Ten years ago, police in a small village in China’s southern Hubei province discovered the mostly decomposed body of an unidentified woman. Local villager She Xianglin had recently reported his wife, Zhang Zaiyu, missing. Zhang’s family swore the body was hers, and police arrested She and charged him with murder. She, a security guard at a local prison, confessed to the crime”but only after being tortured, he told NEWSWEEK. After a brief trial, a judge sentenced him to death. “I lost hope completely,” She says.
She languished in prison awaiting his execution. Meanwhile, his young daughter grew into a woman. His mother died after a long, futile battle to free her son. And his brother spent his life savings in an unsuccessful attempt to prove She’s innocence. And then one day last March, She’s wife strolled into town, very much alive. It turned out Zhang had gotten tired of marriage and ran away to start a new life. Unaware of She’s detention, she claims, she returned to the village to check on her parents and friends. Four days after her resurrection, She’s jailers released him with barely an apology.
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