Djang Djing Sung

Djang Djing Sung was convicted of the murder of Zee Ming Wu and sentenced to death.

He battered him to death at Warley Woods, near Birmingham on 23 June 1919.

Djang Sung was a Chinaman and a pedlar in soapstone ornaments, but since 1916 he had worked at Messrs Briscoe's Brass Stampers in Birmingham.

He had lodged at Pershore Road in Edgbaston, and seemed to have liked to have posed as a student.

Zee Wu was also a Chinaman and had worked as a mechanic and had lived with five other Chinamen in a boarding house at Coleshill Street in Birmingham.

On Sunday 22 June 1919, Djang Sung called at Coleshill Street and saw Zee Wu, who he owed 30/- and was heard to offer to repay him, but Zee Wu refused it, saying that he had £4 or £5 in his pocket.

The following evening, Zee Wu, who was very regular in his habits, left his work at 5.45pm, but didn't return to his lodgings at his usual time, which would have been about 6.15pm, and was never seen alive again.

However, it was noted that one of the other Chinamen that lived in the house, the man that had overheard Djang Sung called the evening before, did return to his lodgings at about 6.15pm and never went out again that evening.

Djang Sung on the other hand didn't return to his lodgings at Pershore Road until 11.20pm, an unusually late hour for him, and he didn't go to work on 24 or 25 June, and was then dismissed on 27 June for keeping bad time.

On Friday 27 June 1919, a man found Zee Wu's body in Warley Wood, a spinney in a park near Birmingham. A baulk of timber lay across his face. There was a severe bruise on his forehead, as if made by a hammer, and two punctured wounds, one behind his left ear, and one in front of the right ear, both of which pierced his brain at the back of his skull.

It was thought that the punctures might have been made with a graving tool like one later found in Djang Sung's possession.

Zee Wu also had slashes about his left ear, his jaw was broken in three places, and several of his ribs and his breast bone were broken. It was thought that the fractures of the jaw and ribs had been done with either the baulk of timber or by a man jumping on his body.

It was noted that Zee Wu's body was also mutilated by partial castration.

On 24 June 1919, the day after Zee Wu's disappearance, Djang Sung presented Zee Wu's bank book at the Savings Bank in Paddington and attempted to draw the balance of £240. However, Zee Wu signed with a mark, whilst Djang Sung purported to sign Zee Wu's name in writing. Suspicion was aroused, but Djang Sung managed to get away without, however, drawing the money.

He was then sought on a charge of obtaining the money and later charged with murder.

Djang Sung later made a statement to the police, the gist of which he repeated in evidence. The effect of it was that he and three other Chinamen, including the man that lodged with Zee Wu and who had overheard Djang Sung call on 22 June 1919, took Zee Wu out to Warley Wood on the evening of 23 June. He said that the man that lodged with Zee Wu had asked him beforehand to steal a hammer which he used in his work, which he had brought along with him. He said that he, the other lodger and Zee Wu were together, and followed by the other two Chinamen and that the other lodger then struck Zee Wu on the head and that he, Djang Sung, then took Zee Wu's bank book from the lining of his coat.

Djang Sung said that he then helped to move Zee Wu's body and took the hammer away, which, as a matter of fact, he was proved to have thrown away down an area in London.

At the trial, Djang Sung's plea was that, although he had been present and of course assisted, that he did not actually strike the blow that killed Zee Wu.

However, as the judge pointed out at the murder trial, that in itself amounted to a confession of murder.

The police report stated that it was possible that Djang Sung didn't commit the murder single-handed, but that at any rate, it was clear that the other lodger, who he accused of being his accomplice, had had nothing to do with it.

There was no recommendation to mercy and his appeal was dismissed and it was noted that there could be no possible grounds for interference with his sentence.

He was executed at Worcester on 3 December 1919.