A convicted murderer in Central China's Henan province had been serving a sentence for almost 10 years when his alleged victim returned home.

In 1999, Zhao Zuohai, a villager in Zhaolou village of Zhecheng county, Shangqiu city in Henan, received a suspended death sentence for killing his fellow villager, Zhao Zhenxiang, after the two had a fight.

But local residents in the county could not believe their eyes when the so-called victim showed up on May 2.

"He returned to the village a few days ago, partially paralyzed. He had never married and has no place to live. Nobody knows where he is now," Yu Hantao, a villager said on Friday.

Yu said Zhao had run a small business in Taikang county in southeast Henan province over the years.

Zhao Qingxi, the vice party secretary of the village, also confirmed with China Daily that Zhao Zhenxiang had indeed returned home.

"They (the police) are also inquiring into the case that happened 10 years ago," he said.

Li Zhongyuan, the village's party chief, said Zhao ran away 10 years ago because he was scared after assaulting Zhao Zuohai with a knife in the fight.

Local police officials refused to comment on Friday.

Yu Fangxin, Zhao Zuohai's brother-in-law, said he was requested by "someone from high above" not to talk to the media.

"An investigation team from Beijing has arrived in the village. I was told that my brother-in-law will be released from the prison within a week," Yu said.

He said his brother-in-law will be faced with a broken family, because his ex-wife has remarried and took away two of their four children. The other two were adopted by other families.

Zhao Zuolan, Zhao Zuohai's sister, said his brother had previously confessed to the crime due to police torture.

"My brother told me he was really treated unjustly," she said, adding that Zhao even showed her the scar on his forehead left by a gun-thump.

About 10 years ago, when a beheaded body was found in a well, Zhao Zhenxiang's relatives believed the body was their family member, who by then had been gone for about a year. They reported to the police and the suspect was taken away.

The Shangqiu Intermediate People's Court made the judgment, saying the killing occurred after the victim caught the murderer having sex with a local woman. A fight broke out because the victim also had an affair with the woman.

The convict did not appeal to a higher court. However his sentence was later commuted to 20 years in prison as an award for his good behavior in prison.

Qiu Baochang, a Beijing-based lawyer, said the case reveals flaws in the investigation process of the local law enforcement authorities.

"Judgments were made before enough evidence was collected," he said.

The case echoes a far-reaching one in 1998 in which then 32-year-old She Xianglin was sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly murdering his wife.

The husband was reputedly having an affair before his wife disappeared from their hometown in Jingshan county in Central China's Hubei province in January 1994.

Three months later, a body found in a local pond was identified as Zhang by her relatives. She, under high suspicion, was arrested in late April 1994.

However on March 28, 2005, She's wife returned home, by which time her husband had served seven years of his sentence.

He was announced innocent and released on April 13, 2005. In September the same year, he received a compensation of 460 thousand yuan ($67,000) from the local court and government.