Gao Chengyong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gao Chengyong
Born(1964-11-10)10 November 1964
Died3 January 2019(2019-01-03) (aged 54)
Baiyin, Gansu, China
Other names"Chinese Jack the Ripper"
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)Murder (11 counts)
Sexual assault
Robbery
Defiling of a corpse
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
Victims11
Span of crimes
1988–2002
CountryChina
State(s)Baiyin, Gansu
Baotou, Inner Mongolia
Date apprehended
26 August 2016

Gao Chengyong (Chinese: 高承勇; 10 November 1964 – 3 January 2019)[1] was a Chinese serial killer and rapist. He mutilated the corpses of his victims, leading to his nickname of the "Chinese Jack the Ripper" in Chinese media.[2] He is thought to have killed eleven women between 1988 and 2002.[3]

Sentenced to death and stripped of all his assets, he was executed by an undisclosed method in January 2019.

Murders[edit]

Over the course of 14 years, Gao raped, murdered and mutilated eleven women: ten in Baiyin, Gansu province, and one in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.[4] His youngest victim was eight years old. The first murder is thought to have originated in a grocery store he managed with his wife in Baiyin.[5] He would normally operate in daytime and follow his victims home, where he would strike.[6]

Gao raped his victims sometimes while they were alive and sometimes after having stabbed them to death. He removed the reproductive organs of some women after killing them[7] and cut the hands and breasts off of at least one of his victims, leading to the media comparing him to the unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who committed at least five murders in the East End of London in the 1880s.[8] He also robbed his victims.[9]

Gao's wife stated that she noticed that her husband would disappear from the house for days at a time; however she never suspected him to be a serial killer. Because he always came home with money, she assumed that he had left to do casual work.[10]

Victims[edit]

[note 1][11]

  • May 26, 1988: Bai (白), 23. Killed inside her home on Yongfeng Street, Baiyin. Bai's neck was cut open; her top was pushed above her breasts, her lower body was naked, and her upper body was stabbed 26 times. Fingerprints were found at the scene, but could not be identified.[12]
  • July 27, 1994: Shi (石), 19. A temporary employee of the Baiyin Power Supply Bureau, killed inside her single-room dormitory. Her neck was cut open, and her upper body had been stabbed 36 times.
  • March 28, 1997: Li (李), 21. The only known victim from Baotou. Found in her Hondlon District apartment lying on her back in bed, tied up with a rope, with a broom stuffed into her mouth. Her pants were taken off, and her lower body was exposed. There were traces of semen left behind on her legs.
  • January 13, 1998: Yang (杨), 29. Killed inside her home on Shengli Street, Baiyin. Yang's neck was cut open; her ears and a piece of skin from the top of her head had been cut off. Her body was not discovered until January 16th.
  • January 19, 1998: Deng (邓), 27. Killed inside her home on Shuichuan Road, Baiyin. Deng's neck was cut open, her left nipple was bitten off, and a 30x24cm piece of flesh on her back had been removed.
  • July 30, 1998: Yao (姚), 7. The daughter of Zeng (曾), an employee of the Baiyin Power Supply Bureau. Yao was strangled to death by Gao during an attempted burglary, and her body was hidden in a closet. Traces of semen were discovered on her legs.
  • November 30, 1998: Cui (崔), 23. An employee of the Baiyin Company's Fluoride Salt Factory, killed inside her apartment on Dongshan Road, Baiyin. Her upper body had been stabbed 22 times, and both her breasts, hands, and genitals had been removed. Her body was discovered by her mother.
  • November 20, 2000: Luo (罗), 28. An employee of the Baiyin Cotton Mill, killed inside her home. Her neck was cut open, and her hands had been cut off.
  • May 22, 2001: Zhang (张), 27. A nurse from the Baiyin District Maternal and Child Health Station, killed inside her apartment on Shuichuan Road. She had been tied up with a rope and stabbed in her neck 16 times.
  • May 23, 2001: Chang (常), 21. An employee of the Kaihong Building Hotel in Baiyin, bound with rope and stabbed to death during an attempted burglary at her place of work.
  • February 5, 2002: Zhu (朱), 28. A guest staying on the third floor of the Taolechun Hotel in Baiyin. Zhu was strangled unconscious, raped, and stabbed to death by Gao during an attempted burglary.

Arrest, sentencing and execution[edit]

Police linked the eleven murders for the first time in 2004 and offered a reward of 200,000 yuan.[13] Gao avoided capture until his uncle was arrested for an unrelated, minor offence. During a routine DNA test, a close familial relationship to the killer was established. Gao was subsequently arrested at the grocery store where he worked in Baiyin on 26 August 2016.[3][14] According to the Ministry of Public Security, he confessed to the eleven murders.[2] Gao was sentenced to death and stripped of all his assets on 30 March 2018,[15] and was executed on 3 January 2019; the method of execution used was not disclosed.[1]

Personal life[edit]

Gao was married and had two children. He was from Qingcheng Town, Yuzhong County, Lanzhou, Gansu.[6]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Victims are identified only by their surnames.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "China's 'Jack the Ripper' Gao Chengyong executed for murders". BBC. 3 January 2019. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b "DNA tests lead police to Gansu 'Ripper'". China Daily. 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b Forsythe, Michael (29 August 2016). "Man Thought to Be China's Jack the Ripper Is Arrested". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  4. ^ "白银连环杀人案罪犯高承勇今日被执行死刑". www.xinhuanet.com. 3 January 2019. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  5. ^ Connor, Neil (30 March 2018). "China's 'Jack the Ripper' sentenced to death for 11 grisly murders". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Revealed: the quiet, 'dutiful' son named one of China's most notorious serial killers". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. ^ Yi, Ding (30 August 2016). "Acquaintances of serial killer, Gao Chengyong, baffled with his behavior, children under fire". sino-us.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  8. ^ Killalea, Debra (31 August 2016). "Jack the Ripper of China: Wife of accused serial killer 'can't accept' murders". www.news.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Chinese 'Jack the Ripper' executed". 3 January 2019.
  10. ^ Killalea, Debra (30 August 2016). "Wife of accused serial killer had no idea how he did it". news. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  11. ^ 高承勇抢劫、故意杀人、强奸、侮辱尸体死刑复核刑事裁定书 . Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China. 24 December 2018 – via Wikisource.
  12. ^ Tang, Ailin; Luo, Ting (29 August 2016). "八任公安局长接力28年: "白银连环强奸杀人案"侦破始末". Beijing News (in Chinese). Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Police snare 'China's Jack the Ripper' after 28-year search for killer – reports". the Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  14. ^ "The DNA breakthrough that led to Gansu Ripper's arrest, confession". NewsComAu. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  15. ^ Afp (30 March 2018). "China's 'Jack the Ripper' sentenced to death". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.