Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. To keep creating
new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help
the Murderpedia project stay alive. We have many
plans and enthusiasm
to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really
need your help for this. Thank you very much in advance.
Xiong
ZHENLIN
Classification:
Spree killer
Characteristics:
Revenge
Number of victims: 8
Date of murders:
January 4,
2009
Date of arrest:
7 days after
Date of birth: 1973
Victims profile: 4 women, 3 men and 1 child
Method of murder:
Beating with an ax
- Harpoon
Location: Suizhou
City, Hubei Province, China
Status: Sentenced to death on February 9, 2009. Executed
BEIJING – A Chinese court sentenced a junk dealer to
death Monday for murdering eight people, among them a widow who jilted
him and her 2-year-old grandson slain with an ax, state media reported.
The Intermediate People's Court in the central city
of Suizhou ordered Xiong Zhenlin be put to death after a half-day trial,
the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Previous Xinhua accounts said that Xiong, a 32-year-old
junkyard owner, had confessed to the killings after he was arrested Jan.
11.
All death penalties are supposed to be reviewed by the Supreme
People's Court in Beijing before being carried out.
Xiong had wanted to marry 43-year-old Zhu Deqing, but
after she refused, he killed her and the boy at their home in Luoyang
town, outside Suizhou. Police said their head wounds suggested that the
killer used an ax.
Police discovered six other bodies — three men and
three women — after searching Xiong's junkyard. The six, between the
ages of 45 and 69, were employees at his salvage operation, but it
wasn't clear when they had been killed. Investigators found bloodstained
axes and hammers on the premises.
Although private gun ownership is virtually banned,
violent crimes have become more common in China in recent years,
including scattered cases of revenge attacks.
Man gets death penalty for killing 8
China Daily
February 9, 2009
The man
who killed eight people in 15 hours, including a 2-year-old toddler and
two people with learning difficulties, was sentenced to death yesterday
in Hubei province.
Xiong
Zhenlin, 35, killed his victims in the town of Luoyang, Suizhou, Hubei,
on Jan 4 and was arrested a week later after the Ministry of Public
Security released an A-degree wanted notice and offered a reward of
50,000 yuan ($7,300) for his capture.
Xiong did appeal the sentence.
His
lawyer had asked the intermediate people's court of Suizhou to assess
Xiong's mental health but the appeal was rejected. He also asked the
court to take into account the fact Xiong was filled with remorse, the
Legal Evening News reported.
Hu
Liangzhi, Suizhou's vice-chief prosecutor, told the Xinhua News Agency
on Sunday that based on an investigation, Xiong does not have a history
of mental illness.
On the
contrary, he was determined and cruel when committing the murders, and
showed his cunningness in running away, he said.
According
to the Chutian Metropolis Daily, Xiong had written three letters
expressing his remorse, claiming he was not a bad person but had simply
made a mistake after suffering setbacks in his career and personal life.
He asked
for his mental state to be assessed as he had been suffering from
insomnia during the second half of last year and said he deserved to
live.
Xiong
said he would donate his organs if sentenced to death, the report said.
His
mother, 73-year-old Zhan Hongying, did not appear in court, as she
"could not face the victim's family", Xinhua reported.
"Although
I want to save his life, the law will not allow it and the victims'
family will definitely not allow him to live on as he committed such a
great sin " she was quoted as saying.
Xiong had
wanted to marry 43-year-old Zhu Deqing after divorcing his former wife,
but after she refused, he killed her and her grandson at their home in
Luoyang.
Before
that, he had killed six others - three men and three women, aged between
45 and 69 - who worked at his waste collection depot.
Two of
the victims had learning difficulties, three had had conflicts with him
in the past, and one was a local resident who had gone to sell waste
products.
Police
said Xiong used an ax, a brick and a harpoon to kill his victims.
Xiong
told police on his capture in Wuhan, Hubei's capital, that he had
planned to kill nine other people he had fought with in the past,
including his ex-wife Liu Jihua.
Police seize suspect in central
China mass killings
English.sina.com
January 11, 2009
WUHAN, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Police in central
China's Hubei Province said Sunday they had seized a man who was
suspected to have killed eight people, including a two-year-old
boy, last week.
A resident in the provincial capital Wuhan called
police at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, saying he had spotted a man who resembled
Xiong Zhenlin, a suspect hunted by police.
Xiong, 35, was listed as the most wanted suspect by
police after the brutal killings last Sunday night in Suizhou City.
Two police officers found the man sitting at a junk
collection station in Jianghan District at 11:18 a.m.. He tried to
escape at the sight of the policemen but was seized and taken to the
police station, where he confessed he was Xiong Zhenlin.
Xiong told police he killed eight people in Luoyang
Town last Sunday night and fled to Hainan Province in the south the next
day. He had just arrived in Wuhan when police caught him.
Xiong was handed over to police authorities in
Suizhou Sunday afternoon.
Police are yet to find out his motive behind the
killings.
Zou Chuanshuo, a 2.5-year-old boy, and his
grandmother, widow Zhu Deqing, 43, were found dead in their home in
Luoyang town of Suizhou City last Monday morning. The wounds on their
heads suggested the attacker was armed with an axe, and they had died
after midnight, said a spokesman with Suizhou public security department.
Investigators named Xiong Zhenlin, a local junk
collector, as a suspect. Xiong's mother called police early Monday
saying he was nowhere to be found.
Police searched Xiong's junkyard and found six more
bodies as well as blood-tainted axes and hammers.
The bodies of the three men and three women were
identified as employees at Xiong's junkyard. They were all natives of
Luoyang town, aged from 45 to 69.
A neighbor of Xiong said Xiong divorced his wife
three months ago hoping to marry Zhu. "After Zhu turned him down, Xiong
wanted to make up with his wife but she too rejected him."
Other people in the town confirmed the story, said
Wan Xuebin, public security chief of Suizhou. "But no one could explain
why Xiong might have killed the junkyard workers."
Zhu's husband died many years ago and her son and
daughter-in-law were working away from home.
Police offer cash reward for
central China mass killer
Chinaview.cn
January 6, 2009
WUHAN, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Police in central China's
Hubei Province are offering a cash reward for information leading to the
conviction of the killer of eight people, including a two-year-old boy.
The boy, Zou Chuanshuo, and his grandmother, widow
Zhu Deqing, 43, were found dead in their home in Luoyang town of Suizhou
City Monday morning, police confirmed.
The wounds on their heads suggested the attacker was
armed with an axe, and they had died after midnight, said a spokesman
with Suizhou public security department.
Investigators have named Xiong Zhenlin, a local junk
collector, as a suspect, the spokesman said. "Xiong's mother called
police early Monday saying he was nowhere to be found."
Police searched Xiong's junkyard and found six other
bodies as well as blood-tainted axes and hammers.
The bodies of the three men and three women were
identified as employees at Xiong's junkyard, the spokesman said. "They
were all natives of Luoyang town, aged from 45 to 69."
Police are offering a reward of up to 50,000 yuan
(7,140 U.S. dollars) for the apprehension of Xiong, and 5,000 yuan for
information that could lead to the conviction of the killer.
A neighbor of Xiong said Xiong, 35, divorced his wife
three months ago hoping to marry Zhu. "After Zhu turned him down, Xiong
wanted to make up with his wife but she too rejected him."
Other people in the town confirmed the story, said
Wan Xuebin, public security chief of Suizhou. "But no one could explain
why Xiong might have killed the junkyard workers."
Zhu's husband died many years ago and her son and
daughter-in-law were working away from home.
