Jump directly to the content
CHINA'S JACK THE RIPPER

Serial killer wanted for raping and murdering 11 women as young as EIGHT is finally arrested after 28 years on the run

Murderer mutilated his victims by slitting their throats and slicing limbs off

A SERIAL killer branded China's 'Jack the ripper' for the way he murdered and mutilated 11 women has been arrested after nearly 30 years on the run.

Gao Chengyong, 52, confessed to the murders - including one on an eight-year-old girl - between 1988 and 2002.

 Gao Chengyong, 52, confessed to 11 murders between 1988 and 2002
4
Gao Chengyong, 52, confessed to 11 murders between 1988 and 2002Credit: CEN

He was detained at the grocery store he runs with his wife in Baiyin in China's north west province where his alleged crimes took place.

The dad-of-two is accused of targeting young women wearing red and following them home to rape and kill them.

Gao then often cut their throats and mutilated their bodies - even removing the reproductive organs of some of his victims.

 Wanted posters of Gao Chengyong released by police
4
Wanted posters of Gao Chengyong released by policeCredit: CEN

Cops first started looking for Gao in 1988 when his first victim, a 23-year-old woman, was found murdered in her home having been stabbed 26 times.

The subsequent killings all followed a similar pattern, with his victims being girls or young women who lived alone.

Following extensive investigations in Baiyin, China’s Ministry of Public Security finally joined the case in 2001, collecting large amounts of fingerprints and other DNA evidence before announcing a £22,819 bounty for information as to the suspect’s whereabouts.

According to authorities, every single male permanent resident in Baiyin had their fingerprints tested by police, but none turned out to match the killer’s.

This is because while Gao is thought to have mainly operated in the city, his household was registered in a village outside Gansu’s provincial capital Lanzhou, where fingerprints were not required.

 Newspaper clippings showing Gao's crimes
4
Newspaper clippings showing Gao's crimesCredit: CEN

Police in 2004 said: "The suspect has a sexual perversion and hates women.

"He's reclusive and unsociable, but patient."

 Gao after he was arrested following 30 years on the run
4
Gao after he was arrested following 30 years on the runCredit: CEN

The original Jack the Ripper was a serial killer active in east London in the late Victorian era.

He is widely believed to have murdered five women, mutilating several of them. Those killings have never been solved.

Gao is now awaiting trial and faces 11 murder charges, each of which is punishable by a sentence ranging from 10 years’ imprisonment to death, according to Chinese criminal law.


We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368.


 

Topics