Society

Man who killed 7 of own family surrenders

By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-05 08:12

Six children among victims axed in sleep; motive still unclear

A man has surrendered to police after murdering seven relatives, including his wife and three children aged between 1 and 7, in Southwest China's Guizhou province, local police said yesterday.

The killing spree took place early morning Wednesday in the Ximenkan village, in Songtao county, when 37-year-old villager Zhu Caifa used a kitchen knife and an axe to commit the murders in his house, said a spokesman with the Guizhou provincial public security department.

Neighbors told local media that Zhu, a migrant worker, recently returned to the village from Hangzhou where he worked. Neighbors reported he was quarrelling with his wife the past few days.

Police said the victims were asleep when Zhu murdered them.

The victims were his wife Xu Tangchun, his 7-year-old daughter Zhu Hong, 6-year-old daughter Zhu Feng, 1-year-old son Zhu Gang, 11-year-old nephew Xu Chao, 14-year-old nephew Xu Lu, and his 17-year-old niece Xu Songqiong.

Xu Songqiong was found alive and sent to the hospital, but died soon.

At 9:30 Wednesday morning, about eight hours after the killings, Zhu turned himself in to the local police in Songtao county.

Local police said yesterday they are still investigating the case and Zhu's motive remains unclear.

Zhu has become another man drawing national attention for killing his family members.

On Dec 1 last year, police in Southwest China's Yunan province arrested Chen Wenfa, a 21-year-old man who killed six family members -- his parents, grandmother, uncle, uncle's wife and his cousin -- on Nov 16 at their courtyard in a village.

Chen was sent to a local mental hospital in December because judicial assessments showed he was insane.

On Nov 23, Li Lei, 29, a Beijing restaurant owner, killed his parents, wife, sister and two children. He later told police he carried out the killings after long-term hostility toward his harsh parents and "controlling" wife.

Another Beijing resident, Zhang Wuli, a 38-year-old bank employee, stabbed his wife and son to death on the morning of Dec 27. Zhang was later exempted from criminal punishment as he was also found insane when he committed the crimes.