On the early morning of September 14, 2002, in Tangshan Town, Jiangning District, Nanjing, people began a new day as usual.Students from Zuochang Middle School bought breakfast on their way to school, and on the construction site at Donghu Lidao, migrant workers ate freshly bought sesame cakes and fried dough sticks.No one realized that a deadly poison had been mixed into these seemingly ordinary foods.A few hours later, all the hospitals in Tangshan Town were filled with poisoned victims, and the death toll kept rising, eventually settling at 42.The perpetrator of this poisoning case was Chen Zhengping, the owner of another noodle and food shop in the town.His reason for poisoning was chillingly simple: his competitor’s business was better than his.

I. Two Noodle Shop Owners

Chen Zhengping, 32, was from Shangye Village, Wujiang Town, Pukou District, Nanjing, and had a junior high school education.In 1992, he had been sentenced to two years and six months in prison for theft.After completing his sentence and being released, he came to Tangshan Town in Jiangning District and opened a noodle and food shop called “Juhong,” doing breakfast business.

In Tangshan Town, there was another noodle and food shop, “Zhengwu” Noodle Shop, whose … Read More