China Executes Yang Xinhai, the Drifter Convicted of Murdering 67 People
Yang was put to death two weeks after a court in Luohe, Henan, sentenced him. He had bicycled between villages in four provinces, attacking families in their homes.
Published
Yang Xinhai told police that if he had not been caught, he would have taken his killing to Tianjin and perhaps Beijing. On February 14, 2004, China executed him.
Yang, 35, was put to death about two weeks after the Luohe City Intermediate People's Court in Henan province sentenced him to death for murdering 67 people, Chinese media reported. He had not appealed. The killings took place in Henan, Anhui, Shandong and Hebei, and police listed robbery and rape as motives.
Described in the press as an introverted drifter, Yang had served an earlier prison term for burglary and rape. He bicycled from one village to the next, beginning in 2000, and often attacked whole families in their homes at night. He was arrested in November 2003 in Cangzhou, Hebei, when police checking entertainment venues found him suspicious, and soon confessed. His case had been the Ministry of Public Security's top-priority case of 2003.
When his arrest was announced in November 2003, Yang had confessed to 65 killings, while the court that sentenced him found him guilty of murdering 67 people.
Sources
- China executes prolific serial killer, Al Jazeera (AFP)
- World News Quick Take: Serial killer executed, Taipei Times (agencies)
- 杨新海流窜4省杀65人强奸23人案件调查公布, The Beijing News, via Sina
Related News
- November 15, 2003: Chinese Drifter Yang Xinhai Confesses to 65 Killings in Four Provinces After Arrest in Hebei