NIJSWILLER/MAASTRICHT - The 36-year-old Chinese woman suspected of murdering a 45-year-old compatriot in Nijswiller confessed to committing the murder shortly before her suicide. The woman made her confession in a farewell letter found after her death. She had also written an admission of guilt on the underside of her mattress. The woman suffered severe psychological problems a few days after her arrest, in early November.The court wants to hear three witnesses at the next hearing (within three months) and possibly have a reconstruction later. The witnesses are attorney S. Weening of the female suspect Ming in the case, who committed suicide in her cell in January; the doctor-pathologist of the Dutch Forensic Institute and a woman who lived in the same house in Nijswiller as both Chinese women. Based on their statements, the court will assess whether to hold a reconstruction at the scene. "to test Ming's statement for its possibility or impossibility."

Ming 36 stated just before her suicide that she killed her friend Cha and that her boyfriend Gang L., had nothing to do with it. He allegedly only helped hide Cha's body. Prosecutor C. Ament broadly followed this reading two weeks ago and only demanded two years in prison against L., for disposing of the corpse.

Cha's body was found Oct. 18 in a suitcase in a cornfield in Nijswiller. At first, both suspects stated that L. Cha had killed Cha. Later, Ming stated that she had done so, and she also admitted to killing her friend in 24 farewell letters found after her suicide. According to Prosecutor Ament, that might be true because Gang L., - according to the prosecution, data from both suspects' cell phones, among other things, shows - was not present in the house in which Cha was then killed that night of Sept. 28 and 29. During the hearing, L., himself also denied that he killed her. The court is apparently not so clear about that yet.

For L's counsel G. van Tilborg, this interlocutory ruling came as a surprise: "I did not expect this. That the court wants a reconstruction, I can understand, but as far as I am concerned that could have been done without hearing the witnesses first." One of the witnesses is attorney S. Weening who assisted the female suspect. He has always said he was convinced that she only took the blame to relieve her boyfriend. "That conviction has not changed."

The prosecutor's office in Maastricht did not want to comment on the substance of the interlocutory ruling yesterday: "This is a ruling by the court. We simply have to submit to that," said spokesman H. Willems.

The defendant(s) in this case are assisted by: