Society

Man who killed 13 admits to crimes

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-08 07:41

GUANGZHOU: Serial killer Cheng Ruilong, who had been accused of killing 13 people, including three police officers, during 10 kidnappings and armed robberies, confessed to his crimes as his trial opened yesterday.

Serial killer Cheng Ruilong (middle) is escorted by police for trial in Foshan city, South China's Guangdong province. [File photo]

"I know I won't be forgiven even if I die tens of times," Cheng said at a court hearing for nine of his murders yesterday.

The 37-year-old was accused of murder, rape and robbery in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Chongqing municipality and the provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi between 1996 and 2005, according to the Foshan city procuratorate.

Cheng, a native of Lianzhou in Guangdong, confessed to murders, rape and robbery at Foshan Intermediate People's Court yesterday.

"I don't like killing people. But I will be killed if I don't kill them after robberies," he said.

Cheng didn't hire a lawyer, but the Foshan court appointed a lawyer for him during yesterday's hearing.

The court had refused Cheng's demand for a mental test, saying his family has no history of mental disease and he did not show any symptoms of mental problems after being arrested in 2005.

Man who killed 13 admits to crimes

Before yesterday's trial, Cheng had been on the most-wanted list by the Ministry of Public Security for 13 years.

In one typical case, Cheng killed three members of a family and then stole 80,000 yuan ($11,800) from them in Zhuzhou of Hunan province in 1997.

Cheng was taken to a detention center in Foshan last May from a jail in Jiangxi province after police officers identified him while he was serving time there.

Cheng had changed his identity to Zhou Quan and lived in Jiangxi before he was jailed for seven years after being convicted of robbery.

Cheng's accomplice Lan Qirong, who had earlier split with Cheng after a dispute, was executed in 1999, local media reported.

The trial against Cheng will continue today. The court invited about 100 representatives from media groups, police authorities and victims' relatives to the hearing yesterday.

But a relative of Jiang Ming-hua, a former Foshan police officer killed by Cheng, said: "I don't want to hear the trial, which I think will affect the normal life of my family."

"I just want the trial to finish quickly. The evil Cheng should receive his well-deserved punishment."

Jiang was killed when he and another police officer were chasing Cheng in 1998.