Society

Confessed killer all smiles after multiple slayings

By Chen Xin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-10 08:14

Hu Yihua is brought to trial at the Intermediate People’s Court of Jieyang city, Guangdong province, August 9, 2010. In court, he confessed to killing four people, including two policemen. [HUANG WEIJUN / FOR CHINA DAILY]

JIEYANG, Guangdong - A man who confessed in court to shooting four people dead, including two traffic policemen, showed "no regret" during his trial in South China's Guangdong province on Monday.

Hu Yihua, 29, who was charged with murder and robbery, went on trial in Jieyang Intermediate People's Court, a month after he was caught.

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Hu, wearing a red prisoner's suit, had a smile on his face when he walked into the court. He confessed to his crimes, but said he "had no regrets of committing the crime", the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News reported Monday.

The court did not deliver a verdict on Monday.

The court heard that in the early morning hours of July 3, Hu robbed 2,800 yuan ($411), two cell phones and bankcards from a couple in a parking lot in Yiwu city of East China's Zhejiang province.

Hu then fired four shots, killing the couple. After withdrawing some 13,000 yuan from the couple's accounts with the stolen bankcards, Hu took the license plate off the couple's Lexus sedan and drove to Guangdong.

On July 5, Hu was stopped by patrolling traffic policemen Zhou Xilai and Huang Weijiang in a highway service zone in Jieyang city. He shot them dead and fled to Southeast China's Fujian province.

The suspect was arrested three days later in the port city of Xiamen in Fujian after more than 1,000 policemen were mobilized to hunt him down, Guangdong police authorities said.

A loaded pistol and the identity cards of the slain police officers were found in Hu's possession, the prosecutors said.

Hu's family did not show up at the court, but the family of the slain couple stood outside the court on Monday morning, saying, "We want to see the ugly face of a ferocious murderer," the Yangcheng Evening News reported.

The wife and brother of Huang Weijiang, one of the dead policemen, also came to the court, sobbing silently outside, the report said.

Hu told the police that he had planned to take a train from Xiamen to Zhejiang province and then go to Southwest China's Yunnan province before going to Myanmar to become a mercenary.

Hu told the police that his dream was to become a professional assassin, according to an earlier report by Guangzhou Daily.

Since 2008, Hu has been obsessed with guns and military websites, according to reports. Zhejiang police found two guns and an army knife at his home in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province. He was divorced, unemployed and addicted to gambling, the report said.

Song Jizhun contributed to the story.