Death Sentence Upheld for Serial Killer, Rapist

Yen Wang - Beijingtoday.com.cn

May 10, 2015

The highest court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region upheld a death sentence verdict for the infamous serial killer and rapist Zhao Zhihong last Wednesday.

Zhao was sentenced to death in February after being convicted of 13 rapes and 10 murders between 1996 and 2005. Most of his victims were located in the Inner Mongolian cities of Hohhot and Ulanqab.

Zhao has been at the forefront of a national controversy since 2005, when he was arrested and confessed to most of his crimes. Among them was a 1996 rape and murder in Hohhot for which the 18-year-old Huugjilt was convicted and executed.

In April 1996, Huugjilt called local police to report that he had discovered a body at a textile factory. Police arrested Huugjilt and interrogated him for two days until he agreed to confess to the killing. He was sentenced to death in a hastily convened trial and executed that June. His case was reopened in February when the Hohhot Intermediate People’s Court formally charged Zhao with robbery, 10 murders and the rapes of 12 women and one 12-year-old girl. Zhao was also convicted of using violence to steal 31,400 yuan in goods and burgling another 3,500 yuan of property.

Zhao lodged an appeal, calling on the court to show leniency since he confessed the crime for which Huugilt was executed. The court rejected his plea, citing Zhao’s “despicable motives, cruel measures and the serious consequences of his crimes.”

Huugjilt was exonerated 18 years after his execution in December 2014. Xinhua reported that the government paid 2.05 million yuan to his surviving family members as compensation for their son’s wrongful death, 60 days of detention and funeral costs.

The case marks the highest-profile reversal of a Chinese court decision in recent years. Last October, the government announced it would begin a reform of the country’s judicial system in response.

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate published a statement on its official website in February, stating that procuratorates across the country must form an accountability system to prevent more wrongful convictions.

Serial killer sentenced to death

Xinhua

February 9, 2015

A court in north China has sentenced a man to death for multiple crimes, including the murder and rape of a woman in 1996.

Zhao Zhihong, 42, was tried on charges of murder, rape, robbery and larceny at Hohhot Intermediate People's Court in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Monday morning.

The court deprived Zhao of political rights for life, fined him 53,000 yuan (8,464 U.S. dollars) and ordered him to pay 102,768 yuan in compensation to the victims.

Zhao was apprehended in 2005 and confessed to a string of rape and murder cases, including one in a public toilet in Hohhot in 1996 that was pinned on 18-year-old teenager Huugjilt. Huugjilt was exonerated in December 2014, 18 years after his execution.

Zhao first stood trial in late 2006 for raping and killing nine women and girls, seven other counts of rape, as well as robbery and larceny between 1996 and 2005. His trial resumed on Jan. 5, more than eight years after his first trial.

The court's morning session, which was open to the public, focused on Zhao's robbery and larceny charges. The afternoon session was closed to the public as it focused on the rape and murder cases.

According to the court verdict, Zhao committed 21 crimes between 1996 and 2005 in Hohhot and Ulanqab. Besides a series of intentional murders that left 10 people dead, it is alleged he raped a total of 13 women and girls in the period.

Zhao was also convicted of using violence or threats to appropriate material property worth 31,400 yuan, and stealing a further 3,500 yuan in several burglary cases.

The court said Zhao's motives were despicable, his measures cruel and the consequences serious, thus, it refused to give Zhao a lenient punishment despite him confessing to some of the crimes.

People from various walks of life, including Huugjilt's parents, attended Monday's court session.

Huugjilt, a factory worker, was found guilty of raping and killing a woman in a public toilet in Hohhot and was executed 61 days after the murder.

On Dec. 15, 2014, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People's Court exonerated Huugjilt, ruling that he was not guilty of rape and murder, as the facts of his case were unclear and evidence was inadequate.

Feng Zhiming, the police officer who was in charge of Huugjilt's case and was later promoted off the back of the case, is under investigation.

Huugjilt's parents were awarded state compensation of more than 2 million yuan after their son's acquittal.

Man on trial for murder committed 18 years ago

By YUANHUI in Hohhot and CAOYIN in Beijing - China.Daily.com

January 6, 2015

A man who confessed to murdering a woman 18 years ago went on trial on Monday, three weeks after a court cleared a teenager who was wrongfully executed for the crime.

The case was reopened more than eight years after his first trial.

Zhao Zhihong, 42, is accused of murder, rape, robbery and larceny, according to Hohhot Intermediate People's Court.

Zhao, who is from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, confessed to some 20 rape and murder cases from April 1996 to July 2005, including that for which the teenager, Hugjiltu, was executed.

Zhao was apprehended in 2005 and his confessions included this 1996 murder, but it was not among nine offenses for which he was tried the following year.

A verdict has not been issued in the case and Zhao has been detained ever since.

Hugjiltu was convicted of raping and fatally choking a woman in a toilet at a textile factory in Hohhot, the Inner Mongolian capital, on April 9, 1996. Sixty-one days later, he was given the death penalty and executed at age 18.

On Dec 15, Inner Mongolia High People's Court overturned Hugjiltu's conviction and pronounced him innocent due to insufficient evidence and unclear facts. His parents have been awarded 2.05 million yuan ($335,200) in compensation.

Monday morning's session at Hohhot Intermediate People's Court focused on the robbery and larceny charges that Zhao faces.

It was open to the public and attended by Hugjiltu's parents, but not by Zhao's family members.

Prosecutors say Zhao robbed a man surnamed Chi at a residential area in Hohhot on May 19, 1996. Zhao is also accused of stealing cash and property, including a gold ring, between 1998 and 2000. The items are valued at more than 3,000 yuan ($490).

Zhao confessed to most of the robbery and theft allegations, but denied stealing the ring. His lawyers, Xie Fei and Zhang Ruijun, argued that the evidence was inadequate.

The trial continued on Monday afternoon, but was not open to the public for privacy reasons as the proceedings focused on the rape and murder allegations.

The court told China Daily the hearing will continue on Tuesday, as the charges Zhao faces are complicated.

Zhao's lawyers said after Monday's hearing that their client insists that he committed the murder for which Hugjiltu was executed, but they declined to give more details.

Separately on Monday, Wu Qinyuan, who allegedly raped and killed a woman 17 years ago, stood trial at Wuhu Intermediate People's Court in Anhui province. He was arrested on Nov 27, 2013.

Wu confessed to raping and killing the woman at a building in Bengbu, a city in Anhui, on Dec 2, 1996. Police found that biological samples taken from Wu were a more than 99 percent match to those found at the crime scene.

However, at the time, Yu Yingsheng, the victim's husband, was detained and sentenced at Bengbu Intermediate People's Court to life imprisonment for the homicide.

The provincial high people's court reinvestigated Yu's case in May 2013 and Yu was pronounced innocent three months later.

Suspected killer goes on trial in wrongful execution case

English.sina.com

January 6, 2015

A man who confessed to murdering a woman in China 18 years ago went on trial yesterday, three weeks after a court declared that a teenager executed for the crime was innocent.

The Intermediate People’s Court in Hohhot, capital of north China’s Inner Mongolia region, opened proceedings against Zhao Zhihong, 43, and is expected to announce a verdict this week, the court said on its official microblog.

Doubts were cast on the original verdict in the 1996 case when Zhao was arrested in 2005. He admitted to a number of rapes and murders, including the one that had sent Huugjilt, just 18 years old at the time, to his death.

Under police interrogation, Zhao admitted to 10 murders, but prosecutors just mentioned nine at his trial in November 2006.

Zhao’s insistence that he was guilty of a 10th alerted the central government and the regional higher court suspended proceedings. Zhao has been in detention awaiting trial since then.

His confession triggered a review of Huugjilt’s case and, on December 15 last year, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People’s Court overturned the original verdict.

Huugjilt was interrogated for 48 hours after a woman was found raped and choked to death in the toilet of a Hohhot textile factory, after which he confessed to the crime. He was convicted, sentenced and executed 61 days after the woman was found.

Yesterday, Zhao again insisted on his responsibility for the murder, his lawyer told the Legal Evening News. It was one of 18 cases of rape and murder heard by the court in camera yesterday to protect victims’ privacy.

Zhao also faced a number of theft charges.

In an interview with China Central Television in November 2005, Zhao said: “I am not me but another man when I commit crimes. At that time, I am as grim as devil.”

The Inner Mongolia People’s Procuratorate is investigating police conduct at the time of the 1996 case. Feng Zhiming, the officer in charge, was later promoted for handling the case in a timely manner.

Huugjilt’s parents, who campaigned to have him cleared, are to receive more than 2 million yuan (US$330,000) in state compensation.

Serial killer stands trial in north China

News.xinhuanet.com

January 5, 2015

HOHHOT, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The trial of an alleged serial killer began Monday in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The case was reopened more than eight years after his first trial.

Zhao Zhihong, 42, stands accused of murder, rape, robbery and larceny, the Hohhot Intermediate People's Court said.

Monday morning's session focused on Zhao's robbery and larceny charges. It was open to the public.

Prosecutors charged Zhao with robbing a man surnamed Chi in a residential community in the regional capital of Hohhot on May 19, 1996.

Zhao was also accused of stealing cash and property, including a gold ring, between 1998 and 2000, which were valued at more than 3,000 yuan (490 U.S. dollars) in total.

Zhao confessed to most of the alleged robbery and theft, but denied he stole the gold ring. His lawyers, Xie Fei and Zhang Ruijun, argued that the evidence was inadequate.

Zhao was apprehended in 2005 and confessed to a string of rape and murder cases, including one in a public toilet in Hohhot in 1996.

The Hohhot case made headlines recently, as a higher court ruled in December 2014 that teenager Huugjilt, who was sentenced to death and executed for the crime, was innocent.

Huugjilt's parents, who also attended the trial on Monday morning, received state compensation totaling more than 2 million yuan after their son's acquittal.

Zhao first stood trial in late 2006 for raping and killing nine women and girls and raping seven others as well as robbery and larceny between 1996 and 2005.

Zhao's trial continued on Monday afternoon, but was not open to the public for privacy reasons as proceedings focused on the rape and murder cases.