Retrial for man executed 21 years ago

Calling the evidence for the conviction and sentencing in 1995 of 20-year-old Nie Shubin "unreliable and incomplete," the Supreme People's Court ordered the case to be retried "openly and fairly" - but did not give a trial date.

The court statement alluded to the biggest twist in the case: Another man later confessed to the crimes -- raping and killing a woman -- Nie was executed for.

"Major questions exist in terms of when and how the defendant allegedly committed the crimes as well as how the victim died," it said. "The possibility that another person may have committed the crimes cannot be ruled out."

"I'm very excited about the development," Zhang Huanzhi, Nie's 72-year-old mother, told CNN by phone Thursday. "I'll visit his grave soon to tell him that Mom's efforts all these years weren't in vain -- and justice will prevail in your case."

When CNN last met Zhang in her small village in 2011, the farmer from Hebei Province was still fighting in earnest to exonerate her son, making countless journeys to the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang -- some 320 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Beijing.

"I bike to the closest bus stop and then take a two-hour ride to the provincial high court," said Zhang back then. "As long as I can still move, I'm not giving up."