Chinese authorities believe they have solved the rape and murders of 11 female victims over the span of more than a decade, following the recent arrest of a man in one of its northern provinces, local media reported.
According to the BBC, the spate of killings had earned 52-year-old Gao Chengyong a reputation as China’s “Jack the Ripper”.
China’s Public Security Ministry said the father of two, who was detained at a grocery store he runs with his wife, had admitted to the killings which took place between 1998 and 2002.
Gao’s modus operandi, according to police, was to target women dressed in red. He had reportedly followed them home to rape and kill them, slitting his victim’s throats before mutilating their bodies. One of his alleged victims was only eight-years-old.
Police had managed to track Gao down following the arrest of his uncle over a minor crime which led to the relative providing a DNA sample. Police then matched the uncle’s DNA to the suspected killer to confirm that the murders were done by a relative.
More than a decade ago, police launched a manhunt for the suspect who had “a sexual perversion and hates women”, posting a reward of about $30,000 for information leading to the arrest.
The man has also been described as “reclusive and unsociable, but patient.”
The string of murders remained in cold case files until China’s Criminal Investigation Bureau used new technology to re-examine DNA in re-opening the case earlier this year.
Police have yet to determine the motives of the murders but pointed out that Gao’s first kill took place in May 1988. This was the same year that his son was born.
The first victim, a 23-year-old woman, was found in Baiyin city. Her body was found with 26 stab wounds.
Since then, the bodies of the remaining victims were found with similar wounds, suggesting a similar pattern of killings that targeted women who lived alone.
The suspected killer had also mutilated the sexual organs of his victims, but stopped doing so in 2002. Police have yet to establish why the serial killer stopped the murder spree.
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