One of America's Most Wanted Caught Hiding as an English Teacher in China
(China Wire) “A former South Carolina police officer has been arrested in China after spending 13 years on the run, a US Marshal spokesperson told WCSC.
US Marshals said that Dan William Hiers killed his wife and sexually molested a 10-year-old girl before going on the run.
He was taken into custody in Shanghai, China, where he had assumed the name of David Williams, officials said.
His arrest comes after an allegation emerged on Chinese social media Weibo, in which a woman surnamed Wang claimed that while perusing the US Marshals’ most wanted list, she recognized Hiers as her former English teacher at a Chinese university, according to Shanghaist.
The former student claimed Hiers sexually harassed her friend after she turned down his advances.
Hiers is accused of shooting and killing his wife in their Goose Creek, South Carolina, home in 2005.”
This is a big W for the US justice system and safety of students in China. However, this is another disastrous L when it comes to the reputation of English teachers in China. I feel for them as I used to be one. Most of the English teachers I know out in China are hard-working professionals who take pride in being a positive mentor to their pupils. However, there is a popular narrative that people only teach in China because they are either A. Running away from something or B. degenerates who couldn’t get a job back in their home country. Despicable scumbags like Dan Hiers, as well as stories like this one only serve to reinforce point A.
When it comes to point B, hand up, I have to take some of the blame for propagating the “english teacher as degenerate” narrative. You see, when I first landed in China, I quickly realized there were some schools that would hire someone solely because they were white and presentable. I found this fucked up, but also kinda hilarious, so had some fun making videos that highlighted the absurdity of this situation. SPOILER ALERT: This was before I began wearing fake oakleys 24-7.
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One time, I even went into a job interview at a school wearing my video camera shades, tried to intentionally bomb the interview, and the school ended up BEGGING me to start teaching there immediately. You can watch the train wreck below:
This was the actual CV I submitted.
I was getting calls non-stop from administrators after that interview asking when my start date would be. I kept on telling them I wasn’t interested and they even started raising the base salary to try and sweeten the deal. I guess the Office Space method actually works.
Now to be fair, since I filmed these shenanigans, China has attempted to crack down on unqualified(and shady) teachers by enforcing stricter requirements and conducting more thorough background and reference checks. I had a friend denied a job due to a DUI he had received 10 years prior while in College. But the fact of the matter remains, a bunch of unsavory characters still make it through the cracks. China is just too big and their demand for english teachers is insatiable.
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The scariest thing about this Dan Hiers guy is that a bunch of people I know in Shanghai, knew him personally. He frequented the bar my friend manages. An acquaintance of mine was in his wedding. He was in group chats with a few other people I know. Actually, holy shit, I just checked and it turned out I WAS in a group chat with him as well a couple years ago.
He went by “The Big Dog”, fought MMA, and posted super aggressive Pro-Trump stuff in the chat constantly as it was around the time of the election. I’m not insinuating Trump supporters (or MMA guys) are murderers and sex-offenders, just saying that’s literally all I ever knew about him. I meet strange dudes out here all the time but usually give them the benefit of the doubt. Being a strange dude isn’t a crime. Hell, I’m a weird guy myself. But I guess every once in an extremely rare blue moon, one of those guys is harboring VERY dark secrets. Scary shit.