
True Crime 24/7
The Woman that the State Condemned to Die
The Woman the State Condemned to Die: The Homicide of Tan Jing'an by Li Yan A woman called the police with cigarette burns on her face. Three institutions documented her suffering. None acted. When she defended herself with the only weapon available - survival - the State condemned her to death. The contradiction is impossible: how do you condemn someone for defending herself from those who were supposed to protect her? In this episode, we explore the chasm between the photographed evidence of chronic abuse and the death sentence for premeditated homicide. We unravel why the same Supreme Court upheld her execution in January 2013 and then unprecedentedly revoked it 18 months later. An investigation into how institutional corruption and global pressure redefined criminal justice in China. Victim: Tan Jing'an Date: November 3, 2010 Location: Siyan, Sichuan, China Status: Life imprisonment (commuted; projected release 2045) - Police classified the beating as a "domestic dispute" and hung up without intervening, despite a direct report in May 2010. - Officials photographed circular cigarette burns on her face and legs without opening a formal investigation. - More than 400 Chinese lawyers signed a protest letter; the Supreme Court revoked the sentence without a new trial. - The court sentenced her to death arguing that "the number of blows indicates premeditated intent," ignoring 15 months of documented abuse. Li Yan, Siyan Sichuan, self-defense, domestic abuse, criminal justice, Supreme Court, commutation, China 2010, criminal minds, true crime, forensic mystery, true crime Spanish To listen ad-free and access premium episodes, start your 30-day free trial at obomedia.com OBOMEDIA presents true crime storiesa true crime podcast built on real cases. Every true crime story in our crime files follows the crime investigation from the missing person report to the trial: investigators and police building a murder case, a police investigation gone cold, justice for the victim and those who survived. We open the unsolved murder, the cold case reopened decades later, the mysterious death, the disappearance, the serial killer, the family murder, the murder mystery; the missing persons a missing woman, a missing girl, a missing man found dead and the missing and murdered. From the infamous case to the unsolved case, from classic true crime to dark true crime and disturbing true crime: true crime reports, real crime stories, real murder cases, true murder stories and unsolved mysteries one true crime case at a time, from the OBOMEDIA true crime vault. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text and related materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing and business inquirie

