In the upscale Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C., a gruesome discovery was made on January 29, 1919. Inside the Chinese Educational Mission house, the bodies of three men were found amidst a scene of disarray, with overturned furniture, shattered light bulbs, and bloodstains marking the violent encounter. One of the victims was Ben Sen Wu, a male who served as an undersecretary of the mission. He, along with Dr. Theodore T. Wong and C. H. Hsie, had been fatally shot. A.
32 caliber revolver belonging to Wu was found at the scene.
The investigation into the triple homicide quickly led to a suspect, a 23-year-old Chinese student from New York University named Ziang Sung Wan. Wan had been a guest at the mission house and had departed shortly before the bodies were discovered, making him a person of interest. His presence at the house and timely departure cast suspicion upon him, and he was subsequently arrested for the murders.
Following his arrest, Ziang Sung Wan was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. However, the legal battle that ensued would take a significant turn. In 1926, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated his conviction, ruling that the government had failed to prove that his confession was voluntary. Testimonies from witnesses also suggested that the confession may have been coerced. In subsequent trials, juries refused to reconvict Wan, and eventually, the indictment against him was dropped, leaving the shocking murders of Ben Sen Wu and his colleagues officially unresolved.
