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Forensic students assist police with the unsolved murder of a businessman.
CASE DETAILS  A cheap steak knife was used to kill him In December of 1993, Jian Fang, a prosperous San Francisco businessman, was stabbed to death. The case is just one of thousands of unsolved murders that plague police departments across the country. With no immediate solution, the detective in charge tried an unconventional approach. He opened his case files to a class studying forensic science. Created by a woman named Brook Stuart, the class had already helped close one murder case in 1992. Perhaps they could help close another. When Brook Stuart’s class met in December of 1994, the would-be detectives included a ballet teacher, a housewife, and several writers. San Francisco Police Inspector Prentice Sanders briefed the students on the case:
 Students debated their theories Inspector Sanders introduced the class to the victim. He was Jian Fang, a 42-year-old businessman who owned two noodle factories. On December 18, 1993, he and an employee were attacked by a pair of assailants. Jian Fang was stabbed to death. A rear window of Mr. Fang’s van was broken and the van’s interior ransacked. No fingerprints were found, but according to Inspector Sanders, the murder weapon was left behind:
The evening of the murder, Jian Fang had offered a ride to one of his supervisors, Mrs. Yee Sung. According to Inspector Sanders, Mr. Fang never noticed that the window in his van was broken. After driving for less than a block, Fang was attacked inside the van by two young men who spoke fluent Cantonese. According to Mrs. Yee, the men demanded money from Fang. They then proceeded to strike Mrs. Yee in the back of the head with their pistol and told her not to turn around. Mrs. Yee said the terrifying episode lasted more than half an hour, far longer than most robberies. During that time, the two men ripped apart the van’s interior, repeating over and over their demand for “the money.” When Mr. Fang fought back, he was stabbed directly in the heart. Before fleeing, the assailants threatened to kill Mrs. Yee if she called for help.  This gun was found at the scene The case review provoked a number of insightful questions and Inspector Sanders told the class what he knew about Mr. Fang’s daily activities. At times accompanied by his wife, Fang had personally collected money from his customers. A typical day would net up to $1000 in cash. This fact troubled students. They had a hard time believing that a successful businessman, like Fang, would not hire someone to collect the receipts and money. Inspector Sanders then informed the students of a mysterious phone call he received three weeks after the murder:
The informant claimed that on the day of his death, Mr. Fang had collected at least $25,000 dollars in cash. It was an extremely promising lead. However, none of the information could be verified and Sanders found himself back at square one. By the end of class, each student had heard the baffling mix of evidence, leads, and rumors in the case of Jian Fang. They were given a week to submit a written analysis. Some, like Nick Dalby, believed that Fang’s killers knew he would be collecting a large sum of money but were disappointed and surprised when they found out there was nothing in the van. According to Nick, the killers did not intend to kill Fang, but were left with only that option when he began to struggle inside the van. Another student, Cara Llewellyn, proposed a scenario that was totally at odds with Nick’s. Cara questioned a friend of hers who had lived in Chinatown for many years. Cara’s friend had told her about a different network of gangs that operated within the Chinese community. She learned that many Vietnamese immigrants were well versed in Cantonese and some would have been eager to prove themselves to long time gang members. Inspector Sanders was intrigued after hearing both theories:
So, which scenario lies at the heart of Jian Fang’s murder? Soon after briefing the students, Inspector Sanders was contacted by a second, anonymous informant, who argued that the murder was tied to illicit betting. Inspector Sanders believed the tip to be credible, but only time and further investigation will allow police to close in on the elusive killers of Jian Fang. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season six with Robert Stack and in season one with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
Rocket man
I always had a feeling that Jian possibly knew his attackers or was in debt to someone i wouldn’t be surprised if the female passenger in his vehicle may have been apart of the attack as well seeing how obscure this case is with very little information I really don’t see this getting solved anytime soon
Anonymous
A good percentage of homicides are drug related. Because they spoke his native language, the common scheme of that time period was to export prescription drugs to Asia where you would than be able to make a profit. Today that is more common. You no longer have to go to Asia to make those profits. But in the 90s many Asian pharmacists did that. So the money he didn’t have may have been potential profits for that. They also may have been needing that medication if he wasn’t selling them. It was organized in regards to wanting just him. But too independent to be contracted.
Anonymous
The 30 minute discussion brings all kinds of hypothetical speculations. What would take 30 minutes to discuss? In the 90s pharmacies had an underground distribution of personal exporting to Asia where medicine would be more valuable. It was often done in small amounts to avoid detection. The accuracy of the vital organ makes me wonder if it was someone who worked in the pharmaceutical industry. It wasn’t uncommon for people to have multiple jobs in the 90s. If he by chance agreed to entertain that possibility, it would have taken a half an hour to explain why he wasn’t able to complete that possible expenditure..
Baffled
Seems like first timers cause of the old knife and weapon left at the scene. To me really points at someone seeing him with money or knowing in gambling circles he was coming into a large amount. We’re definitely inexperienced. I am sure they at some point told someone. Confessed to loved one. I would look at people close in his circle.
Steve
Unintentional homicide as it took the assailants 30 minutes from initial contact to inflict a single knife wound. Amateur job for sure. Could have also been a gambling debt.
Matthew
I believe either Kara or Nick is correct in this case.
The back of his window in his car was broken out, and the robbers waited for him. This is a very pre-planned robbery. Clearly there was a specific amount of money the expected to rob from him, but trying to figure out what specifically they were after will be impossible to know without someone talking.
I don’t think they intended to kill him, given the fake gun and little well used knife they found at the scene, seemingly very well used. It was probably just a (un) lucky shot during the struggle, especially since he only had one wound. Very unfortunate for him.
All that being said, the Chinese community is very insular. Whether or not his killers were busboy types who knew his pickup routine, or men that were present when he was putting down large bets, will probably never be known unless there’s some kind of deathbed confession. From the limited information given, either is likely.
Unfortunately I don’t think this one will ever be solved.
Kind of weird that we never heard from his family in the segment, but maybe their English wasn’t good and they didn’t want to be featured.
Anonymous
That is a dumb theory above….
Anonymous
There might be another possibility. If he collected as much money have been told, the only person who knew about it was her wife. She probably knew about her husband’s gambling obsession as well. She might employ hit mans to obtain that money and it might be true the murder was not planned. Either she wanted some “pocket money” or leave her husband.