial options and wouldn’t need to bury bodies by the highway, which is less convenient.

The rest would be individuals commuting to work via the highway.”

“It’s very likely that the depth at which he buried the bodies also gradually increases as they are further from the highway,” Jiang Yuan pondered briefly, then said, “An 80-kilometer stretch of highway…

it’s more than 80 kilometers now, there could be many workers.”

“Traffic police, road maintenance workers, landscaping workers, various construction personnel, including those in power, network and communication sectors, gas stations, shops along the highway, small factories, courier services, transportation companies…

And the key point is, they might not all be within this 80-kilometer range.

Extending out several tens of kilometers is also very possible,” said Liu Jinghui with a furrowed brow, knowing that compiling such a list would be difficult and risk missing someone.

“And those who could have contact with the victims,” Jiang Yuan reminded.

“Hmm…” Liu Jinghui frowned, his mind probably a tangled mess.

Mu Zhiyang, who had come with Jiang Yuan to assist, didn’t have any set tasks and cheerfully said, “At least we are making much faster progress than the people from Luyang.”

With these words, the atmosphere at the crime scene immediately improved.

At least, the atmosphere around the bodies became much livelier.

Liu Jinghui glanced at the leaders from Luyang City and then said, “Ultimately, it’s because we made a firm decision to investigate the highway.

In fact, even if we can’t determine the origin of the corpses for now, we can be bolder in our approach.”

“How bold?”

“I remember that victim number one was a prostitute.

In this case, with bodies buried along the highway and the killer likely being a highway worker, many victims don’t have families coming to seek justice or search extensively for them.

I think we can assume that victims numbers two, three, and four were also prostitutes,” Liu Jinghui counted on his fingers and said, “We should start by finding all the prostitutes in the vicinity of the highway, especially the missing ones.

If we are successful, great; if not, this list won’t be too long.”

“Agreed!” Jiang Yuan immediately concurred.

Prostitutes had to occupy a place among the victims of a serial murder case.

They are easy to attack, often change their work location according to the killer’s preferences, have less ability to defend themselves, are sexually tempting, deal with all sorts of people, lack stable social relationships, and often their disappearances go unnoticed, making them a preferred target for many serial killers.

In some respects, the reason why some serial killers are able to keep killing without getting caught is likely because they prefer to hunt down prostitutes.

The 805 case killer doesn’t seem too intelligent and probably has average physical strength.

Could his ability to keep killing be precisely because he targets prostitutes?

It was one thing not to have discovered so many bodies before, but now that multiple corpses have been found and considering that no one is coming to the Luyang City Bureau every day crying out for justice or help, the situation has become rather unusual.

Liu Jinghui took out his phone and immediately started making inquiries with the authorities in Luyang.